Please visit Simon Larter’s blog post, An Experiment in Voice, Part I. We’ve each written short vignettes based on the same setting and back story. To quote Simon:
I’ve run across another writer whose voice—however one defines that—is eerily similar to mine. I just get this feeling when I read Ms. Koyanagi’s blog that her mind is wired similarly, that she sees the world in much the same way I do, that we notice the same little details.
So I decided to put our respective voices to the test, to see what might shake out. We agreed to each write a very short piece set in the same location, with the same essential character and situation, in order to compare and contrast our styles. I won’t tell you which of the following vignettes is whose today—I’ll save that till tomorrow. But I will open the floor to guesses and analyses in the comments section.
Head on over to Simon’s blog to read our pieces.
Well done! I was very impressed with both of your stories. I wish you had a follower button on your blog! I miss way too many beautiful posts of yours.
And I miss you! I haven’t spent much time on Twitter lately….
Thank you, Carol! I have that RSS feed button up at the top, but you’re right– I should look into a follower button. I’ll make that a project for today.
I miss you too!
Very, very interesting excerpts.
Can’t wait to see if my guess was right. lol
You know I’d love to see more of these kind of excerpts. Voice is one of the most interesting aspects of writing to me.
It would be even more interesting to have the two of you post a similar experiment in say three years.. and see if the voice is still as similar, or if they’ve taken different paths.
I have to admit I didn’t find the voices as similar as I thought I would — even if my guess was incorrect, there is a difference in “tone” to me that comes across in a strong way.
Trish: It was a fun experiment; I’m glad Simon asked me to do it. I’d love to see other writers do similar voice studies.
Katherine: Actually, I’m glad to hear our voices are distinctive, even if our views of the world might overlap. Thank you for reading the pieces!
That was such a neat experiment/study! I am reading this a day late, but I did find the voices distinct, and the first one was clearly yours. I am so drawn to your writing. It’s amazing and powerful and it always leaves me wanting more. I’m glad you are young and healthy, and hopefully have years and years of writing left, because I need a whole J. Koyanagi library!
Hi,
I’m here from Simon’s. I loved your piece and wanted to tell you so. Both were stark and beautiful. I was really impressed.
Yvonne