By Kait Carson

Kait’s Florida Voice

Those of you following this blog regularly know that fourteen writers make up our roster of regular posters. Fourteen very different writers. If someone were to blindfold you and force you to listen to our blog posts read aloud—not that anyone would EVER do that—chances are, you’d recognize unmistakable differences among the bloggers. These unique tones and cadences make up our writing voices.

Mine? Easy, light and breezy, I am not above cutting into my own thoughts and picking up the main theme later. Sort of stream-of-consciousness meets, oh, look, something shiny! You get it. That’s my blog voice.

Kait’s Maine Voice

My blog voice is distinct from my book voice, and my book voice further divides among the genres I write. For the Hayden Kent traditional bordering on cozy series, my voice is still light and breezy, but nuanced to reflect the Florida Keys setting and the gravity of the murderous subject matter.

My Maine Lodge series genre is traditional, bordering on suspense. This series features a darker voice as Sassy Tremayne Saunders works to re-establish her life and livelihood, all while solving a murder. Nuances still figure in to define the relationships and the boundaries, but the voice and style are different. The books, dealing with murder in the Allagash forest, have a darker, more serious tone, and the language changes to reflect that. There is an undercurrent that things may not turn out well, and the more somber voice reflects that possibility.

Two series, one writer, different voices.

What happened to those lessons learned in creative writing classes about the important of a consistent voice? Dickens (who needs no first name) differs from Sinclair Lewis (who needs a first name lest he be confused with C.S.). PD James differs from Rita Mae Brown, yet both write mysteries. Two paragraphs into a book by any of these writers and the reader should shout, “I recognize that voice.”

So, what’s a multi-genre writer to do to gain reader recognition? Insert screeching brakes sound here.

Dickens and Lewis wrote standalones. They needed the immediate recognition afforded by a solo voice. James (whom I deeply miss) and Brown write multiple series, and in James’s case, multiple genres. James’s Dalgliesh will never be mistaken for Cordelia Gray just as no one will ever confuse Brown’s Mrs. Murphy books with the Sister Jane Arnold books. Each of these series has its own voice. Separate, distinct, and identifiable as belonging to its own series.

One voice per writer? Bah, humbug! That’s much too limiting for the writer. Writers are by nature shapeshifters. We create worlds, characters, and situations. Voice is craftwork, a weapon in the arsenal. Like setting, structure, and conflict, voice exists to identify and serve the story arc. Limiting a writer to one voice is as pointless as limiting a writer to one theme. There is no need, and it’s a death knell to creativity. Trust us, we’re professionals.

Oh, look, something shiny!