Bob's Write from the Start: Voice

Bob's Write from the Start

Bob’s Write from the Start, a blog sharing the roller coaster ride of this renewing writer’s feelings and actual experiences, began March 2017. That January, I began with a two-sentence contribution to a local Writing Group. I am now a Guest Columnist for a local paper and have contributed to small and online magazines. My comments for new and renewing writers? Start by starting. Join a writing group. You are unique but not alone. Once you start work, you will not be in Kansas anymore.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Voice

It is great to be a novice at something again. Something I'm interested in, that is. I would also be a novice at auto mechanics, but have no motivation to overcome that distinct shortcoming. I read a fair bit, some light entertainment and some fairly serious 'literature', so I have at least a half an idea what good writing looks like sometimes.

Famous authors. World beaters. Kings and queens of the hill.

In one of my first few weeks in the Writers' Group, though, I have been in the company of accomplished and published authors who have yet to make their first gazillion dollars

Or be the question to a statement on Jeopardy.

My goodness these people can write. So, filled with totally justifiable self-doubt, I spoke out loud: "What am I doing here? I could never write that [whatever latest example of compelling expertise]. "No, no" they said. You can't look t it that way. "You can't write with somebody else's voice and compare yourself. Once you start to write with your own voice, some people, or maybe a lot of people, will want to read you."

My own voice? "What might that be?" I wondered.

[To be continued]

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About Me

Name: Bob's Write From The Start

Location: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

Born, raised and living in Sarnia, Ontario, Bob Boulton began writing poetry, short stories and humorous articles for his high school newspaper in the period just after dinosaurs roamed the earth. His article on the mysteries of the Chess Club was particularly well-received. Bob’s excruciatingly naive teenage sonnet was published with positive mention in the high school yearbook. In University he wrote pretty much indecipherable essays on Existentialism and Phenomenology. Then, early in his working career, Bob also wrote short feature articles in the now-defunct (not his fault) Weston York Times. For this, he was paid $5.00 per article, which didn’t quite cover his transportation and parking costs. Then after a short break of thirty-five or forty years as an executive and leadership coach, Bob reactivated his passion for writing. The alternatives he considered were learning to yodel or trying to play the bagpipes. Bob’s loving and supportive family voted enthusiastically, and quickly, for writing.