2. “Just as each person has his or her
own clothing style, speaking style,
walking style, and so on, we also
each have a writing style and voice.
One's personality and insight are
reflected in the writing product.
Writing with voice is not just about
properly forming a sentence, but
also noting how sentences flow
and/or how visual imagery is used to
convey a message.”
An explanation of
voice by one of
my students …
3. From our text: “[Voice] is far more
complex than discovering a single,
personal, or genuine sound. In our
everyday lives, as in speech, we often shift
in subtle ways, borrowing tones and
phrases from popular culture, academic
culture, business, entertainment, and
politics. We fuse those elements into our
own tongues . . .” (Mauk and Metz 150)
4. What is the level of language?
What “person” does the writer
work in?
What are the range and the source
of allusions? Do these come from
high or low culture, or both?
How often does the writer use
metaphors and other figures of
speech? Does the writer want to
sound more like the poet, whose
work is rich with figurative images,
or the journalist, who uses them
for special effect?
Clark, Roy Peter. Writing Tools: Fifty
Strategies for Every Writer. New York: Little,
Brown, 2006. Print. 113.
Voice has
many
dimensions.
5. What is the length and structure of
the typical sentence? Are sentences
short and simple? Long and
complex? Or mixed?
What is the distance from neutrality?
Is the writer trying to be objective,
partisan, or passionate?
How does the writer frame her/his
materials? On beat or offbeat?
Clark, Roy Peter. Writing Tools: Fifty Strategies
for Every Writer. New York: Little, Brown, 2006.
Print. 113.
Voice has
varied
dimensions.
6. Whether you are writing an essay, a
cover letter, a resume, a lab report,
or a novel, verb variety can enliven
your voice. Forms of the verb “to be”
(is, are, was, were) don’t quite have
the impact of active verbs. Consider
an A through Z verb list as a warm-up
activity for more complex
assignments.
VERB
9. He [Harold Ekeh, U.S. immigrant
from Nigeria] referenced that
effort in his college essay, writing,
“Like a tree, uprooted and
replanted, I could have withered in
a new country surrounded by
people and languages I did not
understand. Yet, I witnessed my
parents persevere despite the
potential to succumb. I faced my
challenges with newfound zeal; I
risked humiliation, spending my
recesses talking to unfamiliar faces,
ignoring their sarcastic remarks.”
Eltman, Frank. Washington Post
7 April 2015. Web. 20 April 2015.
IMAGERY!
11. “Then she generated the light, and the sight
of her room, flooded with radiance and
studded with electric buttons, revived her.
There were buttons and switches
everywhere - buttons to call for food for
music, for clothing. There was the hot-bath
button, by pressure of which a basin of
(imitation) marble rose out of the floor, filled
to the brim with a warm deodorized liquid.
There was the cold-bath button. There was
the button that produced literature. and
there were of course the buttons by which
she communicated with her friends.”
E.M. Forster, “The Machine Stops”
“Afraid of the dark, afraid of thunderstorms,
afraid of even the slightly raised voice of our
teenager, she is growing more confident
with each fear successfully encountered.”
MSS, “Voice Lessons: An Adopted Stray
Rediscovers Her Bark.” Christian Science
Monitor. 27 Aug. 2010. Print.
REPETITION
15. MORE VOICES: duet or ensemble?
“Ellen Kleinerman didn’t realize how stressful
the months leading up to the layoffs were until
it was all over. Kleinerman, who worked for The
Plain Dealer for 14 years, did not volunteer for
the layoffs. ‘I was just an emotional mess,’ she
said. ‘It wasn’t just a job for me. It was a career.
It was a calling. It was something that I would
get up every day and feel like, this is what I
want to do. It just was more than a job.’”
Beaujon, Andrew, et al. “How Mass Layoffs in 2013 Changed
the Lives of Former Plain Dealer Staffers.” Poynter Online. 31
July 2014. Web. 28 April 2015.
16. “Now, to the important stuff. In all
honesty, we are very excited that
you are coming to invest in our
company. I think this will provide us
with a much-needed infusion of
funds with which to not only
stabilize but spur growth of our
little company. . . . And despite
what other people around the
world say about Americans, we
really are hard workers, especially
my boss who heads up the
company—nose to the grindstone
every day and burning the midnight
oil every night!”
Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw,
and Walter E. Oliu. The Business
Writer’s Companion. 2nd ed. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999. Print.
182.
Purpose and
audience should
guide choice of
voice.
17. Create a list of writers
you admire. Here are
some of mine:
Maya Angelou
Sherry Turkle
James Pennebaker
Dave Barry
Mary Oliver
voices
purpose
audience
18.
19.
20. “Voice matters, and in different ways for
different kinds of articles. So it's not
that there is one ‘approved’ voice. In
op-eds and blogs, I care a great deal
about authenticity and range of voices.
And since our authors range from
graduate students to [college]
presidents, I assume the voices will be
all over the place (and that's good). With
new articles, the range is more limited.
But even there, different voices make
sense for different pieces. I hope our
news articles have an authoritative tone
that reflects bringing the reader ‘inside’
higher ed. But even there, there is not a
single tone or voice I'd want.”
E-mail (26 April 2015) from Scott Jaschik
Editor and Co-Founder
Inside Higher Ed
21. “Just like birds have different songs and chirps, writers
have distinctive voices. Some are so distinct that if you
were to block out the byline on a story, you still might be
able to guess who wrote the piece. Voice is difficult to
explain, but we know it when we see it.
In journalism, we look for a writer’s voice most often in
feature and column writing. Are they flip? Or glib? Or
humorous? Straight news stories don’t always afford an
opportunity for the writer’s voice to come forward as
forcefully.
It can take some time to discover your own voice, but . . .
just write and in time it will come through loud and
clear.”
E-mail (28 April 2015) from Linda Kinsey
Managing Producer
Northeast Ohio Media Group
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5Zgkwnp_g
