The AmWritingFantasy Podcast: Episode 97 – What is Author Voice and How to Find Yours?

You’ve heard it many times before. The famous term: 'Author Voice'.

But what is it exactly and how do you develop one? Or should you even be concerned about your Author Voice?

That’s some of the questions Autumn and Jesper seek to answer in episode 97 of the Am Writing Fantasy podcast.

 

Link to episode 100 questionnaire: https://forms.gle/KDHdPnUB5A9cwViz7  

 

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Read the full transcript below.

(Please note that it's automatically generated and while the AI is super cool, it isn't perfect. There may be misspellings or incorrect words on occasion).

Narrator (2s):
You're listening to The Am Writing Fantasy Podcast. In today's publishing landscape, you can reach fans all over the world. Query letters are a thing of the past. You don't even need a literary agent. There is nothing standing in the way of making a living from writing. Join two best selling authors who have self published more than 20 books between them now onto the show with your hosts. Autumn Birt and Jesper Schmidt.

Jesper (30s):
Hello I'm Jesper and I'm Autumn. This is episode 97 of The Am Writing Fantasy Podcast. And you heard it before The famous term Author Voice, but what is it exactly and how do you develop one? Or should you even be concerned about your Author Voice in the first place? That's some of the questions that we will seek to answer in today's episode?

Autumn (56s):
Oh, it will be so much fun because I, it was, I did, I actually did some homework for this one. Again, I did some research and I think hearing some stuff out because it is, I could see why it's a confusing topic and it, some of the posts I read about it and I'm like, no, that's not what you were actually talking about. So it will be interesting to break this one and unpack it. But first, how is the moving saga now with that the house has been officially contracted?

Jesper (1m 25s):
Yeah, it's a it's it's going well, we signed the lease on an apartment, which is only like two minutes walk from the beach. So that's amazing. Yeah. I can't remember if I already mentioned it, not on a previous podcast episode or if I did. Sorry. Deal is, you know, but he's so excited actually looking. Yeah, we are looking forward to moving on to the, and the kids are also really much looking forward to it because they know they're going to get closer to the school and to their friends, you know, from, from the apartment is only a 15 minute bus ride to school. Whereas today we have to drive the kids every time and it takes, if they want to take the bus today will take them in a bit more than an hour to get to school and to visit our friends and so on.

Jesper (2m 14s):
So yeah, the kids who are very much looking forward to it, but yeah, my wife and I are also looking forward because it's going to be releasing some pressure on us to act as chauffeurs all the time. You're going to get away with not having to drive the kids way before they turn 16. So that's exciting. Yeah, that is good. Yeah. But I think that the trick becomes now, how do we get all this stuff from a house to fit into an apartment, which is probably like almost 50 square meters, smaller than that. So it's going to demand some serious organization skills to pull that off.

Autumn (2m 55s):
Yeah. You guys are definitely going to have a few things in storage, which we already about the strategies of labeling boxes. I think you guys are all,

Jesper (3m 5s):
So if we have to get a storage room, there was no way around that though.

Autumn (3m 8s):
But it'll be exciting. And it's, it's fun to clean out the cupboards and get rid of some things. This is from the person who's gotten rid of like 99% of this stuff she has owned. So don't get me started on if I would use the word fun, but, but okay. Cathartic, how's cathartic. It's a good word. But you have fair enough. At least it will be done once it's over with, then I will feel like it was nice, but I knew in the process itself, I am not so excited. So that's always the hard part and going through it. Yeah. Yeah. How about you? Oh, it's good. It's the leaves are falling here in Vermont so much.

Autumn (3m 51s):
It looks like it's snowing yellow. So it's, it's beautiful on it. We've had some, right. So it is nice. The rains have come back. So we are, are a little pond and stream outside of the cabin have actually filled. So we have flowing water. It's very picturesque, little chilly, perfect for staying inside. It goes to the wood stove and WRITING, which is good because I'm being my insane self. I have my own bucket at, to do for Am Writing Fantasy to keep things going here. And I have some clients and people I'm helping with their books or their covers, including some tarot cards. I'm gonna suddenly found myself doing some graphic design for, and meanwhile, I'm trying to finish up this trilogy.

Autumn (4m 37s):
I'm writing and hope to release in early 2021. And I just, I, I dreamt last night that I was dreaming. I'm starting to layer my need for sleep in my dreams. Since inception, I woke up thinking I'm dreaming about dreaming and this is not a good sign, but I love it. I love what I love, the way, the direction everything is heading it. I just need more time in the day I need, I need her. Mine is a little hourglass clock. I know we can build myself into my extra hours. It would be fantastic.

