Voices of Our Pasts That Show Up in Stories

photo courtesy of Firefly Experience

"If you don't know what voice is, it's tough to define, but here's my definition: 'A writer with voice has the ability to illuminate the ordinary.'"--Kim T. Griswell, Boyds Mills Press Senior Editor

I've been thinking lately of summer nights--those nights as a child when we visited my uncle's place and played with cousins in the darkened backyard. There were the lightning bugs we raced to collect in mason jars, the games of hide-and-seek behind trees at the edge of the woods. "Ollie-ollie-in-free. Come out, come out where ever you are!"

Besides my cousins, I see grandparents and parents chatting away the evening in lawn chairs. I see the home I grew up in and how it eventually expanded from a four-room cottage to a four-bedroom sprawl. I see brothers when they were little, my sister and the room we shared.

History of Reynoldsburg

Some of this comes back as I go through a treasure that was just recently passed down to me--History of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, a compiled history of the town in which I grew up, written by a home-town gal Cornelia Parkinson. The book was originally a gift for my dad who had a stake in the history of the town based on his work with the school district. And now, with the responsibility of sorting through our parents' things falling upon my brother, he has passed it on to me.

And my, what treasures I find between its pages. For example, I didn't know that in the late 1800s (certainly way before my time!), a prestigious horse breeding farm existed just two backyards away from mine. And then there's a picture of a young and beautiful Miss Berry, my first grade teacher in 1955, when she was a beginning teacher in 1939! There are also previously unknown facts about the first Civic Club, formed in 1922, that not only established the first kindergarten in town but also the local library--both institutions I benefited from some thirty-plus years later. Club members even furnished the first teachers' lounge. Many years later, my junior high home economics class helped redecorate the teachers' lounge of its era.

Oh, so many memories, so many faces that march by in the mind. Long-forgotten voices speak.

Newbery Award winner Lois Lowry once said, "I wanted to say something about listening because...each of us has our own voice, and it is not only our own voice but it is made up of all the voices we've heard and been influenced by all our lives. For most of us these will be family voices or people to whom we are, or were once, married. I can hear these other voices in all my books.

"They're not consciously put in by me, but they come forward in various ways. I can hear the voice of my grandmother. Just sitting over there, a few minutes ago, I suddenly thought of her and the place in one of my books where she appears. And the voice of my older sister: a voice, long, long still from a premature death, that has become part of my own voice.

"The absence of my father has become part of my voice. He was a real Army officer who spent years of World War II in the Pacific. I find that that I have wonderful fathers in my books, and I think that's because my own wonderful father was a long time coming back to me. All of those things combine in your subconscious and are part of the voice that will emerge from you."

And so a book highlighting my hometown is helping me listen for voices that might whisper to me as I write my books. Home. Family. Faces. Memories. The life of a writer, although often spent alone in thoughts and words, is never lonely, is it? The voices of our past keep us company and revisit us in our stories.

I'm enjoying the process. Are you? What voices of your past have influenced your writing? Do they come to you easily, or do you have to sit quietly and listen for them?

_____________________________

On Voice, Listeners, and Francine Prose

April Scouts 2014

A Wise Voice

It's not only what you say,

but the manner in which you say it.

It's not only the language you use,

But the tone in which you convey it.

Words come from the mind

And grow by study and art,

But tone leaps from the inner self,

Revealing the state of the heart.

---Author Unknown

I'm not sure what was the state of the heart of these guys, but their voices were truly loud and insistent this past Sunday morning. I kept hearing their call and thought they were a part of a flock flying overhead. But when the noise didn't go away, I went looking. There they were, on the barn roof next door. And they stayed a looooong time--and made A LOT of noise. What in the world were they doing? Who were they talking to? Who was listening?

Francine Prose poses similar thoughts on the writer's world in Reading Like a Writer, A Guide for People Who Love Books and For Those Who Want to Write Them. Chapter 5, Narration: 

"The only way I was able to trick myself into writing a first novel, as well as the first short story I published that I liked...was to write both the novel and the story as stories within stories, narratives told by one character to another. Eavesdropped upon by the reader, the storytellers and their audiences appeared at the beginning and end of the works, and occasionally throughout, to interrupt and comment upon the action.

