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Why write?

  In an interview with Condé Nast Traveler, vituoso cellist Yo-Yo Ma talked about a 1993 life-changing trip to the Kalahari Desert. He'd been sitting around the campfire with the Bushmen, listening to their playing music in prayer, for the hunt, for art.
"Why do you do this?" he asked a woman beside.
"Because it gives us meaning," she said.
There may be no better reason to write as well.

On Voice:

  For serious readers, literature communicates on so many levels that to begin addressing all that it does would require one to write a book. Still, writing literature can be approached in parts and here I address one important aspect of novel writing - voice.  A novel may have all sorts of surprises, plot twists, and strong conclusions, yet to some what remains most pleasing about a book is appreciating the mind and heart of the writer ones "sees" while reading the text. What becomes most important then is voice.
  Some say writing cannot be taught. I believe it can, and I believe finding one's 'voice' is the key element in this process. So for beginning writers here are some guides (not rules) for those seeking to discover their 'voice'.

One method of finding Voice:

1. Write a short story, a scene, or even a page of something. Write about anything. The one condition is that this sample has to mean something to you personally. It must not be just a thought, an idea or a gimmick.
2. Believe this, Somewhere in this piece is your voice. Print then cut the piece apart into paragraphs with a pair of scissors.
3. Ignore the paragraphs that you find most emotionally powerful. This usually is not "it" because this contains too much emotionally driven content. What we are going after here is style.
4. Seek out the apparently tame paragraph or two that simply describes. As I mentioned before, it will not be the worst or the best of what you've just written. It'll be somewhere in the middle, slightly elevated.
5. Take this paragraph and read it aloud. Hear it. Savor it. See if you can visualize what your words have tried to show.
6. Use this paragraph as a model and develop more like it. Be patient with this step. It will not strike you immediately.
7. Now here comes the important part:
7a Try writing short sentences. The paragraphs these make up will be perhaps 5 to 10 lines long.
7b. OR. Try writing long sentences. The paragraphs these make up will be 10 to 15 lines long. Are you someone who writes long sentences or short sentences?
7c. Try writing chapters of 1 or 2 pages.
7d. OR. Try writing chapters of 10 or 20 pages. Are you someone who writes short episodic chapters or long sweeping chapters?
8. Seek out the character in your piece who is neither the one about whom you feel most passionate, nor the one who bores you the most. Choose the character that is somewhere in the middle, slightly elevated. This will be the character you communicate most clearly with the least effort. This character will also help you find your voice.
9. Finally re-write the same piece but make it somehow relevant to this character.
9b. Go back and forth between the first person, second person, third person, et al. Perhaps this character might become the narrator or the protagonist. Are you more comfortable telling the story in the present tense or past tense? Write it both ways and see (but leave the piece alone for a while before you decide). The person in which you write might dictate the tense.
10. Finally buy a style manual (University of Chicago, Oxford University Press, or another that you like) and study it cover to cover every 6 to 12 months.
  Conventional American wisdom has it that English writing should be reduced to the "good" writing of Stunk & White, or to the effective but often desiccated prose of Hemingway or Chandler. English however is too rich and subtle a language for such a small cage. For example, the much maligned 'passive' voice sentence is more appropriate than the highly praised 'active' voice sentence when tone matters, as in a business letter. Nevertheless everywhere writers turn they hear the same drivel that they should always avoid 'passive' sentences in their writing /The poor adverb is experiencing a slow death in American English, why? /What is a gerund and why is it important? /Alliteration? More? Each time you review a good style manual you will discover new points that were missed in the previous reading. The frequent reviews of these manuals then are absolutely necessary.

 Remember that in seeking your voice, you might use something similar to a "gardening" technique. There are a hundred books out there that will tell you what "not" to do (don't plant squash, don't allow weeds to grow wild, don't over,fertilize). However, telling someone what "not" to do, will not show this person what "to" do (how to test the soil, when to plant, how to care for the plants).
  So here's what to do. Do write according to your own gut/stomach feelings. Do trust what you have put down on the page. Pull the "you" out of your own writing and grow that "you". As you practice, your confidence in your own "voice" will allow you to do the job at hand, which is to create the visual you want on the page, and even to take writing risks which may not immediately make sense but which more often than not will leave something unique and truly beautiful.

What's most needed when seeking Voice:

Elmore Leonard said it took about 10 years before his sound emerged. I've met people who said it took 20 years. One has to be persistent in writing but perhaps the most important trait a writer might acquire regarding his/her writing is patience. Be patient. Voice will come when it comes.

Write most days of the week!   Enjoy what you do!