Autumn (5m 17s):
But what if you only spoke up from your dreams into another dream that you don't know your dreaming? Well, today's been really good. So I wanted to stick to this when I'm good. I'm fine. I'm fine with me living in a dream. It's just this one can manifest some more dragons and Magic. That would be awesome. Yeah.

Jesper (5m 39s):
Well that act as long as you are. Well, then you have to also have to be a model or something you don't want to get roasted by dragging us.

Autumn (5m 46s):
Yes. As long as the dragon is my pet and it will protect me. Okay. All right. I will look to problem solve it. Yeah.

Narrator (5m 53s):
A week on the internet with the Am Fantasy Podcast.

Jesper (6m 0s):
Now that we are only three episodes away from episode 100, it would be a good time for you to submit your question.

Autumn (6m 9s):
Yes. At the time is almost running out and we need some more questions. So please send us something, anything, it doesn't have to be about writing. It can be about what it's like to live at a tiny cabin in Vermont, or to sell your house in Denmark and move him into an apartment. Anything. Yeah.

Jesper (6m 29s):
Yeah. Well that might be a bit boring for somebody in the us too, to know how you sell the house.

Autumn (6m 34s):
So what someone might want to know. Oh, it could be anybody. Yeah. I have traveled all across North America in a land cruiser, including some amazingly difficult, like a boiling the brakes and having the muffler shear off in that one time with a grizzly bear. But, you know, so if you're curious, ask, if I'm not going to say, I don't want to know more about when you were in New Zealand and you went to the Hobbit. Yeah, that was cool. If I have to come up with questions, I know where I'm going,

Jesper (7m 8s):
Right? Yeah. That's cool. And then sometimes as well, I meet some really crazy people when I'm at refereeing. So maybe there are some stories that you want to hear them.

Autumn (7m 17s):
That's true. You do. Those are always some interesting stories. I had no idea. The world of a soccer or football is so deeply strange. It was interesting.

Jesper (7m 32s):
It's filled with a lot of very, very passionate people and they can't always control it.

Autumn (7m 40s):
Fair enough. I think that sounds a reasonable. I know I've never been a sports person recently. We managed to get the play pool, which is one of the few sports I enjoy. If you can call it a sport. Cause it's really mathematical, which was kind of sad. But, but besides having to do that, I have never been a sports fanatic or even a huge movie buff. So I don't quite, when I see these people like chanting and nearly tearing apart stadiums, I, I don't, I, I will never write a sports fan as a character because I don't think I can.

Jesper (8m 20s):
Now you said that it just reminded me... It was quite impressive how everybody could keep calm this last Saturday, because well, now you prompted me so very quickly, you two are here just to show a very short story. But this Saturday I had a match in the, basically... well... the stadium here in the main city or close to where I I'm living. So I had a match there and in the morning, I was woken up by a phone call from the football association and they said, Oh, we are in really big trouble. Can you take a second match today?

Jesper (9m 1s):
And I was like, in the morning, you know, the call woke me up, so I was a bit like disoriented and like, "yeah, well, what, when?" And they say, yeah, it was just an, a, it's a, it was like, what is that? I don't know what that is in miles, but it's like 60 kilometers from where I live. So it's not, it's not far fire in the Western standards, but it's fine enough that it takes a while to drive there. And I did some quick calculation of distances in, in my head. And it was like, well, that's not really gonna work as hard, because if I'm going to take that medicine, I will not be able to get to the other match in time. And she said, no, I know, but we don't have any other referees.

Jesper (9m 42s):
So can you take it, and that was like, yeah, OK. But then you have it. If you can call the, the, the other team's at the latest, Matt is just to tell them that I will not make it in time so that they know and that, and she said, yeah, yeah, no problem. I'll do, I'll do that. Now. I'll tell him that this was at the football association cost and this right. So that they don't get upset with you when they say, okay, that's fine. And then I'll do it. So I went and I refereed the first match. And then I drove as fast as I could back to the town here where I live. And it was just so weird because speaking of people, keeping comm, because there was not a lot, but that might've been like a, a, a hundred spectators in the stadium.

