Another Take on Writers Voice

Photo by gerard79/StockXchange.com

My 9-year-old daughter just finished writing camp. That's correct--writing not riding. There were no horses any where in sight.

Instead, my daughter, Christa, joined other kids in 4th through 6th grade and had fun--really!--learning about memoirs, journals and blogs. Christa has a little bit of her mom in her because she's already started several stories. And, also like her mom, they aren't completed yet.

During the second week of the three week camp, Christa mentioned the teacher taught them about finding their "voice". I'd just come back from the My Book Therapy Polish Conference (now called The Summit Conference) in Seattle. There, literary agent Chip MacGregor summed voice up as "Personality on the page." I couldn't wait to see what this teacher added to that working definition.

For those of you still struggling to determine your voice, here are the questions from the My Voice worksheet Christa brought home. I also included Christa's answers for fun.

My voice sounds like _______________ (waterfall & wolves howling)

My voice tastes like ________________ (buttered popcorn)

My voice looks like ________________ (perfectly purple)

My voice smells like _______________ (buttercream vanilla)

My voice feels like ________________ (cotton stuffing)

Before you chuckle and move on to reading someone else's blog, stop and think about that exercise. What was Chip's working definition of voice? Personality on the page.

Was my daughter's personality revealed in her answers? Yep--in a funky, fun, out-0f-the box kind of way. And sometimes when we stop being so serious about something is when we finally have our "Aha!" moment.

So, how would you answer those questions? Do your answers reflect your voice?

I'll come back later today and post my answers for fun.