"The reason I say 'tricked myself' was that this device enabled me to overcome one of the obstacles confronting the novice writer. This hurdle disguises itself as the question of voice and of who is telling the story...when in fact the truly problematic question is: Who is listening? On what occasion is the story being told, and why...?

"...For me, writing framed stories not only answered all those troubling questions about the narrator's audience, but also neatly integrated the answers into the narrative itself. I knew not only who was speaking but who was being spoken to, where the speaker and listener were, when and why the event--that is, the telling of the story--was occurring. This permitted me to skip over slow parts of the plot by having the listener become impatient and hurry the narrator along.

"...Was it something that one character would tell another in the way that people tell stories about their lives? Would anyone imagine that these recounted events would hold another human being's interest, and would the reader believe that anyone, even a fictional character, would stay focused and pay attention all the way through?"

My geese friends may have been calling to others in the flock. They may have only been talking to each other. But either way they represented storyteller and listener to me, a necessary pair.

I'll approach voice from a different angle now, by way of a framed story--though I don't intend to climb the barn roof to do it. How about you, what would you say about the writer's voice? Do you have a listener in mind when you write?

___________________________

On Voice, A Quote

"Writing without voice is wooden or dead because it lacks sound, rhythm, energy, and individuality...Writing with voice is writing into which someone has breathed. It
has fluency, rhythm, and liveliness that exist naturally in the speech of most people when they are enjoying a conversation." --Peter Elbow, Writing with Power

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I've found this definition on voice to be very helpful--hope it inspires you, too. And now that October is here, my goal for the month is to breathe more life into writing. How about you?

On Scraps and Ambivalence, Itches and Perseverance

If you are struggling with what you

should be writing, look at your scraps.

Encoded there are the themes and subjects you

should be grappling with as a writer. --Betsy Lerner

I've been doing just such a thing this past week--sorting through my scraps. And nearly drowning in them, actually.

The thing is, my scraps have been accumulating for years. Clippings here, manila folders there, boxes of articles torn from magazines waiting to be revisited. But with the advent of a new year, one in which I plan to finally embark on my next MG historical fiction, I decided it was time to put on wading boots, jump in, and pull all the scraps together in some kind of order. After all, the sea of research goes on forever, but the time comes to put a hold on research and begin to write. I just need to know I can find what I'm looking for when the thought hits me.

It's been a long week, but I now have six new notebooks of compiled scraps to show for my efforts:

• On Plot and Storytelling
• Character Sketches and Journaling
• Photo File with Visuals, Idea Triggers, and Character Suggestions
• Local History of Targeted Era
• Biographies and Human Interest, Inspirational Stories of Overcoming Adversity
• Odds and Ends: Names, Motives, Descriptions, Family Trees

Not only that, but the week culminated in a one-sentence story summary, a developing story arc, and determination to get something down on that first page. After all, the first page--so blank and empty--is often our biggest obstacle.

"The ambivalent writer," Betsy Lerner notes in her classic book on writing, The Forest for the Trees, "can't hear himself think, can't commit to a single vision, can't stop wondering if six other directions aren't the right ones to take. The ambivalent writer confuses procrastination with research. He can't hear through the static to find the one true voice."

She also says, "(But) If the voices keep calling, if the itch remains, no matter how punishing the work or inhospitable the world, then you must persevere."

Sorting through my scraps has validated some of my loves: history, real people's inspiring stories, stories of courage and hope, children's fiction, the writing process itself. It has helped provide vision, direction, and voice for my newest work--and hopefully has also silenced those pesky troublemakers, ambivalence and procrastination. But the best news of the week? The itch to jump in and get going is stronger than ever. And only perseverance will scratch that kind of itch.

The Challenge is on.

What do your scraps reveal about your writing?

