An author’s voice is that part of writing style that sets the author apart from other writers, even those writing in the same style.
“It’s your personality coming through on the page, by your language use and word choice. When you read a Dave Barry column, you know it’s his. Why? He’s developed a distinct writing voice.”
– Brian A. Klems, The Writer’s Digest
http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-difference-between-voice-and-style-in-writing
Here’s an example of a clear, distinct writer’s voice.
The corner of Heinzie’s mouth clenches. “The daughter of my professor made eyes at me. He got wind of it. He expected better for her than – one of no extraordinary expectations is how he put it. He went for the throat. He questioned the quality of my scholarship, accused me of plagiarism, destroyed me.”
“Did you plagiarize?”
“Please. Water under the bridge.”
“We all have skeletons. Beg, borrow and steal is my motto.”
“I landed at a lesser university, nowhere near the prestige. There I chanced upon the freifrau, hunting for a tutor to instruct a precocious child with great potential. Precocious! I can think of better words. Pestilential, for one. Worn down from barely getting by, pea soup in a frigid garret – you may know the routine – I jumped on it.”
“I lived high during my student days, but I feel your pain.”
“You might’s well –” Heinz is beginning to slur his speech “– hear it all. To seduce a fine fortune, I felt it not beyond me. Annette worships scholarship, and I am a pretty fellow, why deny it? I set to work at being the prochain ami, the best friend, at her beck and call, as solicitous as closest kin. My previous dalliance influencing my choice, I fixed my sight on –” he paused to refill his glass – “Sir! To the darling Drusilla.”
“Drusilla? Lord Above! I guessed Annette. Drusilla! How do you cope with the brat? She’s driving my poor cat wild.”
“Ha! You can say that again!” hoots Sly. Dee kicks his box.
– Mimi Spieke, Sly / A Rogue, Reconsidered / Book 3: The Rogue Regrets
What other authors have a notably distinct writer’s voice? What about your own?
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