Enjoy Your Own Voice

Here's the scoop -you have to enjoy what you write. Or as Zins puts it, at least fool the people into thinking that you enjoy it. Not to pat myself on the back BUT  I have been speaking on this subject for the last 6 weeks so nah nah nah nah. I win! Okay, fine, I don't win, but I get it. I have been writing since I was eight. I am, as Zinsser is (I love when the experts agree), that some inherently have more class than others when it comes to writing, translation: some people are born with a talent for writing and others are not. One, may work on writing and become better, but it is the one with the natural ear and the work that will be the better writer. 

My single most enjoyable experience with a piece I have written would have to be my short story "The Prodigy," a story about an aging child prodigy, who has a second chance. The reason I most enjoyed this piece is because much of my work are character sketches, but this story is fully rounded  with a character sketch. I have spent the last year working on a collection of short stories about women in the midst of crises. Each character has lent herself to the next, evolving her to a new place, finding more out -even though none of the characters are the same. "The Prodigy" was at the height of this discovery. This character is self-deprecating, most like me, and yet nothing like me. It was extremely fun to write a very small story, with undertones of depression juxtaposed with her willingness to go beyond her fear. I spent a bit of time researching the harp, how it is played, as well as certain phrases that would be used -I felt this gave authenticity to the piece. I realize that I most enjoy writing on a subject that I don't know in order to learn. I am a master googler. I want to be in the process of learning everyday. This story did that for me. However, the one thing I do understand, seemingly well, is human nature, so even though I did not personally experience the determination it takes to become a harpist, I do understand the drive, the personality that one must possess. I think I have shared this before, but I had my mother read the story when I was at the half-way mark and she called me a "sociopath" because she knew I had only played the cello for one year and never practiced and it was almost scary to her how persuasive I was. When she read the final piece, she cried. I remember sitting there and thinking, I hate that she is crying, but I do love that I could make someone become that immersed in seven pages of fiction/pure fiction to cry. There is a victory in that.

I like short, succinct sentences that cut out the frivolous content and make a reader want to read more because they aren't getting bogged down by details. I love to write. I love to read. I love to write something in a way that is uniquely my own. I think the best way to describe my voice is to say I write without emotion on the page but it is deeply weaved in. 



Basically, when it comes down to my skills, I am good and evil. Yes, tone, voice, style -I have honed (not perfected, if I had I would probably stop writing) but I have, because of my voice taken creative license to throw out some grammar. This does not please me. It is of great issue, actually. I am currently studying grammar on the side, and have a tutor for this area. This of course has not stopped an editor or two from publishing my work, but I believe as a writer I have to learn all of my craft and not just let the editor fix a few of the line errors that exist. But, bottom line, I enjoy my own writing very much (not blogging, my fiction). Who knows if others do or don't like what I do. My friends say they do, but could a friend really be honest with me? It doesn't matter really I have to find my own joy in my passion.What I like the most is my audacity (if I may steal from Zinsser), I am not afraid when I write. I am afraid on an almost daily basis of so many things -losing friends, alienating people, hurting someone, looking weak -but in my writing I can do all of that, learn about those aspects of myself and others, and have a better understanding of the world around me.