10 Tips on Voice--and a Beary Good Giveaway!

A writer's voice is not character alone, it is not style alone; it is far more. A writer's voice--like the stroke of an artist's brush--is the thumbprint of his or her whole person--his or her idea, wit, humor, passions, rhythms. --Patricia Lee Gauch

Bear Snores On, by Karma Wilson, has fast become one of my picture book favorites. I love to read it with Angelica, and anticipate reading it to the newest family member Adrian--unless, of course, his big sister beats me to it. And, not surprisingly, it has found it's way cross-country to little Nicholas, too.

Recently, after yet another reading, a whimsical  thought hit me. The story is also a metaphor for that elusive quality writers look for in their writing: "voice." After all, Bear SNORES ON until (without giving anything away) a series of events come along and he WAKES UP--and uses his voice as only he can. Which is what we writers are trying to do: wake up the voice that is only ours to speak.

Voice. A variety of definitions exist for voice.  Chip MacGreagor calls it your personality on the page. Laura Backes says voice is the way each author approaches the art of writing. Voice is "you," according to Graham Salisbury. Others say it is the identity of the writing, the way words flow, what makes the piece unique. I personally like Linda Fraustino's definition: "voice is attitude with rhythm."

Personality. Uniqueness. Attitude. Rhythm. The way words move and flow. The writer's thumbprint. Who you are. In other words, the life that a writer breathes into words.

The past year's been good for me in exploring the idea of voice--in writing and in blogging. Along the way, I picked up some tips that have been beneficial. I list them here in hopes they will help you as well.

1. Practice. Write. Write to your word count goals. Write character sketches. Free write. Journal. Write, as Backes says, simply for the pleasure of writing and not always necessarily with an eye toward publication. "Over time, with lots of practice," she says, "your voice will emerge, if you let it."

2. Let Go. I recently read an article in which Patricia Lee Gauch related how, as a young writer working for a local newspaper, she had an experience that helped her understand voice. A story she had submitted came back with these words from the editor: "This piece has no energy, no pizzazz...I want to hear your Voice." She said he looked at her to make sure she was listening. "You are going to have to let go when you write." Helpful words to us all. Let go. Self-conscious, "trying-to-get-it-right" writing will come across in just that way. Relax. Let the words flow.

3. Close Your Eyes--and Write Like You Talk. Again from Backes: " The best voices appear when authors write as they speak. (So) try typing your writing exercise with your eyes closed so you can't see the computer screen. Closing your eyes also helps you focus inward where the story is conceived. Then you'll be guided by how the words sound and feel, and that's the closest thing to your true voice."

4. Give it Time--and Be Patient. Allowing your voice to develop is a process--and it will be hampered if you try too hard. Backes: "Give it time, and remember that each of you already possesses your destined writing fingerprint. If you're patient, you can place that fingerprint on your work."

5. Expect to Write a Million Bad Words First. This comes from agent and kidlit.com's Mary Kole, in a guest post at Guide to Literary Agents (11/23/10). Daunting, but so true. "In order to get published or anywhere near publishable," Mary says, "you've got to write about a million bad words. That's right. A million of 'em. Only after you write a whole bargeload of BS will you: a) start to recognize what's good, and b) start getting a handle on the craft. Writing is a thing to be practiced, just like everything else. Write every day. Do it diligently and without ego until those milion bad words are behind you."

6. Be Persistent. I especially love this piece of advice. "To understand voice," according to Salisbury, "you must invest long hours of hard work. You can eat an elephant a bite at a time, and that's how we improve--a bite at a time." I don't know about you, but I'm determined to eat the elephant!

7. Be Yourself. Les Edgerton, in Finding Your Voice, says it this way: "Your mama was right: just be yourself, honey, and eveyone will love you, pimples, bad haircut, gap teeth and all. Just be yourself, compassionate or ironic, flirtatious or embarrassed, imperfect and real; with your style, your tone, and your sense of humor...Loosen up, improvise...Your words, your language. Not language borrowed."

