On voice
posted by Don Tate II at 1:01 PM
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
About Me
- Name: Don Tate II
- Location: Austin, Texas, United States
I am an illustrator of more than 30 trade and educational books for children. My first authored book, IT JES' HAPPENED: WHEN BILL TRAYLOR STARTED TO DRAW, will publish with Lee & Low Books, spring 2011.
Previous Posts
- Syllable counter
- Elements of revision
- Writing well
- Primary sources
- Professional Critiques
- Publicist Interview
- Query letters
- Sample cover letter: Barbara Kanninen
- Picture book queries, Barbara Kanninen
- Goof-proofing your manuscript
1 Comments:
It's just not true that you need to be either a genius or to have a large body of work to have authentic authorial voice. I know so because my college English teacher told me most emphatically, way back when, in the bits and pieces that I did for my one and only college English class, creative writing, that I had real, albeit unusual, voice in my writing. She had the Ph.D. in English, not me. She was the expert, not me. Almost the easiest A I ever got in college. But what did that matter? I've read lots of writing by INDVIDUALS, writing from their guts, who have authentic authorial voices. You only have to hear a few words and know who is speaking in the writing. I love that sort of writing. Original work from ordinary people that is truly individual. Love it.
The problem in articulating what authorial voice is lies with editors who cannot articulate in a left-brain way what they mean by this. It doesn't mean they don't know it when they read it. It doesn't mean they are not good editors either. Just that they are talented right-brain functioning editors.
It takes all sorts to make a world......
You need simply to be true to yourself.
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