My friend and professor, Steve Ersinghaus has hinted in a post on his weblog that I may finally have found my long-sought-after voice. I would point you to the post, but it’s embarrassing in its generousity as much as it is instructive in its definition of voice, so I shall excerpt it here:
“Voice is one of those unteachable elements of observation and telling and is interwoven into the thing in itself. It’s an impression, an echo, the personality of a speaker. A voice says things a particular way.”
Since the particular entry of mine that he has referenced was inspired again by my time sitting and staring at the backyard in the evening—as opposed to my early morning inspirations—I shall attempt to repeat the experiment to prove its hypothesis and will be heading out shortly again tonight. I may stay and wait for the words to write themselves in my mind This is much too important, too long a quest, too exciting to not follow up. If the voice is in me when I’m out there, that’s where I shall remain.
Sure hope the coyotes don’t eat me.
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That is exciting Susan …. how nice to get the gift of his insights into something you are working towards. I guess we should all step outside our routine and see what effect it has.
Wendy, I can’t tell you how important it is and how grateful I am to have his help. He is a writer and more experienced and talented that I, and he sees things and is willing to point them out and share his knowledge. But others can help too–you just need someone you can trust to be honest.
Thanks for sharing this very personal experience. I find it inspiring. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Tell the coyotes to buzz off. You have important things to do.
Good for you. Continue to give the voice space to sing.
BTW, can you post a link or make it possible to connect to your instructor’s blog? I really liked the quote of his.