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

Honing your writing craft is never easy!

Coming out of the shadow

A good friend recently sent me a message saying how much she had loved my most recent blog post, in particular, the voice I used, which I was very flattered by. My aim had only been to share my practices. Combine this with the knowledge that an article I submitted to a journal has been accepted (more info when I can link you to it) made me start to think. Those of you who are regular readers know that I have been concerned about stepping out of the shadow of my PhD. It is so daunting. Doing a PhD is like having a hug, you feel protected. Once it is done, it is time to be a grown up! It is tough even if you have the support that I do. It is scary. Well, I think I am finally doing it and I wanted to share. I have interest in my creative piece and a lot more confidence in my critical voice. Neither of which has come easily. I have had to work really hard at it. But isn't that what makes it worth while?

As far as I am concerned, and even with a PhD in creative writing, I am still honing my craft. I am a writer but not a complacent one I hope. I know I still have lots of learn. I lecture in creative writing but I wouldn't consider that I can teach writing. What I think I do is give my students guidance and the tools with which which to hone their own writing. They get the space and time to to try out different voices. But it all comes down to practise, the more you do it, the better you will get. You could say that it is no different to a painter or a musician. Watch the clip below which is Shin Suzuma, the brother of another great friend of mine. He is 22 and an extraordinary pianist but he puts in hours and hours of practice every day. See, you don't get anywhere without putting in hard graft and that is the same with writing, I believe. It is not easy and don't let anyone tell you it is. Or rather, the first draft might be but then comes the rewrites....