Finding My Voice-Module 3

Once again I sit here fingers on keys, arm-wrestling with myself, trying to decide what I want my online voice to be. After absorbing the words of William Zinsser and Professor Kalm, I have decided that the best way to find my voice is to just write. Let my writing be my voice as opposed to finding a voice to write about.

As a 30 year career broadcast journalist, I find that my writing is best styled for television. It is a style that is both conversational and succinct. If less is more, than the who, what, where and how must be plain and obvious. What struck me during our readings was that the differences between writing for broadcasts and writing non-fiction or fiction are as wide as the differences between European futbul and American football. The literary writer is able to enhance their words with description. In this sense, it is very similar to the differences between a baseball play-by-play announcer doing radio as opposed to TV. The writer needs to paint a picture of the story, and do it in such a way as to enable the reader to imagine what the words are describing and keep their interest.

In my opinion, the other key to the lesson, was to not be afraid to write about what you as the writer know must about. I thought this line by Professor Kalm was especially telling, "Writers and artists are always revealing themselves. It is part of the job description. They too, admit far more than they know, when they start putting down words in a certain order."

I think good writing is exposing a certain part of the writers vulnerability, its a risk well worth taking.