Voice and Plausibility

[khiemtran]

One of the things I did early in the Silver Bowl rewrite was to change the voice in the opening section. Shortly after that, I started getting all sorts of plausibility problems. It's only just dawned on me that these two things were related.

When I used the original wry, slightly slanted narration, there was a sort of an understanding that events didn't have to be strictly plausible. I was telling a story, and the Kor villagers for example didn't have to act entirely rationally or do the most likely thing. It was a good voice for remarkable coincidences and slight exaggerations.

When I switched to a more serious voice I was able to get a much darker tone, but the plot and the character's actions suddenly came up in a new light. In this voice, I had to explain the coincidences and some of the atypical behaviour, which then incurred a new cost in changing the balance of the later story. I could easily have written the entire story in this voice as well, but it would have been a different story from the one I started with and a different set of events would have happened. There would be less room, certainly, for some of the whimsy that happens in the second half, or at the very least there might be some jarring as the gears change.

Part of the breakthrough was reading some Louis de Berniere during the week and remembering the tone of the voice I once had in the original and comparing it with the slightly larger than lifeness of the events. I probably should have figured it out earlier when I was reading Alexander McCall-Smith.

Comments

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I think that at this period in time, there isn't an awful lot of whimsical writing about. Terry Pratchett stands out, of course, but the rest of the world seems to strive for authenticism at all costs.

[zornhau.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there's other whimsical SF, in fact I recently read some. I suspect, though, that it's hard to stand out from all the Pratchett imitators.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

There seems to be a lot in magic realism. It may even be one of the defining characteristics. Whimsy, I've decided, is an important part of this particular story. If I try to tell the story without it, the whole thing just seems dead. I could probably do it as an exercise, but my interest just wouldn't be there.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I'm finding your thoughts on voice very interesting. It's something I've never thought of consciously before, but looking back, my published short stories do have different and distinctive voices. It's something some of my stories just naturally acquired, along with theme.

Moving a Mountain is omni and a comedy. Though I didn't think about it when I was writing, the voice allows me (as in your example) to skip lightly over things without having to do too much explaining. But the novel I'm fiddling with at the moment needs to be darker, I've decided. And I haven't found the voice yet.

Writing is a funny business. The better you get, the harder it gets because you realise there are all these subtleties that you were blithely ignoring before.

[zornhau.livejournal.com]

>The better you get, the harder it gets because
>you realise there are all these subtleties that you were blithely
>ignoring before.

That is truth indeed! Looking back, passages which worked felt right because they happened on certain structures and techniques. Better to be able to aim for these, I think.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

True, I think it also pays to keep experimenting. There's always the chance you might find something new and interesting.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It also explains why sometimes it's so easy. You have a story. You have a voice to tell it in. You tell the story in that voice. And why sometimes it's so hard.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I've come to that conclusion with Valendon's Diary, which simply flows out of my pen. The downside of his words coming so easily is that I need the story first, which means writing a novel, then sitting down and filling in his contributions in *his* voice.

In the end, I suppose, it evens out. Some stories are easier than others. The danger, I feel, lies in only wanting to write the easy ones.