Category: voice

  • Audience Considerations

    This week, I’m thinking about audience as I revise my teacher resource book. Teachers are a new audience for me and I?m grateful for the editor for this project, who has lots of experience with teachers. Oh, I get aggravated when she sends back a section–yet, again–for a couple of minor fixes. Yet, I am […]

  • Voice Friday: Word Connotations

    Voice Friday: Word Choices Voice Friday: Word Connotations Voice Friday: Word Sounds A professional writer must be a lover of words. It is the basis of their craft. We know about the definition of words, what words mean. Today, I want to talk about connotations of words. Connotations Speaking to Connotations John Ciardi and Miller […]

  • Voice Friday: Word Choices

    Voice Friday: Word Choices Voice Friday: Word Connotations Voice Friday: Word Sounds Voice: Word Choices Consider the opening of these two books: The little boat crept closer, over the grey-green water of the loch. Tommy could hear the slow creaking of the oarlocks, and see the white hair of the lean old man bent over […]

  • Vocal Impressions

    by Darcy Pattison Starting tomorrow: Villains (3-day series) The Bad Guys Wear Black Famous Villains Creating Villains Today, I wanted to give you links to a series on National Public Radio about “Vocal Impressions.” Listeners are asked to listen to a variety of voices and then describe that voice. In light of our discussion of […]

  • The Writer’s Voice: What is Voice?

    This week, I’m revising Paper Lightning: Sparking Student Brainstorming for Effective Prewriting, a teacher resource book that will come out next year. The editor keeps asking me to clarify places and I shoot her back a casual email. She likes “the you” that comes through in the emails and has asked me to include more […]

  • The Writer’s Voice: Listen

    by Darcy Pattison On Friday’s, I’ll be posting on the topic of “The Writer’s Voice.” We all know how important it is; but discussions of voice are too often, well, vague. I’ll be exploring how we can consciously create a voice that brings a particular story to life. Today–just listen to some unique voices. Listen […]