"I'm just not connecting with the voice" is one of the most common reasons given for a rejection by agents and publishers. But what the heck is voice, and how do you nail it?
Let's get right to the heart of the matter: VOICE is all about POV.
A thread🧵🪓
Let's get right to the heart of the matter: VOICE is all about POV.
A thread🧵🪓
Comments
The easiest way to think about POV is as a lens that you hand the reader and say, "here, you will now be viewing the world through this slightly warped piece of glass." That lens belongs to your narrator.
Every time the POV changes, the lens changes. Why? Because each narrator is a different person, and every person views the world in their own unique way.
We bring many things to bear in the creation of our lens: how and where we were raised, what kind of schooling we had, our siblings, our birth order, jobs, passions, likes and dislikes—and, notably, what we want most in life. Or, in terms of fiction, our narrative goal.
What does your narrator notice when they enter a room?
That’s POV.
How do they describe it?
That’s voice.
The more unique the lens, the clearer the voice. If you hand the reader any old lens, the story risks feeling generic and unengaging.
True voice isn’t about surface tricks like sarcasm or verbal tics. Those are just window dressing. Instead, voice emerges from a character’s worldview, word choices, and syntax. It’s about the *why* behind how they express themselves.
POV and voice don’t just shape the story—they drive it.
A well-chosen inciting incident lands differently for different characters. Your protagonist’s lens determines how they react, what they misinterpret, and the choices they make—all of which build the plot.