Hook 'Em with Voice (Holly Schindler)

I'm a total sucker for voice. I still remember the first time it happened--it was summer, and I was about eleven, and I'd picked up this book with a "totally weird" red and yellow cover. What was that thing? At first, it looked like a dragon. On second glance, I realized it was a--what? Horse? Unicorn? 

It was a carousel horse. This one, to be exact:

I was already a big reader by the time I'd picked up Catcher in the Rye. But there was just something about the way Holden talked, right there, in the first line. I'm typing from memory, so this probably isn't exact, but: "So you're probably going to want to know all about me and how I grew up and who my parents were and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't really feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." I remember being totally sucked in. Feeling like Holden was sitting there beside me, on my front porch, in the sweltering summer sun, gearing up to tell me this story. 

I loved the conversational tone. The non-polished, non-flowery language. I remember some of the descriptions, even now--like the one about the teacher who was picking his nose while talking to Holden (I mean, I was eleven). 

I still remember the feeling of that, of tumbling headlong into this person. Of feeling like the character was real--because he talked like a real person. 

We often go big, as authors, attempting to snag our readers at the beginning--murders are committed. Cars tumble over cliffs. Banks are robbed. But sometimes, the very best way to draw someone into your book is with nothing more than a strong, personality-driven voice. 

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Holly Schindler is the author of the YA A Blue So Dark. For more of her thoughts on the writing life, follow her on Substack.