8. Listen, and READ. Listen to others. Listen to the way you talk. Listen to other writers by reading--and read alot. "Really listen to people talk. Listen to yourself. Read all kinds of writing, from comic novels to journalistic essays, and think about how the voice works," says Editor Amy Flynn.

9. Read Your Work Outloud. "Read your work out loud to yourself and to audiences and clean up all areas that falter." This from Wendy Lamb, Editor.

10. Play with Words. "Play with words. Play the same scene from multiple perspectives...Practice the possibilities and know where your best writing flows."--Linda Fraustino

So voice comes down to this: write, write, write; read, read, read; practice; play. Repeat. To paraphrase a line from the movie Field of Dreams: if you write it, voice will come.

Now to a giveaway! I have a copy of Bear Snores On I'd love to give away. All you have to do is post a comment here by Tuesday, December 21. The winner will be announced the next day, Dec. 22. Two chances if you are a follower. You and/or the one to whom you read it are in for a real treat.

"...Ultimately if we are to succeed, we must discover and disclose our own voice...sense of style...particular embrace of language and information. Consider by way of explanation these words: authentic, nonformulaic, rhythmic, properly detailed, nuanced, musical, magical, bone-and-sinew touching...Consider writing that pulses with a heartbeat of the writer--his soul, her personality--something that connot be duplicated because it comes from within someone." --Peter Jacobi

Zebra Stripes and Writing Skills

They say no two zebras have the same stripe pattern. This should not come as a surprise, since other prime examples of uniqueness abound--like stars, snowflakes, and fingerprints. Why not individual designs in zebra coats?

I take a quick scroll through Wikipedia and read opinions about why zebras have varied stripes. It's been suggested that the patterns serve either as identification, camouflage, or even--strangely--as a means to confuse the pesky tsetse fly.

Any one of these ideas could spark discussion about how unique each zebra's story is. But this photo from last week's circus suggests another story. Look closely. In the midst of differences, there is a similarity. Note how the stripes on their rumps draw together in a common pattern--as if the stripes were ribbon threads about to be gathered into a ponytail. Ever notice that before? I sure didn't!

Ha. I play an association game. Just like no two zebras are alike, neither are writers. Styles are different, experiences are different, messages are different--for sure voices are different. But we carry with us one thing in common--the need to build a good foundation in the craft of writing. You know the drill--good grammar, showing not telling, action words not passive, sensory details, things like that.

We writers need to tie up our different stories with the same craft threads. And just like performing zebras need to practice their drills, so do we need to practice our writing drills.

Zebras and writing--a stretch? Maybe so. But somehow I just knew I had to use this picture!

Switching Gears

I recently purchased a netbook computer thinking it would be good to have for when I'm out of town. Theoretically, I told myself, I could also use it on the rare occasions when my hubby and I want the desk computer at the same time. But, realistically, how often does that happen? Not very often.

Until tonight. Bill wanted to check some sports scores and statistics. So I relinquished the desk chair and took the laptop into the living room.

Frustration soon set in. I found myself fuming about how small the keys are, how I can't type fast on it, how I'm continually backspacing to separaterunonwords, or deleting numb3rs that pop up where they don't belong.

Then it struck me. My brain was having trouble "switching gears" from one thing to another. Not so unusual for me, really. When writing I can: a) miss something my husband is saying, 2) forget to start supper on time, 3) neglect to make an important phone call...you get the idea. Switching gears is not my strong suit.

Les Edgerton, in his book Finding Your Voice, says, "...one definition of intelligence (is) the ease, quickness, and skill of one's ability to adapt to multiple environments." Hmmmm. He uses this definition to illustrate how the successful writer will be able to give different characters different voices and still stay true to her own voice. But I'm wondering if somehow the skill can be transferred from the writing bubble to real time.

Intelligence aside (since some might question the level of that!), I would like to be able to switch gears more easily and "adapt" to multiple environments with a quicker response time. Maybe my new laptop will show me how. Like so many things, including writing, it will take practice.