Voice is the key to success

On Wednesday evening of this week I attended the annual University of Chichester publishing panel.  There were agents from three different agencies, an editor, and a self-publishing champion, all talking about the publishing industry today.

Not surprisingly, most of the discussion was about what agents and editors  wanted to see in a submission.  And every speaker said that the writer's individual voice is key.  It's not about emulating a best-seller's style, it's about finding your own style, telling your story in your own authentic way,

But of course, when they were asked to define voice, they struggled.  'A different feel', one of them said.  Another suggested there might possibly be an element of novelty about it.  And this is where the writer starts to get frustrated.  What the hell do those vague generalities mean?  They mean that those editors and agents don't know what they like until they see it.  

But they also said that the way to get your story accepted was to write a damn good story.  Story is king, and queen.  And all of them stressed the importance of an author writing what they wanted to write.  And when we do that in our own unique style, and we put ourselves authentically on the page, we have our voice.

Their advice was the know your genre, then write the book you want within those guidelines, without worrying about the market as you write.  And they emphasised that trend-hopping never works.  Publishing industry timescales are so long that an author will have missed the bandwagon by the time their book comes out.

Again and again they returned to that indefinable concept of voice.  And the best way we can find that is to write from our hearts, about things we're passionate about, and don't hold back.  Wring every piece of emotional depth from our characters.  Then cross our fingers and hope.

Wendy Metcalfe is the author of Panthera : Death Spiral and Panthera : Death Song and the short story collection Otherlives.  Find out more about her at www.wendymetcalfe.com