When it
comes to fiction I’ve always been uncomfortable with describing the voice of my
characters, or what voice means. I’m an intuitive writer for the most part I listen, I write, I pull some Tarot cards to
get me started on a theme or a topic and let my characters do the talking
I do the same when I am journaling. I wait to centre
myself then listen for the ‘person’ inside of me that needs to do the talking
or ranting or who’s screaming to write poetry. Usually it doesn’t take me long
to get into the rhythm of the voice that wants to talk. Sometimes I have to
sweet talk it out of its cave, or take a backseat while the voice pretends to
be someone else, and I sit there tsking and clicking my fingers.
“Nuh-uh, that ain’t you. I ain’t
buying that bullshit Drew.”
Why then does it seem so hard for me and many
other writers to pin-point what voice actually means? You can see it, hear it,
write it, and when asked to explain it, or write about it, or hell think about
it for longer than it takes for a kettle to boil the old mush dump just
shrivels up like walnut left out in the winter with its shell removed. It’s
uncomfortable to look at. You know it’s a nut, but what nut and what the fuck
does it mean really? Why is it even important?
When I
started University I had a number of excellent teachers who shared multiple messages,
read from various books, recommended passages to read and held classes and
seminars on voice. I grew a little more confident in my ability to establish that
is was made up of lexicon, and diction, style, choice and P.O.V and that inside
those P.O.V the voice of one character could change or not change depending on
the piece of writing I was working on. It got me thinking, as a Journal writer
and a Non-Fiction writer for my blog how those parts of voice also factor into
me as a person, and how I express myself, with my characters in the fictional worlds I create
and how I do so on paper in my shadow
work, tarot work, and personal posts.
It is there, my voice is always there. Unique and authentic each time I write. I can see me. Can you see me?
Would you
want or even expect that a page from my journal, an essay for University or a
blog post share the same voice, my voice? A voice you could tell without my
name being attached to it was intrinsically and intuitively me?
(Image Pinterest)
That leads me
onto the deeper questions around my right to change my voice or the essence of
it, and whether it would still be me. What do you think?
Does each piece of writing give me the freedom to create, dissect and express the persona’s that live inside of me that comes out in my fiction and non-fiction?
Am I being inauthentic if I step
inside a persona to tell a particular tale in a personal essay or memoir? If
one of my stories centres around my life as an Ex- Dominatrix, while another on
my favourite authors, and the next oracle card recommendations would I be
denying my true self if I shifted diction, lexicon and p.o.v to either distance
myself or get right up in your kitchen for a tea time confessional?
What about when I am taking on the
creatrix mother role and birthing voice into my characters? Do I have an
obligation to step away from the character and listen to their authentic voice speak
when they too have their own complex persona’s just like me?
How do I give them that voice, and
how does their voice dictate the way I write and you read my stories? How do
they dictate your own?
These are
all questions that have sprung from opening the damn box on Voice. The
mysterious, hard to pin down, opinionated ‘technique’ as a storyteller and the
pivotal part of us all that tells us apart, that helps to educate, brand,
debate and develop a personal and collective power.
I want to
explore this. I want to look at what different writers, speakers, tumblrs, say
about voice in writing, and in society alongside my own experience as a person
who uses writing to give myself a voice, and a platform and catharsis to
develop it.
I want to
give you, the reader the opportunity to join in along with me on this journey.
It will be random, as all life and most writing is – right?
Posts will
be intuitive, and I will endeavour to give you all some helpful links, insights
and maybe even some INSPIRATION that
will help you to understand your own voice better whether you are a speaker,
blogger, poet, writer or a reader or just interested in reading some Uni
student/ writers rambles on whatever is floating around in the mind sink at the
time.
I want to
leave you with a simple question, one that you can come back to:
What do you know about your own voice and why do you feel it is important to you?
Okay, so
that was two questions, who’s counting?
I’d love to
hear your responses, leave them in the comments or feel free to email me at
No comments:
Post a Comment