Voice is what most people have in speech but lack in writing -- the sound of 'them'. We recognize most of our friend on the phone before they say who they are. Few people, however, get voice into writing. When we read a letter, it has the sound of them. It feels as though writing with a voice has life in it. It's almost as though breath makes words themselves do some of the work of getting themselves up off the page and into our head as we read. We need only pass our eyes, like phonograph needles, along the grooves, and magically, sounds and meanings will form in the head. (Elbow 288)
