Finding Your Voice

“Why do writers write? Because it isn’t there.”
-Thomas Berger

“If there is a chance in hell that someone is reading this, then what I write will live on.”
-Gabriel Brimstone

One idea that I have always tried to instill in student writing is significance and depth. Ever since I have started teaching, I have allowed the writers I have worked with to choose their own topics. “You can write about whatever you want, just as long as you show the reader the significance in your words.” At first, many students are comforted by this. Some are even excited by this! However, once reality hits them, they realize just how important it is to choose the “right” topic. What is the “right” topic? How does a writer know when they have stumbled onto the right one?

All writers want to create something with depth, something that has meaning, and something that is relevant. No matter if it is an essay for a Composition class, a creative writing piece, or any variation between, they want to make sure that the send an appropriate message, plus create a piece that is worth their time.

When approaching writing (creative or otherwise), I tend to look for patterns in the world to create themes. For example, when writing Demon in My Head, I wrote of the world of a vampire hunter. Any “average” vampire story has the traditional blood-sucking storylines. Stories that simply focus on the monster killing people, only to be executed himself/herself, have been done to death. How can one put in their voice to make the story their own? I looked around in my real world to see themes that I could use in my fiction. In short, I looked within myself and my life to place my voice into the story. My grandfather was a reformed alcoholic who struggled with his addiction. I heard of this secondhand, of course, since it was something that he never talked to me about.

It is rather easy to see a similar theme of addiction of within the vampire subgenre. So, I created Gabriel Brimstone, a vampire hunter/vampire who is remorseful of his fall “off the wagon” (i.e. drinking the blood of the innocent). In the opening pages of Demon in My Head, Brimstone is found going to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Writers (new or otherwise) should know that depth is found within one’s own discovery of patterns. I played upon the pattern of addiction that is inherent in vampire fiction, but I would not have seen it had it not been for learning of addiction within my family.

So I tell my students to look for patterns within their own lives and backgrounds. There are always patterns (humans are very logical creatures). What patterns do they see? It is like playing “connect the dots” with abstract concepts. It is these patterns that allow me to see the reality of the world around me and address it in the truths that come from my own mind.

Lately, I have been swamped with student essays to grade. Each essay has a truth in it that comes from the writer’s own mind. On many occasions, I will ask myself “What drove this student to write this particular essay?” Whether it is about gun control, a biography of John Quincy Adams, or a summary of a thought-provoking essay, there is a kernel of truth that acts as the driving force behind the project. On most occasions the essays include examples of events that have occurred in the students’ lives that have a relevance to the topic that the student has chosen. As such, the writer has a direct connection to the topic and realizes that they indeed have a voice to bring to the essay.

It is important that the writer knows that they have a valuable and valid voice. Writing is very empowering. To write something, it implies that the writer has a voice. As a writer, one must know what they care about. If it is important enough to occupy the writer’s thoughts, then it is important enough to write. Always keep the pen moving! Listen to what you write and your will hear your voice.