My Nonprofit Commons and ISTE Games & Simulations Network workshop slides for The Writer's Craft: Developing Your Voice, hosted November 15, 2019 by Dr. Cynthia Calongne, aka Lyr Lobo in Second Life.

1. The Writer’s Craft
Developing Your Voice
Lyr Lobo, aka Dr. Cynthia Calongne
Colorado Technical University & CCCOnline
Everyone has a story to share.

2. What do we mean by voice?
Group Hug, NPC 12th Birthday, September 13, 2019
We see the world
through the eyes of
our characters.
Or we see the world
through the
narrator’s view of
the world
We might have an
unreliable narrator.
Can you think of an
example?

3. Seeing the world from different perspectives, Hang in there Rhiannon!
NPC Halloween Tour 2019
Voice The Character’s Voice
Point of View
Quality
Tone
Style
Personality
The Author’s Voice
1st person voice
Writing is intimate and personal, a conspiratorial exchange of ideas

4. By Lyr Lobo, NPC Halloween Tour 2019
Your Character’s Voice
Through words and the
senses we express the
character’s
1) values
2) feelings
3) beliefs
4) worldview
5) personality
6) culture
7) age
8) education

5. By Lyr Lobo, Nonprofit Commons Halloween Tour 2019
A Sensory Experience
How do we write using the senses to describe the taste, smell, sound,
look, and feel within a scene?

6. Lyr Lobo, Fantasy Faire 2019
Your Character’s Voice
Carroll, L., & Kelly, R. (Ed.). (2000). Alice's adventures in Wonderland. Peterborough, Ontario, CA: Broadview Press.
As if through a lens,
readers sense the world
and feel the character’s
experiences.
The world comes alive
through the sights,
sounds, taste, feel, and
spoken words.
The skillful use of the
five senses gives the
reader an intimate look
at the world.

7. Voice and the Senses
A fierce gust of wind hurled the books into
the air, twirling them in a mad dance.
Lyr ducked as two books flew past her head.
Her horse snickered, but did not flinch.
She turned to see them fall into line like
soldiers marching into battle. They snapped
to attention and formed two ranks, towering
in stacks above her.
A page drifted to the ground, landing at
Alice’s feet. It wiggled and beckoned with
whispered promises. “Come closer.”
Alice took a dainty step and with a crack, an
acrid smell was all that remained.
“No!” said Lyr, tossing the
liquid down her throat.
Tis sweet and sour, she
thought as the darkness
claimed her.
The page shimmered,
slurped, and then grew
still.
Lyr was gone.

8. Think of the camera in a TV show
Active voice draws the camera close, and we experience the action.
Passive voice draws the camera back with a feeling of detachment.
Lyr Lobo, The Storytellers at Seanchai Library

9. When do we use passive voice?
1) To gain emotional distance, which is important when the
topic is horrific, such as war or medicine.
2) For detachment, to discuss a topic clinically.
3) In non-fiction, we use it to obscure the subject noun when we
do not know who performed the action.
4) It is used to sound authoritative and formal. Who is using it
in this example?
Symbolic Modeling workshop by Marly Milena, NPC, November 8, 2019

10. What makes these books so memorable?
1) Moby Dick
2) The Wizard of Oz
3) Jane Eyre
4) Romeo and Juliet
5) Pride and Prejudice
6) The Miracle Worker
7) Little Women
8) The Hobbit
9) Out of Africa
10)Gone with the Wind
11)Foundation by Isaac Asimov
12)The Stand by Stephen King

11. Who said it? Where did they say it?
“Call me Ishmael.”
"I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that he had
ceased to notice me“
“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By Any Other Name would smell as sweet.”
“Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many
outweigh the needs of the few.”
“Water. W, a, t, e, r. Water. It has a –name–”

12. Answers to Who said it? Where did they say it?
“Call me Ishmael.” Ishmael, the only surviving crewmember in Moby Dick
"I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that he had ceased to
notice me“ -- Jane Eyre
“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By Any Other Name would smell as sweet.” -- Romeo & Juliet
“Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs
of the few.” -- Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
“Water. W, a, t, e, r. Water. It has a –name–” -- Annie Sullivan and
Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
http://www.riversidelocalschools.com/Downloads/the_miracle_worker%20pdf.pdf

13. Many Voices Standing Strong Together
Nonprofit Commons 12th Birthday Group Hug 2019

14. By Lyr Lobo, NPC Halloween Tour 2019
Head Hopping
Moving from one character’s perspective to another in a scene.
When jump from Rhiannon to Zinnia to Dancers to Saffia without a
smooth transition, it is disorienting to our readers.
1st person limits our perspective to the world around us.
Can we switch to 3rd person and/or another character’s perspective?
Yes, James Patterson’s Alex Cross novels.

15. Salvor Hardin quotes from Asimov’s Foundation
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”
“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!”
“It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.”
“A fire-eater must eat fire even if he has to kindle it himself.”
“An atom-blaster is a good weapon, but it can point both ways.”
“To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as
well.”
“Only a lie that wasn't ashamed of itself could possibly succeed.”
“Nothing has to be true, but everything has to sound true.”
Asimov, I. (1951). Foundation. https://archive.org/details/AsimovTheFoundation_201705/page/n8 and
https://archive.org/stream/AsimovTheFoundation_201705/Asimov_the_foundation_djvu.txt

16. Virtual Harmony Sewers
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”
– Salvor Hardin quotes from Foundation by Asimov

17. Spin, Lyr, JJ, & Delightful Halloween 2019
“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!”
– Salvor Hardin quotes from Foundation by Asimov

18. The Space Station at Virtual Harmony
“It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.”
– Salvor Hardin quotes from Foundation by Asimov

19. Nonprofit Commons Oct 25, 2019
“A fire-eater must eat fire even if he has to kindle it himself.”
– Salvor Hardin quotes from Foundation by Asimov

20. Aviators on Huffman in Virtual Harmony
“An atom-blaster is a good weapon, but it can point both ways.”
– Salvor Hardin quotes from Foundation by Asimov

21. Nonprofit Commons
“To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as well.”
– Salvor Hardin quotes from Foundation by Asimov

22. Planning a Sewer in OpenSim
“Only a lie that wasn't ashamed of itself could possibly succeed.”
– Salvor Hardin quotes from Foundation by Asimov

23. Interstellar Grid at Virtual Harmony
“Nothing has to be true, but everything has to sound true.”
– Salvor Hardin quotes from Foundation by Asimov

24. Voice is how we share & experience the story
Nonprofit Commons Tour of Feed-A-Smile on August 16, 2019

25. Questions?
Lyr Lobo, aka Dr. Cynthia Calongne
Colorado Technical University & CCCOnline