Dear ,
As writers, we use the word "voice" as a term to refer to a writer's overall style, created through her diction, syntax, and punctuation, as well as the way she handles her subjects, develops her characters, etc.
Voice is also, of course, the sound that comes out of our mouths, and we can learn to modulate these sounds, make them more melodic. In fact, some people take vocal lessons to speak in a more pleasing manner, or take voice lessons to become better singers.
This week, I had a number of "voice lessons," beginning Monday evening with my first ever teleseminar, "Everything You Need to Know to Banish Writer's Block Forever."
It was a very strange experience to be talking to people I couldn't see, but the lovely crowd participating, both on the phone and via the web, made it fun, despite a few technical glitches, like when I began with a warm welcome and spoke almost a full minute before realizing that no one could hear me because I hadn't pushed the right button! It got much better after that, but I was struck by how many of the participants told me afterward that my goofs were the best part. They could hear that I was being myself, speaking in my own natural voice and using my mistakes as examples of moving past fear and negative criticism, just the way we need to do to get our words on the page. The replay, with slides and exercises to help you banish your writer's block, is up and available now. (At first you'll just hear music.) If you're interested, just click this link:
http://forms.aweber.com/form/22/1640010822.htm
(or paste it into a web browser), enter in your name and email, and you'll get the super simple details. (The only difference is that you can go listen right now or anytime you want through October 4th. Spoiler Alert: I sing a tiny bit, not well but with enthusiasm, because singing is one of the strategies I share. If you hate to sing, no worries -- there are a number of others.) The replay is free, and you can download the audio to your computer to keep if you'd like.
Yesterday's voice lesson
was the aha! of realizing that I could take the time, in an overfull day, to write a few words of comfort to a friend who had just lost her sister rather than wait until I had time to write more and/or better words. Using the time I have NOW to write what I can, and letting that be enough -- there's another way to banish writer's block!
And today's voice lesson came through a not-your-typical-WordPlay workshop I led in Wadesboro for a group of African American adults who live in a subsidized senior housing community (along with a three-year-old African American boy named Nehemiah,
who participated the full two hours through beautiful scribbles and a beatific smile with not one inappropriate sound or movement). A good percentage of them could barely write a sentence. But they could all give voice to their stories of love and loss and laughter out loud, and they did. Wonderful stories that made both laughter and tears well up and made me realize just how fortunate I am.
One man told about a job he had when he was a kid, and how he ate so many strawberries while he was picking them that his boss man told him to leave because he was eating up all the profits. He went and got his fishing pole and went down to the river. "I caught a bass that day," he said. "First fish I ever caught."
One woman spoke of how her mother called her one day to say, "I'm really sick. Will you come home?" (She did, and took care of her mother until she died.)
Someone shared that he got one pair of shoes per YEAR when he was growing up. "I took them off soon as I got home from school," he said. "Made 'em last longer."
The words that landed in their notebooks were spare, but their love for their mamas and daddies and grandparents and children, for the Gospel music that got them "through the good times and the hard times" shone.
I drove back home through the sunshine of this September day with a heart full of gratitude for all the advantages I have and for the work I get to do, helping people give voice to the stories that only they can tell. I'm grateful that these generous people let me share their lives. And I'm most humbly grateful that I can get the words about any story I want to tell down on paper. It's so easy to take that ability for granted.
How about you? What story would you like to give voice to? What words are you grateful to be able to lay down on the page so that you can share them with someone else?
Your voice is a gift.
Happy unwrapping,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
DIALOGUE CRAFTSHOP
Memoir writers, fiction and nonfiction writers, and poets alike: Nothing can make or break your writing like dialogue! Not only does it have to be believable, it also affects pacing and plot. Do you know how to avoid "wooden" dialogue? And all 9 ways to alter and punctuate, to show off your characters' words to their best, most polished effect? If not, come find out! $88 includes two instructional sessions, an e-book of supplemental materials, an audio of class, and supplies.
