Writing Unique Appealing Voice

Many editors and authors will tell you that the single most distinguishing feature between a great book and an okay book is “voice”. The problem is that “voice” is hard to define. Some think of voice simply as character dialogue, but voice is much more than that.

For me, voice is what gives your story personality. In picture books especially, it’s the way your language usage and style create the mood for your story and stimulates emotions in your reader. It's the rhythm of your story. It's the way you structure your sentences. It might be how you leverage simile, metaphor, rhyme, repetition or contrasts. All of those things add up to the personality of your story and determine whether or not your book has the fresh, unique voice that an editor might be looking for.

Reading the picture books PIGGY PIE and OWL MOON provide nice examples of how these elements can work together to create two strong, yet very different examples of distinctive voice.