Losing my Voice

At present I'm writing a deeply spiritual and complex novel about how religious issues destroy a loving relationship. There are two first-person narrators, and the tone is intended to be one of analytical thoughtfulness with only the occasional light moment for relief from the heavy themes.

I am also reading a particularly delightful chick-lit romance written in a whimsical tone with many hilarious asides and lively moments.

Unfortunately the two don't really go well together. I'm finding that my serious and challenging book is taking on a certain lightness, that my characters are having rather too many comic asides, generally in italics, and that I am someone losing the gravity of my original narrative voice and replacing it with that of the book I am reading.

One of the reasons would-be writers are encouraged to read a great deal is because that's a great way to pick up on the tone, talent and tricks of a skilled writer, and subconsciously as well as deliberately emulate their style. And apparently that's what I'm doing, entirely unintentionally.

So I think that for now I had better stick to reading serious and scholarly treatises. That is, until I go back to writing my chick-lit novel, Finders Keepers, at which point I plan to immerse myself in Marian Keyes.