Empowering a writer's 'voice'...the secret to success...on the page, and in the world

Over the years I have been on many panels at writers' conferences around the country. Invariably, one courageous writer at each conference asks the question on every attendee’s mind: what is the most important quality that an agent or publisher looks for in a manuscript?

Sometimes the book professionals on the panel respond in unison; at other times, we take turns; but the answer is always the same: ‘Voice’.

The presence (or absence) of a fresh and powerful narrative voice determines which manuscripts are winners (whether fiction or non-fiction), and which manuscripts don't stand a chance.

For literary agents and book publishers, the search for a remarkably unique and personality-rich ‘voice’ is endless and timeless.

An effective (and affecting) narrative voice is rare, but when it is present, everyone recognizes it at once. Publishers compete in heated auctions into the night for these resonant new voices, sometimes offering advances as high as the stars.

When a powerful voice is in command in fiction or non-fiction, the narration lifts all things into a higher dimension

'Voice' is present when the story or non-fiction narrative reveals a fresh perspective on the world as we know it--inspiring readers to see the ordinary in new and thrilling ways.

In fiction, some emerging writers are tempted to conflate their own narrative 'voice' with their protagonist's voice. However, although the two are connected, and, at times, even inseparable, they are not the same. A powerful author's 'voice' in fiction, is manifest in the descriptive prose, and in the storyline itself, as well as, in the protagonist's point-of-view.

No amount of manuscript 'cutting' or 'revising' will help a writer discover his or her most resonant writing voice, especially if he or she has no idea that it’s missing.

The truth is as simple as it is hard to take. Thousands and thousands of manuscripts have been rejected, and thousand