Your voice, or more importantly your writing voice because at some stage the draft you are working on will need to be read aloud to find all those awkward sentences. I have to admit this is where I had quite a shock after having written poetry for so long and reading it aloud. I was so used to my poetry voice in fact I knew it inside and out, strong and vibrant with a good dose of emotion thrown in. All the way through the first draft of my novel I had incorrectly assumed that my writing voice would be the same.
Ah no, much to my amazement it definitely was not what I was expecting. For this reason it took me a while to get the hang of the rhythm. It also led me to another revelation I did not sound the same as some of the authors I love to read.
Anyway once I familiarised myself with it I used my voice to get through that all important stage of editing as I pretended to read aloud with an imaginary audience. Yes, I even had stage fright I am a little embarrassed to admit since there was no one else in the room.
While I write my third novel it is something I certainly keep in mind particularly since it is a series. Of all the things I have discovered along the way it has been one of those moments that will forever be imprinted in my mind. Like the conversation I had with a friend when I began writing my first novel, those moments are hard to forget.
One thing I can say now I know my voice I have it there at the front of my mind every time I write. Like my poetry voice, I hope to refine and improve it with every step of the journey now that I know it exists even if it was not what I expected.
Chantelle Griffin 