What voice(s) do you use?

I've talked about this before, this is a hard one to fully grasp. Much like the idea that there are only a few basic plots (The seven deadly plots), there is a belief that there are only a few basic voices that a writer can use (at least in western literature).

Five to be exact: 

1) the casual voice: The we all use to talk about the weather. 

2) The metaphor voice: The one we talk "deeply" in. The metaphor, simile, and dream voice. 

3) The salesman's or narrative voice- the voice of the preacher or the politician. The one that repeats itself over and over to make something stick. 

4) The abstract voice that we all use to capture dreams and poems. 

5) The fifth voice is the voice of the author, the message, and the way it can be delivered from the person writing. The voice of the over-arching "storyteller". 

I used to think the five voices were restrictive, just like the seven plots. They are not. As authors we like to be unique and special snowflakes, we aren't. We are all reusing all the same tricks that have been used before in different ways. We should all hope we are because they work. The truth is, very few people discover something new. For the majority of us, we can be unique in the way we tell a story, but the story is nearly a rearrangement of a story that has been told before. 

I learned to embrace the voices and make them into something I can master and use to make my work and style more recognizable. To create a formula that is all mine. 

Here's a great video from Jack Grapes about the voice of a writer (if you don't know who that is, google him).

Cheers, and keep on creating!