Jesper (10m 26s):
So it's not a lot, but it, it was like a day on the 19th, a, the highest leak for youth people. So it's the under 19 at the highest level, you can play up at. They were pretty good. And there was probably like a, a hundred people there to watch the game. And they were just sitting there twiddling their thumbs in stadium, like an hour. And then the referee walked in like 15 minutes after the games should have started. And everyone is just sitting there looking at it and I'm walking in like, LA, you know, of course I hurt as much as I could, but, and then, you know, take on some, a different shirt and what not. And then onto the pits, straight away, just stop the match.

Jesper (11m 6s):
But it was a bit, but it was so amazing, everybody. It was just so calm and relaxing to everybody, except there was no complaints about anything. So that was actually a pretty good. So I don't know if, what you said just reminded me of that. Right.

Autumn (11m 18s):
It's a good story. It was just like the kind of questions we want and the stories we hope to tell for a a hundred episodes. So that's a good one. Oh, that's too funny.

Jesper (11m 28s):
Yeah. So, we added the link in the show notes from where you can post your questions. It will take you two, a simple Google forum, and you can leave a written question there if you want. But of course we would prefer an audio or video file where you ask you a question. So that way we can play it during episode 100.

Autumn (11m 47s):
Yes. So we can have your voice with us on the air with this is air. What is, Podcast it? I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. But

Jesper (11m 58s):
The, and of course, if you want to record a video of yourself, don't worry about where you were pointing the camera. We don't need the actual images. We just need the audio. So yeah. Point the camera at the floor of the wall or something. If you want to say that we, because we were just going to strip off the audio anyway. So yeah, we don't, we don't need any images, so yes. Yeah. But all right. Before we finished off this segment, we also need to give a huge, thank you to you really. I hope I am pronouncing that correctly. That was my cousin and yeah. David Goslin and also guilt master Seth. Yes. So thank you so much for joining us on Patreon.

Jesper (12m 41s):
I think, well, I have said this before. I know, but in all honesty, it is the support on a patron is really what justifies the time that we spent recording these podcasts episodes every week. So I don't get me wrong. We love creating this podcast and that's the main drive behind why we do it. But that set, it is still time that we could have spent on Writing. So, hence just to do a lot on Patreon and a month really helps us keep the lights on. So if you haven't checked out patron, yet there is a link in the show notes. And I should, yeah, I, I should just tell you to take a look at the Query what we offer that if you haven't done so already.

Jesper (13m 25s):
So yeah, the link is in the show

Autumn (13m 28s):
And we would love to have you come and take a look at it.

Jesper (13m 32s):
Oh, sorry. I was playing my music to fast.

Autumn (13m 36s):
That's okay. I had a quick internet hiccup, which I am one cell phone tower repeaters through rural Vermont woods. What could I say? It's bad. That's nice. It isn't. It's nice. Except for the internet. We won't get into internet. I am very jealous of your internet. But and you know, we couldn't have a conversation about that if you want. No, I don't think that's what people are tuning in four. They want to know about our Author Voice. So we'll just jump into that. And we'll hope that my mind steady is out in the falling leaves. Do not somehow mysteriously interrupt the airwaves or maybe it was a dragon eating a tower. I'm not sure if it was something it could have been in my bed. I don't know if I'll have to talk to my dreams.

Autumn (14m 19s):
I get it. Right.

Jesper (14m 20s):
Okay. But let's start out by defining what we are talking about when we speak of Author Voice and I can just start out with a definition I found. And then you mentioned that you, you saw quite a few different definitions of it. So maybe you, you have something to add to it, but at least from Well a way I would define it would be to say that Author Voice is its the choice of words. So the way you punctuate a, how the author conveys personality and their characters, it's, it's basically like a unique identifier that sometimes at least allows you to recognize the authors writing.

Jesper (15m 4s):
Even if you don't know who wrote what you are reading. So yeah. If, if the Author Voice is strong enough, you can just out of reading it, you will tell you this is Author X. Yes. So I think that's how I would say.

Autumn (15m 20s):
I think that's a good one. And I, what I saw a lot on the internet is from other bloggers was they were confusing. Author Voice with character, voice, and those are, they overlapped the spheres of them. But technically they're totally different. Your characters can have a, Voice a way of speaking. What they described it as an entirely different from your yourself, your own like personal Voice, who you are as a person, as well as your Author Voice, which is how you write things, which is often. So if you, especially when you're newer, it's very similar to how you write things, but it's a more how you perceive the world in how you put it on paper, but your character is, you know, I've written a dystopian thriller that it has this politician at all.

