Voice

One of the characteristics of writing for electronic media is voice. Voice is a combination of particular "speech" patterns (in writing, what is often called a conversational tone), point of view, and attitude - are you being funny, sarcastic, serious, nostalgic?

A particular advantage writing for electronic media has over traditional media is that the author's voice can literally be heard - that is, sound files can be attached to the blog or article and the audience may listen to the author in addition to reading.

I was unable to find an "official" version of this essay online, but someone posted the full text as a comment to a blog post, so we'll go with that. David Sedaris is a humorist who has made his fame and fortune on his readings. Read the text first - what do you hear? What do you imagine the author's "voice" to be?

AFTER reading the text, listen to the author reading the same work. Here's David Sedaris on "Late Night With David Letterman" reading one of his essays.

How is it different? Which has more impact? Are they better together, or does one interfere with the other? What techniques does Sedaris use to inject "voice" into his writing? Post a short critique to your blog site.