Voice Choice

There are two types of voice, a writer's voice and the voice of a piece of literature. They sometimes are one in the same but very often are two different entities.

A writer's voice is the style in which a writer writes their short story, poem, etc.

The voice of a literary piece uses one or more rudiments to create a certain distinction. For example, if I were to use southern slang, I would create a precise ambiance for my poem. That would be one element I could use to give my poem its voice.


The basics you could use are:

·Apostrophe: Is speaking to someone, something, some place that you don’t usually speak to. (Ex. “Little toe on my foot, you are so well put.” well you get the idea.)

·Diction: The way you choose your words. (Ex. Here’s where our southern slang comes into the picture, ya’ll.)

·Irony: I think we all know this one. There are three types of irony. Litotes (understatement “Just a bit of Halloween candy this year?” When your child brings back an overflowing pillowcase-full.), Bathos (overstatement, sarcasm “I think you have just about ALL the candy on the planet!”) and situational irony (when a totally unexpected action takes place – Ex. When you decide to eat all of said candy and explode).

·Enjambment: This is when you take a sentence in your poem into the next line.

(Ex. “Take this breath of mine
Into your heart. In time
We may learn to live” etc.”)

·Inversion: When you take a sentence and re-arrange it out of its natural order. *Be careful when doing this, as it can be associated with forced rhyme.

(Ex. Like you, must
I, in him, trust?)

So next time you pick up your pen (pencil or keyboard), think not only what you want your poem to say, but exactly how you want it to say it.




For more poetical type info click here: "Invalid Item"