Autumn (16m 9s):
I always felt like I was doing like mental gymnastics to squeeze my brain into those characters because I am not a male politician from Spain. I don't know where that came from, but that's the character. And once I got into his head, I could write stuff that I never would think of as a person. But technically I think when you broke it down there, you could still pull to be able to pull out pieces and say, these are examples of Author Voice, which will get into. But I do want to point that out that character voice, the way the characters are talking and the dialogue is actually kind of a different thing. It's not your Author Voice right.

Jesper (16m 50s):
Actually I would almost say that if you, so if we go with the idea for just a second here, that the character of Voice is the Author Voice like you found on some of those blogs there. I haven't read those blocks. So in all transparency, I'm just making up a hot air here. But, but if we just go with that idea for a second, wouldn't that just mean that let's say you have a strong Author Voice and the Author Voice is the unique identifier I just define. But if you didn't say that that's the characters for Voice wouldn't that just means that every single character sounds exactly the same because they all speak in the Author Voice

Autumn (17m 32s):
I think, I think that could happen, but that's not what you're going for. You want your characters to sound, you know, I, I think you're right. That's why I think there was some confusion and maybe why maybe especially novice authors might think character Voice is Author Voice authors who have a problem separating characters from themselves, which I've definitely seen in some books I've edited in some novice things where it's just like, every character sounds the same, which sounds exactly like the Narrator it's all just written in Author Voice. But if you do a good job developing your character's and especially when they are almost like pop alive in your head and they talk and think so entirely different from you that it's, it is like putting on someone else's skin.

Autumn (18m 19s):
That's a really strong character voice, and it will have pieces of it that our part of Author Voice our part of your voice. It's gonna be this tiny little, like its the salt and the recipe. Its not the overall KC that comes out and yes, I know I'm back to food metaphor. Sorry.

Jesper (18m 39s):
No, but I, I think speaking of characters, because I think very good example of this is a way back in episode 30, one of the Am Writing Fantasy Podcast here. We have the highly successful FANTASY Author Lindsay, Barocco on to talk about the importance of writing and series a, but I've read several of Lindsay's books and she writes these well, sometimes they are very snarky characters. What are the times? It's just like a very humorous once, but her characters are always very distinct. A and it's definitely part of her.

Jesper (19m 21s):
Author Voice the way she creates characters in the way that they behave. That's part of how she writes. Ah, and I don't think she will disagree with me when I say that many of her readers, they come back because of the characters. That's why they read the stories. But that's not to say that her character is, sounds the same because they don't know, but they all have this very like Lyndsey. Barocco kind of mock on him. You know, you, you know that it has her character is, but they are very different characters. They have different goals, they have different motivations. They speak in different ways, but it is just, well, I, I can't be bothered and this is probably the difficult part of it because it's a unique identifier at sometimes, sometimes how to put your finger on what exactly it is.

Jesper (20m 3s):
But she just has a way of creating characters that is her own way. And either people love it, some, some hate it and they don't want to read her books. And a lot, a lot of people have to say a lot like it and they read her books. So, so that's a good example of, of what you just talk about.

Autumn (20m 22s):
Yeah. That's an example, a perfect example. And it's just sort of stepping back and looking at it from a big picture. So yeah, the way an author creates characters in how well they are created and how unique and different in whatever it is, is about them is a part of your voice as part of what you become known for as an author. If that's your style or if you have, you know, the gritty detective, you know what those other types, there's different ways of writing and you would be known for that. If you're always have a touch of romance, that might be a part of your Author Voice. So it is, it is something I actually had to, I had a reader and leave a review and they have to admit, I looked for it before this one, but I have 20 books out and I can't remember which book this one was on, but they had described it that they read a few chapters and then the art, as they put it, the authors familiar hand came in and they knew it was one of my books.

