It’s almost laughable, isn’t it, that we writers struggle to find our own voice?
Our voices come out loud and clear during our every waking moment, while we’re talking to family and friends.
And then when we sit down to write. IT’S GONE!
It’s like another personality takes over, the one that was always trying to impress the teachers back in school, the essay voice, the term paper voice, the journal voice (heaven forbid). It’s like we’ve been put under a spell, the English Teacher’s Curse, which has left us voiceless.
When I started writing fiction, my loss became embarrassingly clear. After reading my first novel, agents came back with: “I don’t feel connected to your protagonist. I don’t feel I know her.” Actually, they were being nice. My protagonist sounded like an uptight, judgmental, Miss-Goody-Two Shoes, who nobody would want to spend ten minutes with, let alone the hours it takes to read a novel.
Finding My Voice
Yet people in my creative writing classes loved the words that miraculously sprang onto my paper during our in-class assignments, you know, where the teacher gives you a prompt and then ten minutes to respond? Mainly because of lack of time, I wrote from the gut, and often in the viewpoint of a man or a child. Sometimes I was even funny. I was having a ball.
But the protagonist of my novel still wasn’t getting it! What was her problem?
So, I decided to start my own blog and make regular posts in the hopes that if I kept practicing, I’d find my voice and be able to share it with my heroine.
Anyway, I have things to say. And to do it through newspapers and magazines is hard. The competition is fierce, and I don’t have the experience. You know, you can’t get the job without the experience, and you can’t get the experience without the job.
It’s also hard to write something that everyone wants to read, or at least the bulk of readers who frequent a particular newspaper or magazine.
With a blog, I can write what I care about, and, in time, I hope people will stop by. They’ll come voluntarily and thus be more receptive to my message. Maybe they’ll find a key word on the Internet that leads to my site, or maybe another site will bring them in.
Hopefully, with practice, the voice visitors hear will be my own. Sure, some of the content of my posts will be available elsewhere on the Internet, from much greater authority, but I’ll provide posts that come from “the gut,” and, in my case, that means from a technologically-challenged, struggling writer, in the process of finding my voice.
As always, thanks for stopping by,
I think you write very well and one day, you will find that job to get that experience. For now, keep blogging because this is your sounding board. I believe through your blog you'll get another step closer to where you want to be.
Very nice! It is hard to find that voice, but once you do~it's down hill from there. I did buy the John Steinbeck Journey of a Novel, over the weekend b/c of you:)
Hi there!! I am your newest follower! I found you on the Monday Linky! I love finding new blogs and yours is lovely:) You can find me at http://www.bouffeebambini.blogspot.com
Hi Cathy. Exactly. I'm hoping my blog will serve me in many ways, but especially in allowing my true self to shine through my words. And, of course, I'm meeting people such as you. A extra bonus!
Hi Tonya. It's good to know that once you find your voice, it's down hill from there. But that's only if one keeps using it. I've heard from other writers, that it can be lost again without constant practice. I believe John Steinbeck mentions something about this in his journal. I hope you like it. I will be reading it for the third time soon, right along with a rereading of East of Eden. I'm in the mood to spend some time with a master.
I really enjoyed reading this. It's something I can relate to, and it's a part of why I, too, started up a blog; not only was it to share my content with 'the world' but it's also to practise being able to sit down and write, and do so relatively well, on a daily basis. I'm hoping that it will allow me to develop a habit and from there, more of a voice, in most of what I write regardless of what I'm writing. Though I sometimes find it at 2am when the inspiration hits, it seems that there are other times I've got the ideas rattling around in my brain, but the voice has escaped me. If it means anything at all, even though I'm a new follower, I think you write very well; your blog has been a joy to read.
Hello J. Moore. Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post and leave such a nice comment. I'm glad you can relate. I think many writers feel the same. Blogs do make us sit down and write. Supposedly, practice makes perfect. Only time will tell. And yes, inspiration can hit at the most inconvenient times. Believe it or not, I have a notepad handy next to my computer, so that even at 2am, I manage to jot down a few notes to decipher later if something "brilliant" pops into my mind.
It is hard to find your voice. And what can happen is finding your voice to lose it, and then try to find it again!!! I think the purest voice is the one that without time to think about what to write. Which in most of our cases is impossible. We often over think what will go on the page, and that will quiet the voice.
I agree, Lee. Often the purest voice comes from the subconscious and comes out in what is called "riff" writing. Just write what comes to mind as you pen moves across the paper. It can (and will) be revised later.
Hi Margaret! I just wanted to stop by and let you know that you have a blog award waiting for you over at Glitter Frog! Should have already done this (should have already commented also. i'm an excellent lurker!) but better late than never, right? Right???
Okay, Vicki. I don't know how this works, but I'll stop by Glitter Frog and see what's up.