[Ads-l] Word: voicey

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

"Voicey" appears to be a somewhat new specialized word employed by
book editors and literary agents. It occurs in the title and the body
of an article posted on a website focused on YA (Young Adult) books.
Here is an extended excerpt to help explain the sense.

Website: YA Interrobang
Article Title: List of the Week: Voicey YA Novels
Author: Jill Gagnon
Date: April 20, 2017
http://www.yainterrobang.com/voicey-ya-novels-list/

[Begin excerpt]
If there’s one single element of writing I love above all others, it’s
voice. (Well, voice and the occasional well-placed Buffy and/or Doctor
Who reference.)

It’s that intangible thing that makes a book memorable, an author
unique, a character or a story leap off the page and into reality. It
can be polarizing, aggressive, strange, or even unlikeable—Holden
Caufield was the original voicey YA narrator, after all, and as much
as I had an aching crush on him circa age 14, he really doesn’t sound
like the dinner party company I’d seek out these days.

But that’s the beautiful thing about a strong, engaging voice: even
when you can’t stand what a voicey character (or author—more on that
later) is saying or doing on the page, you can’t look away. Voice can
make something terrible, or cruel, or weird, or just unpleasant
interesting.
[End excerpt]

Here is another citation in a book released in late 2017.

Date: November 2017
Book Title: Product Management in Practice: A Real-World Guide to the
Key Connective Role of the 21st Century
Author: Matt LeMay
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Sebastopol, California
Quote Page xii
Database: Google Books Preview

[Begin excerpt]
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Mary Treseler, Angela Runo, Laurel Ruma, Meg Foley, and
everybody at O’Reilly Media for turning a pitch about a “very voicey
and opinionated book about product management” into a real thing.
[End excerpt]

An inquiry about the word was made at the stackexchange website.

Website: english.stackexchange.com English Language & Usage
Question: What does “voicey” mean?
Date: February 9, 2018
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/430343/what-does-voicey-mean

[Begin excerpt]
What does the word voicey mean in this sentence?
It is a very voicey and opinionated book about product management.
. . .
In this case, I suspect that it's a "nonce" word, made up by the
author, that you won't find in a dictionary.
[End excerpt]

Garson

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