Finding the Author's Voice

Did you ever read "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain? As a kid, I remember being pretty confused by the unconventional spellings. It meant I had to read everything out loud just to know what was being said. I imagine that Mr. Twain’s editor was more than a little stressed out, but he managed to preserve the author’s voice anyway.

One of the most important things for an editor is finding (and preserving) a client’s voice. In Mark Twain’s case, that meant allowing certain ‘errors’ that showcased the dialect Twain wanted to get across to the audience. Normally, an editor’s job is to ensure everything is grammatically correct according to the language standards of the time. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. 

Talk the Talk

However, Twain is hardly unique. Plenty of authors convey their voices by breaking grammar conventions. I’m not talking about sci-fi or fantasy authors who include words they’ve made up or entire constructed languages. 

More often, you’ll see authors break grammar conventions in dialogue. It’s pretty rare for someone to speak in perfect English so it’s not uncommon for an author to convey that in dialogue. They may even add incorrect spellings to emphasize a character’s accent or strange way of pronouncing specific words. Since Huckleberry Finn was narrating his adventures, Twain stayed ‘in character’ throughout the novel, reflecting Huck’s accent and lack of education. 

Similarly, works like "The Sound and The Fury" featured chapters narrated by different characters who speak (and convey information) in different ways, expressed through spelling, word choice, and grammar, and in “Flowers for Algernon”, the author uses those conventions to express Charlie’s growth and then regression in intelligence.

Finding Their Voice

As an editor, you need to talk to the author and preferably read something else they’ve written to see not just what they want to say but how they want to say it. That means scheduling a meeting with the author before you start working to make sure you understand how they sound. This is especially crucial when editing memoirs. 

If they’ve written anything in the past, even informal writing that hasn’t been published, that can be a good source of information about their voice. This can include emails, blog posts, and even phone or Zoom conversations. Social media posts can be a good source of information, but they’re often very short so your mileage may vary. 

Understand the Audience

There is another component to representing the author in their words. The audience. It’s all well and good for an author to use strange spellings, for example, to represent a foreign dialect or accent, but the wisdom of that may depend on the intended audience. If they have written a book for younger children, a lot of unconventional grammar and spelling may be too confusing for an audience who is still learning to read and spell. Anyone can see that Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written for a younger audience, follows grammar conventions much more closely, in deference to the readers. 

It just goes to show that the author’s voice is a tricky thing to find and keep throughout the editing process. If you’re looking for an editor who has worked on memoirs and character studies alike, get in touch with me today!