I read a post this past week by Lois Lavrisa
at The writers guide to e-publishing
She cautioned
writers not “to change” your “true voice to fit some perceived social pressure
(i.e. what’s selling.)
I’ve been
pondering this for some time now—how to allow your true voice to come
through—and what is it anyway? I have a clue, if not the whole enchilada.
Last year, I took
a stroll through As I wandered the mile-long path, imagination fully active, I remembered some of the fairytales I used to read so long ago and could envision them happening in that place. I wanted to take a piece of that magic back home so I looked around until I found the rock that “spoke” to me. You rock lovers know what I mean.
In the days that
followed, I did a series of posts in my journal, entitled, “musings of the
rock” as I “listened” to the wisdom that came through. I know, I know, some of
you are saying, “That's just a rock! I’m outta here, this woman is looney.”
Too bad for
you.
You are missing
the point—looking at life with childlike simplicity, allowing the creative mind
to speak to you, brings out your authentic voice. Have you so lost your inner child, your belief in all the
things that tap into your creativity, that all you feel is dry and uninspired?
My advice—don’t
kill the dream. Don’t become too grown up—always leave a piece of childhood
alive, or if you’ve lost it, go back and find it.
What is this state
of childhood I am talking about that’s so special and what does it have to do
with voice? It is the ability to believe in the impossible and pretend with
abandon, to try new things or old things in new ways.
Not all children
have the option to be childlike when that innocence is stolen or ground out of
them by the insensitivity of others around them while growing up. As soon as the ‘adult’
voice comes in with, “That’s silly, immature, naïve,” or is dismissive and
critical with, “You're too adult for that,” then that sensitive child within
withers and, eventually, will die if it is not revived and nurtured.
I’m convinced that
H.G. Wells, and Jules Verne had their inner childhood intact. That was why they
were able to make the leaps they did.
Einstein said,
“Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere”
and
“I am enough of an
artist to draw freely upon my imagination,”
and
“Imagination is
everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
You may argue,
imagination is not child-like wonder, but don’t you have to have a child-like
wonder in order to allow your imagination to do more than pass ideas through
your mind, don’t you have to act on it—that takes a certain trust, belief in
the impossible, the incredible, the crazy?
I think you have
to believe in yourself, love yourself and allow the child-like wonder stay
alive. When you are not afraid to bring out your inner child, or at least allow
it to come out and play a bit, you may just get closer to bringing out your
writer-blogger voice.
When we write our
novels we have much less of a filter due to the distance from creation to
publishing when we have time to edit, but we are much more critical when it is
going out into cyberspace on the next click. I'm not talking about inappropriate
content as Kristen Lamb warns in her article, Deadly Doses-Politics, Religion and Our Author Platform. I am talking about being yourself fully, and as
Isaiah said, "a little child will lead them.
What about you—do
you think I’m crazy?
Or do you think I
might be on to something?
Or, here’s a safe
question, do you collect rocks?
#magic #rock-collecting #sci-fi #voice #writers #writing
