[Writer Post] Snarky Humor and Personal Voice
So this is Wednesday. Whew… downhill slide of what’s turned out to be a (so far) busy week. I discovered one way to get a ton of movement on Twitter is to mention Neil deGrasse Tyson, Star Talk, and provide a visual pun – then have Star Talk retweet it. It’s not “celebrity” level, but it’s pretty awesome in my very, very low standards!
Been listening to quite a bit of @StarTalkRadio & @neiltyson on my commute – turn and see this. Um…yes. pic.twitter.com/TW9cZ3URS3
— Rhonda Eudaly (@reudaly) March 21, 2017
I’ve written stuff this past week – not a lot, but some over the weekend, so getting better (I hope). Day Job has been hopping because we’re getting SUPER close to an event I’m planning and stuff is happening and stuff has to be paid and STUFF, so of course people are out of town, changes are happening, and probably people calling me a pain in the butt or other choice words. But it is what it is and it’s getting bigger and badder and more AAARRRGGGHHH! (And not in a fun, Ludo-like Trollhunters way. So I may be turning into this person (like all my awesome data-driven friends).
I have this thing in which I like a type of writing that certain authors do but not others. For instance – and honest confession – I LOVE Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan books, but never got into the Chalion series. LOVE Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden, but not the CODEX books. Personal taste on my part. HOWEVER, it’s not universal, I’ve found – because I can’t get enough of Jim C. Hines (except the Fairy Tale books – but that’s because I have some similar stuff and it influences my voice too much). I will recommend the Libriomancer books all day long (it was a career goal to be mentioned in one – then I found out the series was done). So I hesitated to dive into the Goblin books – partly because I have the Legend of Jig Dragonslayer omnibus and it’s HUGE. But now I’m only a tiny way into Goblin Quest and I totally ready to beat up on anyone who messes with Jig.
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What’s the difference between these authors and my tastes? The only thing I can think of is Hines’s personal voice in these pieces. Even though there’s different styles, tropes, feels between urban fantasy and “high” fantasy – Hines doesn’t try to change HIS voice to meet them. There’s a high level of snarky humor to both styles. And yes, I’ve been listening to the Writing Excuses podcast where they talk about Voice (in the story and of the author). I respond well to snarky humor (SHOCK FACE!) when I read and in life (SHOCK FACE SQUARED!). That’s not to say that’s all HE writes or I read, but it’s why I think I can cross “genres” with some authors and not with others.
So there you have it. Some thinky thoughts about “literary” things like Voice. And now I should probably get back to the growing list of things to do.