I've been reviewing stories on Wattpad for a while now and, boy, has that been a journey. Your stories have made me gasp and squeal. Your stories have made me laugh and cry.
But, from time to time, your stories have made me cringe.
In commemoratio...
Okay, to be fair, it's only been four months. BUT in Wattpad years, that's like... 485 centuries. I'm practically Edward Cullen. Fear me. I am a brooding vampire with red eyes. I'm also hot.
Anyways, in all seriousness, it's been a while -- but my goal is to get to 101 chapters in this! So here I go!
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Ah, yes. Character voice. I've gotten many questions about it.
So...
Welcome to The Voice: Wattpad Edition!
For people who have watched The Voice, there's generally four sections in it!
- The Blind Auditions
- The Battles
- The Knock Outs/Play Offs
- The Final Performances
And I think this is a pretty good structure to follow when discussing finding and polishing your character voice!
Starting with the auditions.
Picture this:
You've picked your song. It's your absolute favourite. You've walked onto the stage. You're ready to sing your heart out.
You can smell the sweat in the room. You can see the audience staring intently at you. You can feel your own body shaking.
This is it. This is the moment. Your rise to stardom.
You open your mouth.
And out comes the song.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All The Way--
The judges don't turn. The audience starts booing.
And no, it's not because you sang a Christmas Carol in the middle of September.
But because you didn't prepare!
Which brings me to my first point:
1. Preparing for the Audition: READ, READ, AND READ.
I've talked about it millions of times already (or maybe only a thousand, I am prone to exaggerating). But seriously. Reading is the most important thing you can do as a writer.
But it's not just reading and enjoying -- you have to analyse.
Look at the authors you love and see what they do. What devices do they use that makes their character voices so distinct and engaging? And when you read books you don't like, what about those voices makes you turn away? You have to see what you like and don't like, but you also need to actively try to learn from them.
2. The Auditions: Making Those Chairs Turn!
The Voice is a pretty cool concept, because the judges cannot see you. All they hear is your voice.
