Going
back to Karen
Jones’ questions for writers (see here)— I find this one intriguing.
If
writerly voice = the personality of the narration, then something of the voice
is the same even in different formats. It’s the same person who’s writing the
picture book texts or the novels.
But
somethings are different, because of the constrains that formats impose. This
is why we often hear that an author had finally “found her voice” when author
switched formats. I remember another writer in my picture book critique group
who, after reading my first middle grade book, sent me a glowing email saying
that I had “the perfect middle grade voice.” It was a new one she hadn’t “heard”
from me.
But
what I find differentiates voice even from the same writer (in this case, me)
is writing in a different language. Languages have personalities, and even
speaking them (real voice) I sound somewhat different. It’s been a long time
since I wrote fiction in Hebrew, so I may confuse personal life chapters with
writing voice. But even my letters in Hebrew and English have distinct
personalities. Not to compare, Vladimir Nabokov
testified to same.
Personally,
I like to stretch and have my feet in more than one format. From the world of commerce,
this isn’t the ideal strategy. Marketers like to have artists as “brands,” and
thus box us in. But for my own need to keep toned, this stretching is good for
creative dancing.
