The Voice

Good morning one and all.

Why is it that some writer's voices are more accessible than others?

All you have to do is compare H.P Lovecraft's style to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's style and you will understand what I mean.

Many H.P Lovecraft mystery stories are rather esoteric. I realized this when I recommended his stories to a French Canadian friend of mine and then realized that the level of English was simply too complicated for someone who learned English in their 20s.

With H. P. Lovecraft you are often reading at university level (and beyond) and the way he weaves his tales is compelling and chilling all at once. You get the sense that he not only created his stories but lived them too, which I guarantee you is bone-chilling in its implications. That's what I love about his work! I can still remember reading his story 'Reanimator' and almost losing my cookies on the metro platform (it was unluckily right after I'd eaten lunch).

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has an entirely different style. His stories, though original and thoroughly creative in content, always follow a certain pattern. While you read them you sense a tidiness about his work, almost a routine that feels very safe within the confines of Sherlock's mystery scenes. I would think the writing level is around Grade 8, so Doyle's work is far more accessible to the masses.

I have always had a certain kinship with people who push the envelope in any artistic endeavour. I have the upmost respect for Doyle's process and works, but Lovecraft transports me somewhere else. There is something really over the line about some of Lovecraft's stories that appeals to my sense of creative adventure.

Getting work published is such a subjective lottery. If the right person reads your work and likes the voice, you'll get published. If the wrong person reads your work, you'll get passed over.

I always think about that when I research magazines and publishers that I'd like to work with.

How far am I willing to sacrifice my own personal style (if at all) to get published?

Always a good question. But when I come across a voice that I like I realize that sacrificing my own voice to become part of this writing world may actually be a disservice.

I firmly believe that it's the diversity that keeps the arts a living, breathing and growing entity, not the stagnation that comes from conforming.