Autumn (21m 14s):
And I was like, Oh, that was so it was such a beautiful way of phrasing it that I wish I could have found the review because it summed up how a reader looks at Author Voice how they can say, Oh, this is this Author it's like picking up a Neil Gaiman with the, you know, having the cover of the title rip off in about, you know, six sentences. And you'd be like, Oh, I know who wrote this. That's when you know, you have found an author's voice. Yeah. And do you,

Jesper (21m 41s):
And then, or if we take some, some one, like I got to the Christie, a, you know, her style was like heavily influenced by her time as a nurse in world war one, she has often characters use postman to carry out the murders in the quarries. So you also let the psychological trauma of war effect her characters. So that's, you know, that's, that's a way where her experiences splits into her stories and that's definitely part of her Author Voice

Autumn (22m 15s):
Yes. That's very true. And such. It is. I can see it changing over time. Like I wonder, especially from a novice Author, but say if you were a novice Author in your twenties and you wrote to your sixties, seventies or eighties, I'm sure your Author Voice would also change and evolve because you are going to go through so many changes in your life. I mean, you could imagine, like if you switch it, if you started writing as a teenager, can you imagine, and so your career is going to spend meeting someone, falling in love, maybe having kids getting married and all these things, how you're Author Voice is probably going to deepen or change over time. I know when I look back at it, like my first book, and I think that was only a written seven, eight, nine years ago, something like that.

Autumn (23m 1s):
I know if I wrote it Today it would sound to me, I think it would sound nothing like what it is written. It would come out different, similar but different. But I also know that it would be recognizable as mine. And I think it's that recognizable element. That is what your author's voice is. And probably some aspects might not change over your entire life. I mean, for one of them is how you were saying, like how you develop characters, a how much description you put into things, you know, are, are you an author who sits there and talks about smelling the orange blossoms and the breeze or, or you want, that's just pretty much like, you know, you're straight to the action. Those are the differences and how you write and that's a part of your voice.

Jesper (23m 47s):
Yeah. And then I feel like throwing a bit of curve ball here and then see what you think about it.

Autumn (23m 53s):
Do you like challenging me on while we were recording? Tell me, you know. Yeah.

Jesper (23m 59s):
Well, I usually come up with things and then I don't tell about, you know, about it in advanced, just throw it out because I feel its more interesting or you don't like it, but I feel it's interesting.

Autumn (24m 8s):
What do you like to see what you think of my feet?

Jesper (24m 12s):
Oh no, no, it's not too bad. I promise this is more like a reflection of, I'm curious about your thoughts on it. Because if we take somebody like J K Rowling, for example, she writes commercial fiction. The so does Lindsay broke her by the way and as well. So do you And I right. But the thing is that if we go into like the helicopter view around Author Voice then I feel like if you look at it from a literary critics perspective, they don't really spend any time analyzing works that are labeled as commercial fiction.

Jesper (24m 53s):
You know, they, they knew it would look at a more experimental in writing style and then say, okay, look at this very distinct Author Voice here and how this is different from what we've seen before. And this is a very brave Writing or whatever. Whereas the commercial fiction is just trying to tell a good story and that's it, you know, Rawling focuses on her audience and she writes for them to get the story across in a transparent manner as possible where the provost doesn't get in the way of the story at all. So I've just, my reflection in here is just, is that if we were talking about commercial fiction, how much do we then say that Author Voice plays into that versus the other types of a, you know, fiction where Author Voice might be more clear, you know, it might be more easily,

Autumn (25m 51s):
But yes. All right. So Author, Voice it's I think it's speculative fiction with a commercial fiction. It is more, it is toned down, but it's still there. I mean, if you think about like Ernest Hemingway and his Turner phrase and how he wrote, I mean, its so easy to no, that that was, you know, that's Hemingway or especially with the style where there is a third person like omniscient narrator Narrator or a narrator, the narrator often comes across as an Author Voice even though sometimes it is a character, but something about it creates more of a lie in the literary fiction has more of a distinctive Author Voice in poetry.

Autumn (26m 31s):
To me is a really good example. A poet's how there, where their punctuation, where they stopped the sentence as the words they use. M those, you read the whole book, the book of poetry. You have a very good feel for that. Voice and it's often, I mean, you read some poems and you know, whether or not you like these authors or you're going to like to get entire Pope book of poetry just based on one or two poems. And it's usually based on the subject of the Author Voice but so I think it's, I do think it's, it's different with commercial fiction, but it is still there because it's more of a hidden layer. It's a, it's still present though.

Autumn (27m 9s):
I mean, where we punctuate, how do we develop our characters weather? We use description's those types of things. Weather were fast paced weather. We had that a little bit of a romance. You get a feel for what is the package. So when you have that, Author what you are going to expect to see every single one of the books. And that is more than Voice I think when it comes to a speculative fiction, it's just like, Author plotting as well. It's all tied in there. You get the Author brand basically is sort of your Author Voice. Yeah.

