I took writing classes, read and applied hundreds of writing craft books, and hired freelance editors. So ten years later, why did one freelance editor say I had no voice?
“It’s time,” she said, “to write a mission statement for your story. And stick to it.”
Then I read one more book, Finding Your Voice by Les Edgerton. I’d mistaken craft for voice, he said. And, as I honed my writing skills I’d lost my voice in the process.
Yet there was hope. On page 73 Les gave me a signed permission slip to write in my own natural voice.
My unique voice reveals my take on life, including my beliefs, fears, hopes, and dreams, memories of childhood celebration and disappointment, the embarrassing teenage years, followed by adult accomplishments and failures.
Some have said that writer’s block comes from editing out your natural voice before it reaches the page. Yet when you’re in the zone, words pour out freely, words that are in your natural voice.
When I use my natural voice, I have an original story. One that no one else can tell. I must simply accept that not everyone will like my writing and not everyone is my target audience.
Have you ever wondered why movies are so different from the books that inspired them? The fact is the filmmaker destroys the novel writer’s voice. If you prefer the book over the movie, what you loved about it was that voice.
In my own writing, I like to read the printed pages of my draft while walking around the house. The body mind connection kicks in and I realize when the dialogue is off. Ooops, I think, he wouldn’t talk like that. Layer by layer the character voice emerges.
“When you sit down to write, allow God to flow through you to use you. Let His words inspire you to write the things He lays on your heart. You are unique, and therefore your voice is unique in speech and in writing. Your voice is a gift straight from God’s hands, speak and write for His glory, and your matchless qualities will touch lives that no one else can touch”. ~~Lisa Buffaloe
Q4U: How did you find the secret to unlock the personality in your writing voice?
WordServe Water Cooler 