14 common voice crafting techniques used by authors
Sentence Technique
use of a dash to create a dramatic pause or
zoom in on a detail
purposeful fragments
Using short, choppy, incomplete sentences on
purpose to add emphasis to certain ideas
purposeful run-on sentence
Using a run-on sentence on purpose to show an for them, and refuse to let them go.
ongoing thought, show the speaker is rambling,
or add emphasis
Rule of three
3 words or phrases that emphasize the most
important ideas in the sentence.
Taffy Sentence
A sentence that uses extra comma phrases or
extended descriptions to stretch the sentence
out like taffy
Imagery- show instead of tell
Remember to use the five senses to describe
images the reader would see, sounds they
would hear, things they would feel, etc.
Striking verbs or vivid verbs
These are verbs (action words) that are more
descriptive than a typical verb.
Example
“Olive’s handwriting was perfectly formed‒small,
dense, controlled‒like rows and rows of pearls.”
“But I can see. I can see everything. I can see things
that Mom and Dad can’t. Or won’t.”
"I know that the whole point—the only point—is to find
the things that matter, and hold on to them, and fight
Duty - Honor - Country. Those three hallowed words
reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you
can be, and what you will be."
“But everything evened out eventually, didn’t it – every
wave subsided, lapsed back into the ocean, returning,
giving them time to put themselves back together
again.”
“They were both wide and musclely; Crabbe was taller,
with a pudding-bowl haircut and a very thick neck;
Goyle had short, bristly hair and long, gorilla-ish arms”
(79-80).
“The blade of his long sword gleamed white from the
incandescence of his wings--vast shimmering wings,
their reach so great they swept the walls on either side
of the alley, each feather like the wind-tugged lick of a
candle flame” (95).
 Echo effect (repetition) “She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow.
She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting
Repeating the same words in a series of phrases or shadow of an elf owl” (15).
sentences. If the echoes certain words, they must be
important

Use of italics to create emphasis “ I started naming all the frozen vegetables. String beans,
spinach, carrots—and for a moment—just the tiniest
Italics show readers words that are more important moment, I forgot why I was there. I forgot who I was waiting
and should be emphasized in the sentence. Often for. I forgot her. Just for a moment—that’s all. And by the
this is supposed to create an emotional response time I remembered, it was too late.

Figurative language ( simile, metaphor, “Today I wish I didn’t have only eleven years rattling inside
personification) me like pennies in a tin Band-aid box”

Use of ellipses to create a pause
Ellipses are the three dots (...) that can create a
pause or hesitation in the sentence
“Sitting there, with the rain still pounding on the windows,
she fell into a world of private pictures...Snaps of
conversations. Images of figures against sunlight.
Individual movie screens hurtling through the inner space
of her mind.”

Hyphenated adjectives “Yeah, I hated him. Every inch of him. From his
broken-veined, red-nosed face to his dirty, stinking feet. I
Connecting two adjectives (describing words) with a hated his beery guts. But I never meant to kill him.”
hyphen in order to make more juicy, creative
descriptions.

Cliffhanger/ unexpected ending
When the sentence ends with a statement that is an
unexpected, unresolved, or suspenseful twist.
“But I can see. I can see everything. I can see things that
Mom and Dad can’t. Or won’t.”
“Yeah, I hated him. Every inch of him. From his
broken-veined, red-nosed face to his dirty, stinking feet. I
hated his beery guts. But I never meant to kill him.”

Dime-Dropper Phrase
Also known as an adjective clause. This is a phrase
that adds juicy details and more information about
the main subject of the sentence.
“My father, a fat, funny man with beautiful eyes who has
never walked away from a fight, is trying to decide which
of his eight children he will take with him to the county fair”
When the Other Dancer Is The Self by Alice Walker