WHEN: Wednesdays. October 17 & 24, 10 am to noon
WHERE: South Charlotte area. Details will be provided upon registration
TO REGISTER: Click here
to download a printable registration form to mail in. (Or paste this link into your web browser: http://wordplaynow.com/WordPlayRegistrationForm.pdf
Or register online via PayPal or with a credit card by clicking this link (or pasting it into a browser):
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=A4KLV2R2K573Y
THE FIRST EVER WORDPLAY TELESEMINAR: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO BANISH WRITER'S BLOCK FOREVER
New tools, new ways of thinking, new delivery method! This teleseminar will provide what you need to allow your words to flow freely and to give you the "oomph" to complete your writing projects.
WHERE: The comfort of your own home.
WHEN: Anytime between now and October 4th
TO REGISTER: Go to
http://forms.aweber.com/form/22/1640010822.htm (or copy this link into a browser) and follow the uber simple instructions.
COASTAL WRITING RETREAT
Renew yourself, whether you are a practicing writer, closet writer, or as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen writer! The techniques and prompts we'll use will spur your imagination, and can be used to create nonfiction, fiction, and/or poetry-the choice is yours. There'll be ample free time to savor your beautifully appointed private room with king-sized bed, private bath and balcony, the large porches with rocking chairs and swings, and the coastal setting.
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, November 2 - Sunday, November 4, 2012
OR
Friday, November 9 - Sunday, November 11, 2012
(Two separate retreats; choose the dates that work for you)
TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 or 910.575.1000 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as unavailable online.
Register soon - this is a popular event and there are only 8 spaces available each weekend. The Inn will hold your reservation with a credit card.
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Featured Writing
I wrote this poem a number of years ago as a condolence to a dear friend, inspired by Linda Pastan's beautiful lines. Learning to sing back to our griefs sure sounds like voice lessons to me.
Voice Lessons
When my griefs sing to me
from the bright throats of thrushes
I sing back.
- Linda Pastan
Is it the smell of hyacinths in the house
that makes you notice people
falling all around you, falling for want
of words? A boy loses
a father, a boy you knew only once
on a summer evening catching fireflies,
and mostly you remember his face
was dirty .... Still. To lose
a father. You want a word.
But you can't find one, so
you are silent. Finally
you understand why people turn
their heads away, won't look
grief in the eye. And now
someone you love
is losing a brother and again
the silence reaches up
to strangle the words
in your throat. For what
do you know?
Is it enough to listen to Cimarosa
while you knead bread for her, pat comfort
into the dough? Is it enough
to plant a garden? To teach your son
pieris as you show him their pendulous blossoms,
to hear him love the word, make a litany
of it, affirm over and over, pieris, pieris, pieris,
is is is, as though
he'd been born to learn
how to sing
- Maureen Ryan Griffin
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "voice." This week, give yourself some "voice lessons." Here are a few ideas:
1. Study other writer's voices. Pick three writers you love, and read a page each of their work.
Put their work "under a microscope." What can you notice about their diction (individual
word choices), syntax (the way they put their words together into phrases, sentences, and
paragraphs), and punctuation, as well as the way they handle their subjects, develop their
characters, etc.
Try writing a paragraph in one or more of their voices -- if they write several
long sentences with a number of multi-syllabic words, interspersed with a string of sentence
fragments, for example, try that.
2. Study your own writer's voice. Read over a passage of your writing and note your diction,
syntax, and punctuation, as well as the way you handle your subjects, develop your
characters, etc.
3. Ask someone you don't know well to share a story from his or her life with you.
Listen carefully.
4. Send a note to someone who's recently experienced a loss.
Want to be featured in a future Word-zine?
Send in a piece of your writing that you think could inspire other WordPlayers to write. 500-word limit, please.) You can send something inspired by this writing, or anything else of your choosing. Email your words to WordPlay here
and your piece may be chosen for a future Word-zine.
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MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms and
When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! 
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