Jesper (27m 41s):
And then of course, ah, well, I mean you mentioned Vinci Baroque a minute ago, right? I mean, she, she writes commercial fiction, ah, as well, and a Hare characters is definitely a very clear part of her Author Voice so it's a, it's not like I'm not, I'm not trying to say that in commercial fiction, there is no Author Voice I'm just saying that I think it might be a bit harder to notice it and you have to look a bit harder.

Autumn (28m 5s):
Oh no, I, I agree. And I think that's maybe why a lot of commercial fiction or fantasy authors, especially the way we wonder, like what is our Author Voice is that the characters Voice what does, is this nebulous thing? And that's because it is not as forward as it is in like non-fiction you have a very strong Author Voice and literary fiction. You have a very strong Author Voice, but in commercial fiction and fantasy fiction, it's it's much subtler because we do want the story to be for front. You know, we were telling this story of where you live with you. I like that phrase. You get the pros out of the way, you know, you're trying to get those words from him, encumbering the story you wanted to just flow and B a beautiful stories that people don't get hung up on certain phrases where yeah, you did fiction and you were like, you know, you could have so much more fun with metaphors.

Autumn (28m 54s):
I've had people yell at me for some of my metaphors because they didn't think they work together quite correctly, but I know that's part of my Author Voice get rid of it and get used to it. Yeah. But yeah,

Jesper (29m 4s):
That is so true because it is also, I think we also need to be mindful that it's different readers. I mean, the people who love to read books where they can just say well, in how the Author, you know, put together these words to make wonderful sentences. And so on, those readers are different readers than the ones who picks up a commercial fiction, people back and just chat through it. Right. 'cause they want to assault, absolved the story, but it's not the same thing. I mean, if, if you want to, at least for me, I mean, I prefer as well to read commercial fiction. I, I like the stories. I am there to read the wonderful Perros and whatnot.

Jesper (29m 46s):
It can probably start annoying me a bit if there's to much of it. So, hence that is also the kind of stories that are right. Because I know I don't like to ride overly prose, heavy stuff. I'm of course I want it to sound good. And what not, that's not what I'm saying it. Right. But, but it's just, I think you own preferences bleed to bleeds into your Author Voice. I mean, for example, I know if I write, when I write nonfiction, it's a very different tone and a style than what I use when I write fiction, because it's, it's different things, you know, it's different mediums. So you adapt and do you adapt to that?

Autumn (30m 24s):
That makes total sentence. Yes. And I think, cause that was actually another review, which I thought was so funny that an Author had pointed out of my work and they had said that M each of her serious, totally. Are you totally unique from one another or her writing style seem to shift a bit to accommodate the story. And I think that's why it's so true about commercial fictions and our Author Voice is that we do change the tone. You changed the tone to fit the character. You changed the tone to fit story. If I'm writing a novel, bright, it's going to be a lot brighter and happier, and there's going to be other tones to it than when I'm reading, like some of the darks fantasies that I'm writing that as much more gritty and the end of the world sort of stuff.

Autumn (31m 9s):
So our, I think we're a little bit more malleable. We kind of hide it and we kind of nuance different things because we don't want it to get in the way of the story, but there's still, you know, how often do we use metaphors that I do always make sure that I set a scene very well, the characters. So those are all sorts of, like I said, it's, it's becomes almost more of a brand. You could almost pull out those aspects and say, these are my books. I am, this is the type of Author I am, this is my brand. This is my Author Voice.

Jesper (31m 43s):
Mm. Yeah. And I guess a burning question that we could look into a bit here is how important is it to have or develop a distinct Author Voice because we were sort of tiptoeing around that question anyway, now, right?

Autumn (31m 57s):
Yeah. I guess so we like to dance around questions. It's fun.

Jesper (32m 2s):
Yeah. But I, you know, I, I think Author is often wants there Writing to stand out and there was nothing wrong with that. I mean, I understand that, but this Author, Voice a thingy here. It is, I think. And I'm curious, what do you think afterwards? Of course, as well, but I think it's really something that you can be too concerned about developing, because I honestly do think that while it might be Well, it might take you some time to understand exactly what your style actually is, but you are Author Voice his, in my view already there, you know, it it's been developing since the very first day you started writing and so you don't overthink it.

Jesper (32m 44s):
Yeah. That's kind of how I do with it.

