Today I was stopped by a co-worker (I'm still teaching high school English classes) who told me that she could 'hear me saying that!' in regards to one of my books, Murder at the Miramar. I laughed and said that was to be expected: I write with my own voice.
This is what I mean: I could no more write like a Hemingway or a Steinbeck, and I would hope that no one would expect me to do so. I have to use my own tone, my own verbiage, to make my books realistic. When I read a book and find myself not engaged, nine times out of ten its because the words don't feel authentic but more like the writer is copying someone else's style. When that happens, the book doesn't 'flow'. Why? Because the writer cannot stay true to a style that is not his; his own voice slips in there and causes the plot to feel herky-jerky. (Not a technical term, certainly, but all I can think of at this moment.)
Write authentically. Use your own voice. And by all means, check out www.danemcaslin.co for links to read my books. See for yourself what 'real voice' is all about. (Shameless plug...)
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