Reposted by Tyler McAndrew
good thing i'm a self-absorbed freakazoid who cannot resist the occasional temptation to google himself because otherwise i'd never have known about this nice little review of my book that came out a month ago in free state review. (warning, there are spoilers) freestatereview.com/2026/08/31/t...
![VOICE IN FICTION
“When we read, voice is the most immediate and authoritative presence. When we write, intentionally or not, we make it so. It precedes character and setting and the images and ideas that will form the conceived reality of a fictional narrative.”
(Chuck Wachtel, “Behind the Mask: Narrative Voice in Fiction”)
“Voice has become a catchall phrase; but by it I intend something very specific: a speaking voice, like the singing voice in music, that moves not across the page, but through time. Surely every written story is, in the final analysis, a score for voice.”
(Margaret Atwood, introduction to The Best American Short Stories 1989)
“[Voice] is the struggle of birth, bringing from within to without; the full force of the writer’s desire to be heard intersects the passionate will of the character’s want of speech.”
(Steven Schwartz, “Finding Voice in America”)
“Retrace your steps and return to the place where you last felt a pulse, where the language felt alive, and you felt engaged. If that’s not your ending, it will at least point you true north.”
(Elissa Schappell, “Endings: Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow”)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cggg6hjwhnhteugvrjy7ry2d/bafkreiaxhqugehrgllaf34vfj4hayz22t6fqu7ir76wkxbxhawc44jafrm)