Autumn (32m 47s):
I think so I think if you were writing Fantasy commercial fiction fiction and a new author came to me and they were, especially if they were stressed about the Author Voice or if anyone asked me and be like, don't even worry about it, write the backstory, you can write the best characters you can. And you know what readers will probably the more you're right. The more someone is going to point out like, Oh, you always do this. And that might be how you find out what your Author Voice is. I think I said I've had one or 20 books out now. So I kind of have an idea of what my Author Voice is and what I am selling when I write a book. So I understand that. And I've had some readers with me since the first book, by the way, if you are out there, I love you.

Autumn (33m 30s):
Thank you for sticking with me in as many years, but they are, if it comes as you right. More so your fans, when they become true fans, their fans, because of how you write of what you write. So they come over time and you don't even have to work on them because it's, it is a part of you and your personality and sort of how you put those words on paper. I did one of the blog posts I wrote. So, you know, someone pointed out that she writes just the way she speaks. And so that it is sort of the part of it. I mean, if you are Starkey or a, have a sense of humor is going to bleed through and to some of the characters you create the way they looked at the world, as much as we tried to create characters who are separate from us, there's still something we create.

Autumn (34m 23s):
And no, no, no. The hand of God or goddess that we are as authors were going to imbue them with some little sense of looking at the world, the way we look at the world and that's that a little, little touch. So that's your Author Voice coming through and everything you write it, it will be there, but if you don't sit there and do it like exercises to learn, to develop your voice, I mean, I guess you could go, right. Some poems, you'll probably figure out your Voice very quickly, but it's not going to translate well into a, a a hundred thousand words a novel.

Jesper (34m 57s):
No, I, and I think when you're first starting out writing, and if you're really experienced the Writing, the listeners here are some listeners will be, I think that they will probably recognize that what happens a lot is that when you were first starting out, you have a tendency to copy a bit, the style of writing that you're favorite authors right. In, but then after a while it starts morphing into your own thing. But I don't think really that you can sit down and say, okay, now I want to develop my own Author Voice because I don't think it works like that. It's it's not like a skill that you can.

Jesper (35m 38s):
I, I think it's just well, finding your Author Voice, it's just a process of writing and writing and writing sophomore, and then

Autumn (35m 47s):
It will come. Definitely. And I do think I still, at this point, if I read a book while I'm writing, I can feel a little bit of the tone of it sneak into my writing. But I do think that the editing can, you know, evens it out. That's what good at editing does. So it takes care of some of those changes, because goodness knows, even though I've learned to write very quickly, if you're writing style over a trilogy over six months can change from book one to book three easily. So it's, you know, those, those, what editing is good for is making sure that all sounds like it was the same person written, you know, consistently, but it is definitely something that is there, but it doesn't have to be, it develops, like you said, I think you can change a little bit over time as your experience changes over time.

Autumn (36m 36s):
But that is probably going to be some essence. That's just simply you and the way you look at the world since you opened your eyes the first time.

Jesper (36m 45s):
Hmm. Yeah. And I've also heard examples of, you know, what, when people could write books in our case, we are not a good example because of that case, you know, you will be the one doing all the editing. So in the end, it'll be more in your voice as such, which is fine. So, but I'm thinking more about the scenarios where I've heard people who they might write alternating points of view, alternating chapters. So in those cases, I think you will be able to recognize that there is a difference in the way each of those chapters are written. I have not. I've just heard this. So it's hearsay. I am not read any of those types of books for myself, but I've heard people say that they can tell which author was writing, which chapter

Autumn (37m 35s):
That makes I. And I am sure. I actually think about that when we do Patrick on post, because I do Monday post and you do one's at the end of the week. And sometimes I try to remember to quote unquote, sign mine, put my name at the bottom. Cause I know, you know, we get to be patrons. They don't know which one of us it was Writing but I wonder if I think I have seen one or two se, Oh, I know it, it was you. Or I knew it was you fall on the comment because of how you said something. And so yeah, when people do pick up those nuances, though, I will say I'm doing transcripts and putting our names on the transcripts of our podcast. I get lost sometimes. So this, so sometimes you go to the longer we know each other, I think we are going to have to watch that we might start talking a little bit of a light, but we have very similar viewpoints on things.

Autumn (38m 23s):
So I think that's just the way things go sometimes. That's all right. Considering what the opposite side of the Atlantic its kind of funny.

