Finding Your Creative Voice

Bath Looking Beautiful...

There is often a huge amount of emphasis put on finding your creative voice. Lots of discussions on how to do it, where to find it and exercises to help. But actually we are all born with our own creative voice already part of us. It develops in different ways and is embedded within our own cultural moments, which is influenced by: our upbringing, history, social background, cultural experiences, politics, biology, psychology, education and all the other parts that make us who we are.

I am not sure it is quite as elusive as is often made out. What I do feel is that voice is often tied into a story rather than only the writer. And that for each story you write the voice will adapt to that story, particularly if you have fully imagined worlds and characters. Human beings, are by our very nature, flexible people and that is often reflected in our writing and our processes.

The voice in a story has multiple levels. Of course the writer contributes to it, but so do the characters and also the reader will bring their own cultural moment to their interpretation of that voice thereby making the voice their own. This is important because the reader is not someone who is passive, they are an active participant in the story. They want to experience the narrative - live the story.

Some people worry that by reading lots they will be influenced by those books and they will end up copying that writer's voice. What might actually happen is the writer slips that voice on for a while but their own voice will come through.A writer's voice also changes as they develop as a writer and as they get older. Due in no small part to the change/increased amount of experiences they can bring to their writing.

Therefore voice does not stay the same, it constantly evolves, but it needs to come from your heart. You need to be brave and bold but also trust  that you do have your own voice.

This just seems right after such a beautiful day which has followed a long, grey, wet winter

Finding your voice

Al Alverez talks about the idea that when you read a novel the voice tells you a story. We all know how important it is as sometimes in rejections letters you find the response ‘the voice just wasn’t strong enough for me.’ ‘I am looking for a really strong voice.’ ‘Your story just didn’t come alive.’ Getting a strong voice is really important as you become a writer. When you start writing you become a bit of a tart. You try on lots of different voices, fall in love with them and then equally as quickly disregard them and move on to the next. These voices might be influenced by books or poetry you are reading, favourite films. But you need to find your own and while you hone your craft your voice will become stronger. Have faith. You will begin to trust your own voice rather than copying others. This is when your story will start to come alive. But voice is not straight forward. It consists of lots of things.

There are times when I am marking work when everything is on the page as it should be. There are characters, a story line and a setting, but it still feels flat. There is no life to it. I don’t experience the story as I read it. And that’s what I want. I want a story that draws me in so I forget that the rest of the world is happening. When it works, for that moment I am lost in between those enticing pages. As I mark I will often write things like: show not tell, point of view, tone, get rid of the authorial voice, give me a sense of place, let me know your characters. Getting these right will help you start to make your story come to life.

The editor, Beverley Birch says, “'Voice' is so much more than tone of the writing and what the characters actually say.  It's a web of impressions, speech, and thought, and perceptions, and physicality, and a whole lot more. It rises from the writer’s subconscious, but it is also something that has to be worked at, refined, honed, made apt and truthful.  It's instinct and inspiration, but also craft and technique...it requires boldness and exploration, and a finely tuned ear for the detail.”

Nobody can give you a voice, but we can give you the tools to help. If you are interested, Beverley Birch and Imogen Cooper are doing a workshop on the ‘voice’ entitled ‘Through the Narrator’s Eye’ at the end of April as part of Golden Egg Academy. Check it out here.

Or if you don’t want a full workshop perhaps book an editorial surgery where we can talk through some of the issues of voice. First surgeries are in London on 11^th May. Check it out here . Scroll down below the in-depth reports to find where you can book.

And just because it seems like a beautiful day to start writing and finding your voice