The Intersection of Craft and Voice

Hi everyone,

Today I identified and took notes for nine micro-tension pages and cut 236 words to make room for those additions.

And my biggest take away from this, is that adding micro-tension is doing more than simply adding micro-tension. It’s adding voice and emotion and therefore a deeper connection between the reader and the character.

My micro-tension (MT) additions are:

1.     Thoughts by the main character: what do I feel about this? Am I for it or against it?

2.     A micro-tension thought and an emotional plea: Should I go or should I stay. Should I stay safe or seek out and make a discovery?

3.     A mirror placed up against my main character making her consider her character and her behavior. The micro-tension are warring ideas. These ideas are waging an internal war. It’s a turning point, too. She asks: am I really like this? And if so do I need to change?

4.     In this micro-tension addition her added thoughts are about her reevaluating her history and her old feelings: a turning point.

5.     The micro-tension comes when she questions her motives. Am I doing this to succeed or to stop my pain?

6.     The tension comes from the conflict between her thoughts: should I keep putting myself out there to satisfy a longing or should I give up and stay safe and protected ignoring what I want. Have I am failing. Will I keep failing? Should admit defeat and give up?

7.     A new micro-tension thought added: Why am I like this? Is it bad? The conflict is between the decision: Be me or change and try to be someone else.

8.     A new micro-tension thought added about fear: Am I capable or am I ineffective? Will I win or lose? Am I enough? What happens if I’m not?

9.     The final micro-tension is another thought where the main character is in conflict. Should I to run or hide? To satisfy her curiosity or stay safe and ignorant.

If you look at the above, you see that all the micro-tension I’ve identified in this set of 30 pages is held in the thoughts. By adding in the micro-tension the reader will get to know my main character, Ellodie, better.

Lots of authors worry about voice because agents talk about loving it and identifying it and seeking it. And here it is. My character on the page, naked and raw. This is voice. Of course, there are other craft elements needed to fully reveal voice but micro-tension is one element required. And this raw aspect of voice is only uncovered when micro-tension is fully understood and deployed.

When each craft element is mastered, the voice that agents seek becomes clearer and stronger. Mastering craft makes voice shine through.

Of course, I could shy away and put generic thoughts on the page, which I’ll talk about in the next posts—mining for more meaning and forgoing low hanging fruit—but if I shy away from her real thoughts and just put words there quickly to fill space, it won’t work. It won’t have micro-tension, instead, it will be padding that needs to be cut later because it slows the pace. I think it might be called navel gazing (unproductive thoughts) but whatever you call it, it won’t add to the story. It will take away from it.

Another thing I’ve noticed about the micro-tension draft, is that I’m always putting more emotion on the page but again, that will be a post of its own.

Right now the focus is voice. Putting Ellodie on the page more, giving her raw, unguarded thoughts makes her voice stronger. I’m being careful to make sure that what she thinks is what SHE thinks and not me.

But the message is: mastering craft is to master voice because voice is hidden underneath craft mistakes or clunkiness due to lack of craft. With every new element of craft we learn, more voice is revealed.

One component of micro-tension is about making the main character real with herself. And this is necessary for voice.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

Chat to you tomorrow.

Happy writing,

Joanne.

Micro-revision draft: 50 pages