Monday, October 17, 2011

Voice and a Guilty Pleasure

     There's something I just realized. Now maybe I'm slow and everyone already knows this. Or maybe you don't, so I'm going to share, because I'm nice like that. Haha. Anyway, the agent who gave me feedback helped me to learn something indirectly. He pointed out some things in my MS that he thought were really funny. These were things that I didn't necessarily think were all that clever, or would even stand out. These were things I will call Melanie-isms. Words or phrases that only I would say. These are things that betas might suggest taking out (I honestly can't remember if mine did). Things that might not make grammatical sense. Things that might break some of the writing rules. BUT they were the things he loved. Things I need more of.
     Okay, is it just me, or did I say the word things way too much?
     Anyway, it helped me to learn this simple fact: DO NOT SUPPRESS YOURSELF. Maybe you say something one way and someone else says, what does that mean? Or that's not how you say it. Or whatever. But KEEP IT. Don't suppress things only you would say, even if you think they're lame. Don't quiet your own voice. Because it's what makes you YOU.
     Not only that, but I need to find ways to develop my voice. The agent thought some parts were funny, but he said the whole thing needed to be funny in my own way otherwise it won't stand out. So I need to really work on my creative juices.
     What do you do to work on your voice? Is there a way to do that? To develop it? Or is always writing the way to do it?
     On to my 30 Day Song Challenge, Day 13: A Song That Is A Guilty Pleasure
     Here it is, no explanation needed.
     Love Bug by The Jonas Brothers


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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 17, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    I'm glad you got some good feedback. I think it's a great sign that the agent thought your work was funny. Most people can't write funny. If you can do it well, and it sounds like you can, you'll really stand out.

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  2. Cynthia DiFilippo ElomaaOctober 17, 2011 at 11:16 AM

    I think it is great that the agent said he likes your voice and wants more of you in the work. That is awesome!

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  3. 1000th.monkeyOctober 17, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    I know what you mean when you say they were things your beta-readers might have suggested you take out...

    ...and I'm envious that you can write humour ;) Anything funny in my own work is usually a dark kind of humour.

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  4. Melanie StanfordOctober 17, 2011 at 1:57 PM

    What's funny is... I don't think I'm all that funny! So I'm stressing a bit on how to bring more of it out in the MS.
    And like I said, one of the things he thought was hilarious- I thought was totally lame! Go figure.

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  5. MaggieOctober 17, 2011 at 2:10 PM

    I love critique partners and revisions (well actually I hate revisions, but I mean I love what they can do to a story) but a problem that both can have is taking out a writer's unique voice. We have to be careful with that. Good luck finding your funny!

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  6. Katy UppermanOctober 17, 2011 at 10:09 PM

    Voice is so tricky! I think I "found" mine when I stopped worrying about what others (my husband, parents, prospective agents, etc...) would think and just wrote, almost stream of consciousness. It's super encouraging that an agent liked the uniqueness of your voice and wanted to see more. Good luck with developing it... I look forward to hearing more about your successes with voice. :)

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  7. UnknownOctober 18, 2011 at 12:48 AM

    I work on my voice by writing drastically different scenes with drastically different characters. The characters all have their own personalities and voices, but some part of me always comes out in the writing. I can look through all my various scenes and find it. It's pretty cool :)

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