Hi Reader,
I hope this finds you enjoying November. We are finally starting to see some beautiful fall foliage here in Northern California, which I love. It also reminds me that it's time for the quarterly free training I promised you all. If I've been quiet lately, it's because I've been busy putting together a new workshop (plus, you know...life).
Anyway, as I've been working on my own new draft, and now as I head into a revision of the book I've been querying, I've been thinking a lot about my characters' voices and how to make them distinct.
When I was a literary agent, I read hundreds of queries and sample pages a year. Most submissions had decent premises. Some even had sharp writing. But only a handful stopped me in my tracks. Those were the submissions where the voice leapt off the page—where I could hear the rhythm of the sentences, sense the emotion pulsing behind the words, and feel like I was sitting beside the author, a cup of tea in hand, listening to a story only they could tell.
Voice is the difference between a book that feels competent and one that feels alive. It's a secret ingredient that makes readers (and agents!) fall in love with your pages.
And yet, it’s also one of the trickiest elements of craft to pin down. You can outline your plot, sketch your characters, and map your world—but voice refuses to be boxed in. It’s elusive, layered, and deeply personal. It’s not something you “find” once and keep forever; it’s something you build, hone, and embody through practice.
That’s exactly what we’ll do together in my upcoming free workshop: “Finding Your Novel’s Singular Voice.”
📅Thursday, November 13 at 10 AM PT
📍Live on Zoom
🎟️Free to attend — register here
This isn’t my typical webinar, where you sit back and watch slides fly by while I talk at you. This time I'm trying something new. I’ll guide you through a series of short, interactive exercises designed to help you experience voice, not just analyze it.
You’ll test out different sentence rhythms and emotional cadences. You’ll practice weaving world, character, and theme into a cohesive narrative tone. You’ll even play with how shifts in perspective and diction can transform the same story into something entirely new.
By the end, I hope you’ll not only understand what makes a voice singular and engaging—you’ll have started to develop yours in real time.
Because here’s the truth: voice isn’t something you can reverse-engineer from an outline or a beat sheet. You can’t plan your way into it. Voice comes from inside you—your rhythms, your curiosities, your worldview, your humor, your heartbreak. What I want to help you do is demystify the components of voice so you can tap into that inner reservoir with confidence and purpose.
When you learn to wield your voice intentionally, everything about your writing improves. Your characters feel more authentic. Your prose feels more alive. And your story, no matter how familiar the premise, begins to feel like yours and yours alone.
So, if you’ve ever wondered how to make your writing sound as alive on the page as it does in your head, or if you’ve struggled to articulate what makes your favorite authors’ voices so magnetic—this workshop is for you.
Join me, and let’s bring your story’s voice to life together.
👉Save your spot now for “Finding Your Novel’s Singular Voice” — Thursday, November 13 at 10 AM PT.
Offerings
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I'm committed to bringing you free quality craft, publishing industry, and motivational content on a regular basis. But for those of you who want more, here's my menu of services! And in lieu of Black Friday, through the end of the year, I'm running a "$250 sale"--$250 off a developmental edit, or $250 for my pre-recorded Revision Confidence Workshop.
Developmental Edits: One spot open for December, booking into 2026!. Reach out if you're spinning your wheels in the query trenches or want a professional eye to help you figure out what's working and what's not. Email me or schedule a free 30-min chat.
Group Coaching: New group launching in January! If you'd like to join us, we do 12-weeks of writing sprints 4-5x/week, and bi-weekly trainings and hot-seat coaching for a low quarterly rate. If you're looking for motivation, momentum, community, accountability, and a deepening of your craft skills, consider joining us! Find out more here.
Revision Confidence Workshop: A course in which I teach you how to revise your completed manuscript. Find out more here, or use code REVISION2026 to grab it for $250.
First chapter evaluations: Quick, simple feedback on your first 10 pages. Learn more or book here.
And that’s it for now! My goal is to simplify my offerings, and my newsletter, so that I can focus on doing the things I love (writing, teaching writing, connecting with authors, and providing clarity on the traditional publishing process.) while serving you to the best of my abilities.
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✨Your weekly-ish momentum bites✨
Journal prompts to get you thinking and writing
👤Character👤
What transformation does your character undergo over the course of your novel?
💖Mindset💖
Writing might look different this time of year and that is okay. Remember to give yourself grace. Your story isn't going anywhere.
🎨Take action🎨
Write a 250-word log line for your book. What is it really about?
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Thanks so much for being here with me. I value you and I sincerely hope that I provide value for your writing journey. If you feel inclined, drop me a line and let me know what you’re working on!
Happy Writing,
Karyn
P.S. Loving these emails? Buy me a cup of tea to say thanks. Or you can book a free 30-min story strategy chat here if you're interested in getting specific help with your book.
Granite Bay, CA
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