Ed Lynskey's Blog: Cracked Rearview Mirror - Posts Tagged "voice"

I can't define a writer's "voice." Maybe it's like pornography: you know it when you see it, or in the case of novels, when you read it.

For instance, I just finished up reading a Declan Hughes PI Ed Loy series title. Mr. Hughes projects a great voice. So does Daniel Woodrell, James Crumley, Walter Mosley, Megan Abbott...okay, you get the gist of my point.

It seems a writer's "voice" either hits or misses in its appeal to any reader. In other words, you're either hot or cold but rarely indifferent to writer's style of telling the story at hand.

From a personal standpoint, I can say reviewers and readers have either gone thumbs up and thumbs down with gusto on my novels. Fortunely, more have been the thumbs up. But it's (voice, I'm saying) mine. It's my distinctive brand, how I can stand out from other authors.

I don't lay claim to flying as high as the aforementioned writers. Not in a hundred years. But I can claim I like reading their books because their "voice" strikes a clear bell to chime inside me. It's one of the pleasures I get from engaging the printed page.

Ed Lynskey
@edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles