Am I a Psychopath? (And Other Thoughts on Narrative Voice)

I've noticed in my last few (mostly all) blog posts that I have been a bit heavy-handed on the complaining. While that does make me smile a little, I also worry that I'm coming off a bit neurotic. In the real world, I'm one of those smiley people who are quick to laugh. So what does it mean that my blog posts are all fear and negativity? What's with the personality split? Am I a psychopath? Would a psychopath think about whether they were a psychopath? Am I having a bit of a Descartes moment/breakdown here? I think I am a psychopath, therefore I am.

So in conclusion, I am a psychopath. But who cares? No one is reading these anyway.

Okay, great. We solved that one.

So, what's been going on, M? Glad you asked. It's finally clothes layering season. Socks season. Go outside with a jacket season. Ooooo yeah. This is the stuff. I feel alive. I've been wanting to leave the house and write more, too. The other day, I even ventured out to the library to write. I witnessed a man using one of the library computers, watching a Wiggles music video and headbanging and air drumming like he was at a death metal concert. Life is full of wonder.

Narrative voice ~

Coming back to my penchant for complaining, I have been thinking about narrative voice these past few days. This is also off the back of watching one of The Cozy Creatives' recent YouTube video on the topic. While I think it's too early in my writing (I'm only on Draft 1 of Project Hollow, my fantasy romance book) to really implement changes around voice, I can't help but step back and reread my work and see tiny little hints of my own dark humour or dreariness in the characters and how they perceive the world of Langore and each other.

So what is voice? I'm not talking about tense or whether the writing is in 1st or 3rd person. I'm talking more about the writing's personality, kind of like how you can tell a book's genre by its voice. A contemporary romance is very familiar in how they talk and describe things, or you pick up an epic fantasy, and the voice is often more languid. It takes its time, from here to there, describing the trees, then the mountains and then maybe a people, it has a vibe. Going deeper, different authors have distinct voices in their work; you can recognise Tolkien's writing from his voice, or Pratchett's or Austin's from excerpts of their writing. 

I want to develop a distinct voice, though I know I'm far from it. I don't think it's even possible to have a strong voice as a rookie. Right now, as I'm in the first draft trenches, it's more like a fugue state of ramblings with flashes of interesting writing coming through on the rare occasion. So how can I expect there to be a concise personality on top of all the rubbish that is the first draft? Maybe I could claim my voice is messy and unhinged? That could work.

I find myself anticipating finally holding a completely edited version of Project Hollow and reading it after a nice, long break. Oh, what do we have here? An intriguing fantasy romance with splashes of sci-fi and mystery? Oh, there are vampires, giants, spaceships and magical tech? Oh, it's so witty, and at times poised, and funny, and then deeply romantic. Yeah, I'd like that a lot. I'll let you know if it works out that way.

Writing update ~

Scene 16 is well on its way. I'm nearing the end of what is looking like a chunky one. The leads, Cin and Ward, are doing a break-in to look for information that could help them find Ward's missing sister. I have the leads working well together, but there also need to be moments when we see them hating each other. It's hard to say whether I'm being too light-handed on the tension; I think I am. That's okay for now. The main point of the scene is that they need to find a clue. Which, yes, I'm happy to say I do know what that clue is. Alhumdulilah.

My sister actually helped me figure out what the clue would be. After talking through multiple options, we settled on the first idea I had. Sometimes writing the obvious thing is the right call.

My sister is also working on a fantasy witchy book. It's so nice to be able to talk through plot stuff with another writer who gets it. She came up with the funniest little story idea the other day at TK Maxx when we saw a cute dog vest, about a person accidentally bringing dog clothes as a baby shower gift, and the madness that ensued. Thinking about watching someone explain why they brought dog clothes for an unborn baby had me giggling. I highly recommend getting yourself a sister who also writes. Thank me later.

Recs ~

Speaking of recommendations, I've recently gotten back into the Fated Mates Podcast. It's hosted by the best-selling romance author Sarah Maclean and editor and critic Jen Prokop. I started listening to the podcast wayyy back when they first started talking about each of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark books (a fave of mine, it's a long-running paranormal romance series). I've gotten back into the show and enjoyed their interview with V.E. Schwab, where they talk about the difference between romance with a capital R and lowercase r, storytelling, and a whole bunch of other topics.

Project Hollow Progress

Draft one: 39%

Current Scene: 16

Until next time,

M.