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The Siren of Writing
Voice sings through writing, the voice of the author, the voice of the novel, the voice of the character. Defining Voice, though, is like trying to explain Ella Fitzgerald’s voice, Louis Armstrong’s trumpet, or Carlos Santana’s guitar. But at the same, editor, publishers, and readers search for the elusive siren.
Kalayna Price delineates one aspect of voice in a Magical Words post “On Voice and Timing”, that being, as indicated in the title, timing. If you think about the greatest musicians, their ability to pull us into the music isn’t about their ability to precisely recreate the musical score like a clockwork machine, but their ability to change things. A trill here, a note held a second longer there, a staccato snap to end a phrase. It’s all in the timing.
A big thank you to Ms. Price. I believe I finally “get” voice now.
See if her explanation helps you (also scroll down for the comments): http://www.magicalwords.net/kalayna-price/on-voice-and-timing/