Hello and Happy Friday! Tara here. 

The V-word. We hear it a lot, right? Everyone's looking for that manuscript with a "great voice". If that voice is just right, agents and editors might be willing to overlook some plot or writing issues. If the voice isn't right, they won't get past the first page. Yeah, yeah. We know. Voice is important. 

But how do we find it? 

When they say voice can't be taught, they aren't lying. Your writing voice is something that can only come from you, and it will change throughout your life. So, I can't tell you how to develop a killer voice in a minute. But I can give you a couple ideas on where to start. 

1. Pick your favorite character from a book and write a scene introducing them. Do not use the original author's descriptions or words. Use your own. 

• Who are they and what do they want most in life?
  
• How do they talk? 
  
• What kind of music do they listen to? 
  
• What do they fear the most? 

You'll probably notice that this character, despite being someone else's creation, now sounds like a different character entirely. This is YOUR voice. 

2. Repeat the process above with your own character, always keeping in mind who your character is and what they want at their core. Who knows... You may have just end up writing the opening scene to your next book. 

Until next time!

Happy Friday and welcome to Minute Masterclass. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that up until recently--when I was doing copy-edits for my fourth book--I thought awhile and a while were basically interchangeable.  Luckily, I had both a copy-editor and a super-smart beta reader set me straight at the same time.

Here's the scoop: awhile is an adverb. It means "for an unspecified amount of time." A while is a noun, like a puppy or an hour. Note the use of the article a. Any time you use a prepositional phrase, such as in a while or for a while, it's always a while, because the object of a preposition has to be a noun. Here are a few examples:

I'm going to read awhile.
Please think awhile before you respond.
I'm going to read for a while.
It took me a while to realize the truth.

Notice that if you can substitute in another adverb, like silently, you want awhile, as in example one and two. If you can substitute in an hour, as in example three and four, you want a while.

I find that I use a while almost exclusively when I write:

“Something I should have done a while ago.” Jason leans back and nods at his handiwork. “This is your jersey.”  His hands linger for a moment on my waist. "It's always been yours." --Paula Stokes, The Art of Lainey

Bee reclines on my bed. “Elaine Mitchell. I’ve been your friend for ten years. You’re family. Maybe I want to strangle you every once in a while, but I will never tell you to get lost, okay? I would miss you too much.”
--Paula Stokes, The Art of Lainey

What about you? Do you use both awhile and a while? Did you know the difference? Do you have a grammar or writing question you want MCS to investigate?