I’ve been thinking a lot about voice lately. Writers, editors, and agents talk about voice in a story, but most have a hard time defining exactly what they mean. But they know it when they hear it, they say. Some of voice has to do with mood, and word choice, and the attitude of the characters, but some of it is indefinable.

As it is with human voices. I’ve recently had the opportunity to hear a lot of young people singing. Children from the ages of 10 to 18 have been performing at area schools, and I’m struck by how some can carry a tune and have a pure tone, but don’t really stand out. Others have power and personality in addition to the right pitch. What’s the difference? Confidence, maybe, or training. But clearly there is a difference between human voices, even if they’re singing exactly the same thing.

I’ve heard some writers say that you don’t find your own voice as a writer until you’ve written hundreds of thousands of words. That’s where the training and the confidence come in. Like anything else, it takes practice. Of course, there are writers who find a voice right off the bat. Ingrid Law’s Savvy comes to mind. So maybe there’s also something about natural talent, just like the young singers.

And, I think the writing voice has a lot in common with vocal performance, in that the author steps into the character of the whole story, and then into the different characters within the story. For instance, my story “The Silver Snake,” has a very different voice from “Wolf Dream.” The two stories required different voices because their settings, themes, and moods were so different.

I’d love to hear your favorite examples of voice in writing!