A refresher course on voice

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It was getting late – way past her bedtime. She was tired, I was ready to wind down. But my 10-year old  still had the book report tying her to the still awake world. She at first tried to do the assignment herself. When she realized that the whole process of thinking and typing would cost her hours of sleep, she called for help. After checking where the bottleneck was in the book report writing, and with my daughter-praised speed for typing, I was recruited as typist.

She brainstormed with herself as I did not see the half-movie. Yes, the movie file only being half was again another challenge. My fingers rattled the keyboard, trying to capture her thinking aloud after processing what she said, while facilitating her monologue to keep her focused.

In the middle of all my multi-tasking, she kept stopping me and her brainstorming, actually choosing the words that I would type up. At least she was doing the thinking. It was taking longer than we both expected, even with my help, and she noticed. I guess she got tired of being nice to me and my paraphrasing, she blurted out: “No, nanay. You see, I don’t talk like that.” That stopped me in my rush-to-finish-the-book-report tracks. 

I wanted to argue that people do not write the way they talk, well, not always. But she was right. She had hit a very good point spot on - a basic point in writing (especially in fiction writing) - the voice. She wanted the book report constructed in her or their 5th Grade way and vocabulary. My job is limited  to edits and typing. 

I smiled as it dawned on me that she just gave me a refresher course on voice and characterization. 




"I am an X in an indeterminate equation. And that X is the rock upon which I stand." - Mario Puzo

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