Jesper (38m 33s):
Absolutely. Yeah. No, but, but I just think if it proves the point that we have our own way of saying things, I mean, of course when, if you're using the Podcast transcript, that's an example that that comes out just the way we speak. So, but of course, when you are handling fiction, you are editing it. Meaning that I would get rid of all of the speech impediments I have and correct those and make it sound different. But also making sure that I don't start every sentence with So or something like that, right there. Like I said, in a previous podcast that I have a tendency to do, so I will, I will edit the, edit out all those sows to make sure that we start different paragraphs on different Sentences different and, and so on.

Jesper (39m 27s):
Right. But whereas the transcript is a bit different because that's just us speaking with fiction. I, I think some of the Author Voice lies

Autumn (39m 36s):
In the editing as well. I think it does to, because I know that's when you might work in some more metaphors that's when you might break up Sentences and ease and things are adding in the description, So whatever you do, it is part of creating your voice. I know I've recently read something that was, you know, that the writer didn't do many edits and I know what, like what I am doing at the time, like nine passes, which I know I'm a little obsessed. I like editing. So I tend to do layers and layers and layers of passes when I edit. And again, that is then part of my style, which comes across in my voice. And I know I, when I look at something and it's not written the same way, I know its usually the Polish is not there because it's not in the editing.

Autumn (40m 23s):
Mia. I even know when I'm writing, I wouldn't have called it my voice until I sat down and thought of it. What were you recording this episode? But when my writing is flowing and it's just like, it's coming so easily, whether I'm writing in a character's voice or anything it's because you know, the Author Voice is strong. Everything is, you know, you, when you have that synergy and writing is going well, that's usually, that's when you're Author Voice, it's just, everything's just gold and, and everything is working well. But when I can't find that character, Voice when I can't find my style in my flow, it's probably cause I am off a little bit and I just need to sit down and maybe, you know, get into my own head and, and maybe put it on my headphones.

Autumn (41m 5s):
Right. A little bit better. That will bring out the Author Voice.

Jesper (41m 10s):
Hmm. Yeah. And it, it might also be a case of the more mindful you become have you're own unique style and your own Author Voice the more you can, you can play on it on purpose and put it to you. Yeah.

Autumn (41m 22s):
Yeah. But I don't think I would think so. And that, that would be so something I would think and say, because I love, once my readers do know me well enough, I started misleading them. That's just sort of the fun, you know, its like the pied Piper of Hamlin. You never know if you're going to the seaside or the cliff. Yeah. Yeah. But I just think, Oh they all don't worry to much about this Author Voice thing. Right? I mean you can read many blog posts on the internet where people talk so much about how, if you don't have a unique Author Voice than you are not memorable a and you, you were basically doomed and they listen and putting in the $150 per hour, it will teach you to do yours.

Autumn (42m 7s):
No that's yeah. It might be that as well. Yeah. Are you sure it is? It's got to be no, I agree. You don't have to stress about your Author Voice if you're worried about being memorable, there are so many ways, you know, you're plotting your character's just write a really good fiction. You have that little twist, right. Something you love that is more important than sitting there and niggling about whether or not you've created it a unique Author Voice to me it's Writing as we often say, it's a marathon, not a sprint. You know, when you start getting your second series or a third series, as you develop all of these books, not only will you have found your Author Voice you'll have found fans who love you for your Author Voice and it will have all worked itself out without you wearing the bit about it.

Jesper (42m 58s):
So don't lose any sleep and don't dream about dreaming. 'cause that's just really confusing and you might never wake up. So that was a bit dark. Sorry about that. No, but the good news is that the cures pretty easy. Right, right, right. That's the cure. Eh, you know, if the Author Voice isn't in Q2 right now, it will become clear and as time goes by. Yeah. And just keep writing. Right. I mean absolutely. The story isn't it? Absolutely. You know, when you say it's a great question to ask your, your readers in your newsletter, after you published a couple of series of saying, Hey, what's your favorite aspect? What do you think is, you know, my father is Voice and see what people say because it could be a lot of fun.

Jesper (43m 45s):
Alright. So next Monday we'll do another one of our popular alternating lists. You have a top 10 mistakes, AMA sauce writers.

Narrator (43m 55s):
So if you like what you just heard, there's a few things you can do to support The Am Writing Fantasy Podcast please tell a fellow author about the show and visit us at Apple podcast and leave a rating and review. You can also join Autumn and Jesper on patreon.com/amwritingfantasy for as little as a dollar a month, you will get awesome rewards and keep The Am Writing Fantasy Podcast going to stay safe out there and see you next Monday.