The right to claim my serious voice

The other week I was foolish enough to read a Twitter thread about what an agent wanted to see in his  submissions.  I should know better than to read these by how, but I still fall for them, thinking it might give me that edge that allows me to finally get someone interested in my writing.

And what did I find?  That the agent wanted a serious novel to be 'lightened by wit and humour'.  He went on to say that it's all about the voice, but it seems that, for this agent, the voice must be a funny one.  The voice of a serious introvert telling a non-comedic story isn't the right one.

I've read so many posts by agents about voice.  And I've lost count of the number which have said that the agent loves 'wacky, funny, quirky' voices.  Which may be one reason why some of the agents never bothered to reply to my submissions to them.

Personally, I usually find books written in 'wacky and quirky' voices either extremely irritating or even completely unreadable.  That sort of stuff reminds me of the many introverts I see often in the cafes I frequent.  They talk loudly, laughing falsely often.  They wave their hands around manically, like some demented silent movie actor.  

In short, they're trying way too hard.  The same goes for some of those so-called 'funny' books.  As a serious introvert, I don't find many of them funny.  And the idea of being forced to sit and listen to a stand-up comedian is my idea of hell.

I find most extrovert ideas of humour irritating.  I would rather spend my day watching wildlife, or patting a passing dog. They amuse me far more.  To my eye, most people are trying far too hard to 'have fun'.

Most of the books that stay with me, the ones I fall in love with, are serious books.   I'm thinking of Becky Chambers' A Closed And Common Orbit  now.  It deals with themes of slavery and prejudice, but it does so through the eyes of two serious characters I love.  I want to share their struggles.  I care about them, and I want them to succeed. I wouldn't if everything was couched in terms of a joke.

So I won't be writing  spurious 'wit and humour' stories to please those agents.  I will continue to claim my unique voice, my serious voice.  And if that means it takes much longer to find the right agent for me, then so be it.