Lost: One Voice

WANTED:

`

The safe return of my written voice.

`

Where can it be, do you know?

Is there a place the lost voices go?

`

It's been intermittent for so long now.

But I'd swear I had it just two days ago. Was I mistaken?

Have I done something wrong, did I drive it away again?

`

Maybe I've been fooled. Tricked. Led to think I can do this, but

maybe I can't.

`

It's just so unfortunate, so sad, and maddening, too,

because we had a good thing going, my voice and me. I was so sure.

`

And now, without it, blogging isn't the same.

Special projects are hard; inspiration is far.

My novel-writing is lame, flat, horrible. It's like

I can't

continue--though I've tried, oh, I've tried--because

nothing is cohesive without it.

`

I'm lost without my voice.

`

Still, I guess I won't give up hope.

Please, if you see it, won't you send it home to me?

Showcase Yourself

Creation. Expression. Communication. Platform. Our blogs, they are so many things.

But do we use them to share our writing?

Is it important to share not only the mechanics, the ins and outs of this craft, and our individual journeys, but to showcase our written voices?

How is anyone to know me as a writer if I don't share my voice?

Do you share yours?

narrative vs. DIALOGUE

I struggle to balance them. Both are crucial, I admit. But for me, one's weight does not match the other.

I've learned I write with less narrative. My nature is to keep it at a minimum, to manipulate the words so that less narrative gives the more powerful effect I'm looking for. Because if I try to flesh things out, just for the sake of more, I lose the meaning and feel I was after.

Dialogue tips my scale the other way. I feel like so much of my story is told through characters' words. Details unfold, inflections and nuances hide. In longer works, I'm most comfortable in and around dialogue.

How is it for you? Is one heavier than the other?

Is there a "right" way, a perfect balance? Or, as with so many other aspects of writing, is it open to the writer's interpretation, the story, the voice?

Tell me what you think.

One Word

Think for a moment about the writing you've done. About how it has defined you, helped you find voice, escape to other worlds, relate lessons, share emotions.

And now think about the writing ahead. What do you want it to mean? What will come from it?

Describe in one word* what you want your writing to be.


*One word? Could be difficult. We're wordy creatures, after all.