Greetings and Salutations. Firstly, regarding the next chapter of Hypothetically Speaking. I will be posting the next chapter on Thursday. Look for it then, but don't stop coming back for further updates, poems, stories, etc.
A bit of pushing for myself, I have posted a link for one of my side projects The Jovial Brittanians as its own page, and would like to encourage you to check it out. It was a project I attempted a while back, to have a serial format story, where the audience could determine where the action went (kind of like those old/new choose your own adventure books.) I would love to get the project restarted, but as with all things, it depends on readers, and that one I will not resume until I get at least 10 votes on where the story should go.
Now then, on to a discussion on voice. Let's start with a visual example. Well, audio but also visual.
This, for those who don't know, is the song Hurt by Nine Inch Nails. I'd like to encourage you to listen to it if you've never listened to the song, or if you have, then listen to it again. Cause it's a good song.
Now then, a comparison.
When listening to the two songs, notice how the song takes on a different meaning when sung by the two musicians? If you really pay attention, you might have noticed that Johnny changes one of the lyrics to "Crown of Thorns," as opposed to the NIN "Crown of Shit." Notice how just the difference in the tonality of their voice changes things?
What I'm trying to say and demonstrate with a fairly obvious example, is that voice in art is huge. And it's not just important in music. It is huge with regards to writing.
Voice is one of the hardest things to do well, because it requires consistency, it requires practice, it requires editing, and it requires actually being able to shift your voice around. There's a reason this blog sounds like it's me speaking, and it's not just because I type out the first thing that comes to mind. It has to do with a long history of developing my "blog" voice (which is different from my letter writing voice, or my poet voice or...) and figuring out how to manipulate the physical placement of my words to create that voice. I'll shift my voice in writing now just to demonstrate how this could be completely different.
Dear Reader,
A bit of pushing for myself, I have posted a link for one of my side projects The Jovial Brittanians as its own page, and would like to encourage you to check it out. It was a project I attempted a while back, to have a serial format story, where the audience could determine where the action went (kind of like those old/new choose your own adventure books.) I would love to get the project restarted, but as with all things, it depends on readers, and that one I will not resume until I get at least 10 votes on where the story should go.
Now then, on to a discussion on voice. Let's start with a visual example. Well, audio but also visual.
Now then, a comparison.
The second version is by Johnny Cash, and is generally regarded as the better of the two. So much so that Trent Reznor himself has admitted that he now acknowledges Hurt as Johnny Cash's song. But this isn't a discussion on who does a better version of Hurt. It's a discussion on voice.
When listening to the two songs, notice how the song takes on a different meaning when sung by the two musicians? If you really pay attention, you might have noticed that Johnny changes one of the lyrics to "Crown of Thorns," as opposed to the NIN "Crown of Shit." Notice how just the difference in the tonality of their voice changes things?
What I'm trying to say and demonstrate with a fairly obvious example, is that voice in art is huge. And it's not just important in music. It is huge with regards to writing.
Voice is one of the hardest things to do well, because it requires consistency, it requires practice, it requires editing, and it requires actually being able to shift your voice around. There's a reason this blog sounds like it's me speaking, and it's not just because I type out the first thing that comes to mind. It has to do with a long history of developing my "blog" voice (which is different from my letter writing voice, or my poet voice or...) and figuring out how to manipulate the physical placement of my words to create that voice. I'll shift my voice in writing now just to demonstrate how this could be completely different.
Dear Reader,
It is a pleasure to find you considering the nature of my words as opposed to simply passing over them contemptuously for the latest blog relating to Justin Bieber or a Metal band with an unpronounceable name. It is not simply for the pleasure of spreading the words which I write that I maintain this literary space, but a true enjoyment of attempting to have discussions with others over a digital space that I...
You get the idea.
The above was written in my letter writing voice, which you can see is very cordial, sophisticated, and a little snobby. But it's what I do when I write letters because I want a different voice than in here. You can also see my different voices in my writing which I'm going to once again urge you to read. My poet voice is very different from the narrator in Hypothetically Speaking. Or the characters, which you'll hear more of in Chapterella 2. And that narrator is different than the one I maintain in The Jovial Brittanians.
And with all of this discussion on voice, I'd love to hear your voices as well. Comments on my voice discussion? Concerns about my self promotion? Just want to talk about talking? Leave some comments and let's get a discussion going. Cause you can't have a discussion without voices. And I'm out.
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