Getting the voice right

[pegkerr]

I've been thinking about the (short) scene I wrote this morning and e-mailed to kijjohnson. It was an acceptable scene, I suppose, but I realized after I sent it that I probably didn't have Solveig's voice right. I had her getting emotional, and if I want to make her thinking oriented rather than feeling oriented, I have to approach it differently.

'Course, I can change my mind if I want to. But I think I do want to stick with trying to make Solveig thinking oriented, because that ties more closely into the heart of stone theme I'm exploring. I must think about how to handle this technically. She doesn't cry. She doesn't get upset. So how do I signal that something is a big deal for her? All my usual writing tricks (tears, big angst-y heartfelt speeches, yelling, etc.) won't work with her, if you will.

I realize that I don't have either Solveig or Jack's "voice" quite right yet. By this I don't mean whether they are soprano or baritone, but a confidence I can snap off a line of dialogue as either of them without thinking about it, and know that what comes out will be truly what their character would say. Solveig's much closer than Jack. With Jack, it gets back to my uneasy feeling I can't write a smart ass. Does he have to be a smart ass? What if he isn't?

This technique I'm using, of writing a lot of little scenes without worrying (yet) whether they'll even be in the book is quite useful for this process. It's like focusing a camera. Or stalking the wild wildebeest, or something (not this direction. Okay, turn and go this direction. No? Hmm. Try this direction.)

What I tell beginning writers, over and over again, is that the mistake that so many of them make is to think that writing is liking sculpting marble: one slip of the chisel, and you've lopped off Venus de Milo's arm. No, what writing is really like is sculpting on the potters wheel. You slap a bunch of clay on the wheel, you pour water on, you shape it, squeeze it, take a chunk off, put a large chunk back on, and what you're working with is very pliable. You just have to be sure to put enough clay on the wheel to start with. This writing method I'm using is like playing. I'm still trying to find the "shape" of the piece I'm working with, playing with different possibilities for Jack and Solveig's voices. Rather like an actor might try out several possibilities before settling on the interpretation of a character. Hopefully, I'll get closer and closer to what I want as I go along.

Cheers,
Peg

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

A non-demonstrative, non-emotional character could be demonstrated by various physical reactions or behaviours. She doesn't engage but removes herself from such confrontations as quickly as possible. She's got some "nervous habit." She becomes quiet and doesn't respond to questions. She disappears (emotionally, physically, both?)

K. [likes suggesting things; you don't mind, do you?]