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voice
Voice Lessons
by, Jill Swenson
March 5, 2024

“I am looking for authors with a distinctive voice.” [on an agent’s website] “Great premise but I couldn’t connect with the writer’s voice.” [publisher’s rejection] “The voice isn’t strong enough in the first ten pages to make me keep reading.” [agent rejection letter] So what do editors mean by “voice” when they talk about the craft of writing? Voice is the individual writing style of… [Read More]

Filed Under: Prince, Purple Rain, voice
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Trustworthy Giveaway
by, Jill Swenson
May 4, 2021

You can enter to win a free copy of Margot Bloomstein’s new book, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, by leaving a comment on this blog post. Tell us what brand you trust and why. You’ll then be entered into a random drawing to be held on Saturday, May 8, 2021. One lucky winner will be sent a free… [Read More]

Filed Under: accountability, Authenticity, Book Giveaway, Empathy, Margot Bloomstein, Transparency, Trustworthy, voice, volume, vulnerability
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Finding Your Voice
by, Jill Swenson
May 3, 2016

“I am looking for authors with a distinctive voice.” “Great premise but I couldn’t connect with the writer’s voice.” “The voice isn’t strong enough in the first ten pages to make me keep reading.” So what do editors mean by “voice” when they talk about the craft of writing? Voice is the individual writing style of an author. It’s the way a narrator tells their… [Read More]

Filed Under: authentic self, personality, Prince, purple prose, Purple Rain, voice, zombie nouns
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I Capture the Castle: Cassandra Mortmain’s Literary Pluck
by, Jill Swenson
June 20, 2011

Dodie Smith’s novel is just like any other charming British novel set in the countryside in the 1930s: the landscape is glorious, the cupboard is bare, and the characters eccentric. I Capture the Castle opens with the wonderful line “I am sitting in the kitchen sink as I write this.” The “I” is Cassandra Mortmain, the 17-year old narrator of the novel (which is, in… [Read More]

Filed Under: British, Cassandra, castle, countryside, English, family, funny, imagination, inspiration, London, romance, sad, voice, witty, writer
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