Category Archives: The Power of Your Voice

Write Your Fire ~ #1 in Series

 

For 37 years as a writing coach and author’s mentor, I’ve heard other adults tell me some variation of this writing block:

“I’m afraid to tell you what I think.”

“I don’t want people to know who I really am” or “…what I really believe.”

Along with directing their creative writing, my work mostly involves opening the invisible cell doors that seem so real to people and letting them know it’s their adult work to emerge and be who they are.

Voice = content and passion. Voice = individuality and distinction from other writers.

On a personal level, when you quench your voice you quench your personal fire. When it comes to publishing, dulling down your voice makes you less potent, creative and interesting to both publishers and readers.

As a writer, incorporate all the content, colors and energies that define your voice.

But how do you do that, if there are voices in your head that want to block or censor what you have to say?

This series of posts in The Power of a Conscious Writer™ will help you find and release the power of your unique voice and start writing with all the fire that is you.

 Next: Look Deeper… Listen Deeper

Look Deep… Listen Deeper ~ #2 in Series

 

Until you can look past the you other people think they see or want to see, you will never know your true self and your true voice… never know who you really are.

The power of your voice is found when you are willing to meet and accept all of you. Happy you. Sad you. Angry you. Funny you. Creative you. Ideoligical / philosophical you.

Until you look and listen to what all of you is saying, not just the acceptable aspects, and maybe even see even the parts of you that you don’t want to see, some of your power as a writer is lost to you… and actually to everyone else, too. You’ll remain only a partial person. Not a fake, but not really fully real either. As a writer, you’re muffling your voice.

Maturing as a writer means accepting and using your mature voice. That means growing up inward – becoming all of who you are when you’re not lost in the wilderness of other people’s personalities, beliefs, demands and ideas.

Take time to write out opinions and beliefs you’ve never voiced out loud. Connect yourself solidly to the inner terrain of your mind and soul.

To do this is like raising land up from the floor of the sea and creating new territory to inhabit that is all yours. That is to say, this creates good inner ground for your public writing.

 Next: The Voice that Makes a Mark

The Voice that Makes a Mark ~ #3 in Series

 

“Publishers like my writing – generally. But they keep telling me I don’t have a distinctive ‘voice.’ What are they are they talking about?”

Because I’ve heard this statement so many times in my many years of coaching writers I want to offer a primer on it here. Because it’s true, publishers look for authors who, among other things, have a distinctive voice.

First – What  is voice?

Someone can be the voice of a certain movement or school of thought or art. That person, we would say, is a thought-leader, a way-shower, an innovator. The man or woman who is articulating a new way of seeing the world, approaching a subject, or doing things.

That isn’t most of us, though. So – what about the rest of us? How do we think about, and understand, our individual voice?

Voice – to use a metaphor – is like varietals of wine blended in the same bottle – say 50% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, 20% Petit Verdot. A skillful vintner finds the strong varietal to present is the “forward” or dominant taste, then shades the blend with other varietals to present other subtle flavors that enhance the beverage that will slide from the bottle into your glass.

Understanding your voice as a writer has similarities. You need to develop a keen awareness of what you really know, what you’re passionate about, what type of communication you’re good at (say, narrative or non-fiction), what your intention or mission or goal is (what you want your reader to know, do or become).

Now when it comes to self-awareness, most of us need to do a bit of reflection. That to say, if you don’t understand what your particular voice is, don’t fret. But do explore.

In this series I’ll touch on important aspects of voice, and help you continue to develop awareness of yours.

Next time: Why Finding Your Voice is Important