Voice, As I Understand It

The voice of an author is centered around how they express themselves throughout their body of work via word choice, syntax, imagery, idiom, rhythm, and range. Simply, an author’s voice is how they would sound if they were speaking to you instead of writing. The author’s voice can also be represented tangentially through the persona of a narrator, which may be a version of the author themselves or a separate entity entirely, or through the voice of their characters. The voices of the author, the narrator, and the characters can lead the reader to conclude certain things about the work itself. Does this character use lofty language? Maybe they are well educated or wealthy. Does the narrator use clipped, rather harsh word choices to describe a specific character? It could be that they are angry with that character. An author can also reveal things to the reader by employing a voice with irony or distance. Is the author actively involved in the proceedings of the scene or are they merely observers, quietly judging the action at hand? These are all things that can be revealed to us by the many voices utilized in writing.