Finding your own voice as a writer
Mark K April 29th, 2008
Recently I had a chance to hear Billy Collins, two time poet laureate of the United States, read some of his poetry. Afterwards, he was asked what a young writer could do to improve his or her writing.
He said the key was to read as many books as you can get your hands on - read poets and authors whose style you would like to emulate. If you don’t absolutely fall in love with the writing, read through these books quickly until you find a writer who makes you absolutely sick with envy because you wish it were you who had written those perfect lines. Keep searching until you find more of these writers and then try out their style - borrow, copy, imitate. He added in a tone that could have been taken as a joke or as serious, that eventually you will meld all of these styles into your own style, that people will think is an original one.
I was telling this story to a writer friend of mine and her face lit up with recognition as she described her experience with “writer envy” with the hyperbole of a writer who is passionate about her work. She admitted that she once admired a writer’s work so much that she “wanted to actually eat the pages” and that she would sometimes take pages that she had written and tuck them inside his book, hoping that some of the magic would rub off on her work!
As writers, we’re always trying to find our own unique voice. I remember once when I read a piece in a writer’s workshop and someone commented that he could recognize right away that it was written in my usual style. I had always wondered how someone develops a style of writing that is his own and it made me feel good that mine was starting to emerge.
As we develop our “unique style”, I guess that we never really know how much of that voice is an echo of writers who inspire us and how much is of our own invention.
- on writing
- Comments(1)
This is inspiring.
lp