We’re going to play a game: Name that tune. Can you name the songs listed below? No cheating! I picked a variety of decades and artists. See if you can name them all.
- You may say I’m a dreamer / but I’m not the only one
- A singer in a smoky room / a smell of wine and cheap perfume
- Hanging out the passenger side /of his best friend’s ride / trying to holler at me
- Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth.
- We count our dollars on the train to the party.
That first song has a line which grabs your attention.
The second line sets the scene with sensory details.
The third comes from a song that defined a term for a generation. But it doesn’t tell us the [Urban] Dictionary definition straight out—it shows us through a scene.
The fourth song uses a handful of similes and other fresh imagery.
The fifth song characterizes the singer and her friends.
Together, these five songs show how important a unique voice is—and how popular a strong one can become.
How do you improve voice?
The opposite of strong voice is a generic, impersonal one. To create a strong voice, do the following.
- Be relatable and understandable. (Don’t write in a way that the reader can’t follow. Don’t try to spell out dialect or accents phonetically.)
- Use sensory detail that your character would notice.
- Show what you mean using people or situations unique to your character’s experiences.
- Use similes and metaphors. Revise cliches into fresh imagery.
- Characterize through specific word choice.
Writing Exercise—Fifteen Blinks
Option One: Read this to find out what a Fifteen Blinker is. Choose five to ten specific words or images from one of the songs below and write a Fifteen Blinker using those words.
Option Two: Pick a song with memorable lyrics. Look up those lyrics. Rewrite the song by swapping out the words and imagery for those of another character’s point of view. Some ideas:
- One of your characters
- Romeo, the lovestruck Shakespearean teenager
- A pothead (e.g. one of Cheech’s, Chong’s, or Seth Rogen’s portrayals)
- A proper British lady trying desperately to impress her in-laws
- A man who has been cryogenically frozen through several decades and just woke up
- A seven-year-old who wishes to be a princess
- A toddler
Want more writing exercises? See my tag. Want some critique partners to exchange work with? Join the community at StoryWorldCon. Want a writing workshop tailored to your work and your budget? Choose your course at StoryWorldCon. Subscribe to my blog for course dates!
Answers:
Click on the links below to read the full lyrics.
- “Imagine,” John Lennon
- “Don’t Stop Believing,” Journey
- “No Scrubs,” TLC
- “New Slang,” The Shins
- “Royals,” Lorde
I’ve been listening to The Shins for years, but I never actually paid attention to the lyrics in “New Slang” until today. As I referenced above, they’re full of great imagery:
- Turn me back into the pet I was when we met.
- I’d ‘a danced like the king of the eyesores
- New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.
- Hope it’s right when you die, old and bony.
- Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall
Every time “Royals” comes on the radio (which is very frequently), I am awed by the fantastic diction. This was written by a fifteen year old:
- I’ve never seen a diamond in the flesh / I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies
- We’re driving Cadillacs in our dreams
- And we’ll never be royals. / It don’t run in our blood, / That kind of luxe just ain’t for us.
What song has your favorite lyrics? I remember in tenth grade English needing to bring a song in to share with the class. I brought Fiona Apple’s cover of “Across the Universe.”
Lara Willard 