Discover Your Multi-Voice

Expand your Creative Palette: Experiment with Writing Style and Voice

Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash

I visited my son yesterday and he asked me to fulfil my doggie-grandma role by feeding his blue heeler pup, Bruno. This was not as easy as you might think. Bruno had to perform a series of ‘tricks’ before eating was allowed. My son demonstrated, commanding Bruno to run to his bed and lie down. Bruno dutifully obeyed. Then it was my turn. Bruno did nothing. I tried again. Nothing. ‘My voice is not deep enough,’ I said, jokingly, then gave a command in a deep voice. Bruno obeyed, surprising us all. The deep voice sounded silly on me, but for this situation it worked a charm. It had the power to move Bruno.

This got me thinking…

Find your voice is standard advice for fledgling writers. It’s not bad advice, necessarily. An authentic voice adds power to your words. A consistent voice ties together your body of work and attracts readers who resonate with your voice and style. On the other hand, we are multi-dimensional beings and I am not convinced that a single voice can capture our fullness. Beautiful as that voice may be, it could become predictable over time. Why not make space for surprise?

Personally, I like the concept of a multi-voice. What if, within us, there are many possible authentic voices. What if we can shape-shift within a range of styles, tones, voices. Fiction authors do this all the time, as they switch between characters. What if our own voice could become so deliciously variant.

I am a big fan of the experimental approach to writing (at least in the privacy of our own notebooks). Experiments are risky of course. There are no guarantees. Stepping beyond our confidence-zone is scary. It requires trust and a beginner’s mindset.

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.

Shunryu Suzuki

If we move beyond the fear, experiments can open us to unexpected possibility. What if the voice we think is authentic, is a slightly muffled version of us — not the fullest, most expansive us.

I have decided to challenge myself on this, to push beyond my usual straightforward style, to experiment with new voices and styles. In particular, I enjoy reading authors with more lyrical and poetic voices than my own, voices that evoke a sense of mystery. So, I wonder if I have it in me to weave more lyricism and enchantment into my own work?

Will you join me in this challenge? I wonder what new voices or styles you might choose to play with? If you take up the challenge, please share links to your experiments in the comments. Feedback can spur us on as we experiment, but let’s appreciate the risk involved and be kind to one another as we push our boundaries, in search of new vocal range.

So, deep breath, here I go. This is a short poem in ‘not my usual style’:

Fifteen minutes on foot 
and I am there,
there to inhale life-force, 
kick off shoes, ground, 
lie, nestle in soft warmth.
I closed-eye listen 
to yonder roar, 
then silence, 
left roar, right roar,
silence, 
distant right 
whisper, silence, 
centred crescendo, 
then soft, then silent, 
rolling rhythm 
lulling 
stillness, sound 
waves come, 
pause, move,
heal.

I wrote this after visiting a beach which I have walked and swum many times. But I had never before tuned in so closely to the rhythm of waves. Sure, I listen to the waves, always. But, I had never experienced the way in which the sound of the waves comes (very clearly I might add) from different directions and distances. Nor had I appreciated the silence between the waves. Lying on the sand, with closed eyes and attentive ears, gave me this surprise gift of awareness. I was alone on my deserted stretch of beach, alone but not lonely, with the comfort and company of sea-song. This level of sensory observation is satisfying, but especially invaluable to those of us who are writers.

I haven’t named this poem, yet. Sea-song seems like an obvious title, but I didn’t want to give away the mystery of what was being described, letting it unfold for the reader. What do you think?

This is the other end of my local beach. Photo by Zac Edmonds on Unsplash

For another multi-voice experiment, check out my next article, Is this Madness, or Creative Process?

Much love,