Use Your Voice - Writing as a Performance

Writing is a detailed process. There are certain steps and procedures that are “recommended” for a successful paper to be produced. These steps have been embedded into our minds from a very young age. As students, we were told what to write and how to write, leaving very little room for our own interpretation. My high school English teacher, Mrs. Cramer, taught me more about writing than any other teacher had up until that point. She taught me how to use my “voice”.

For many of you, it seems paradoxical for me to say that you need to write with “voice”. Voice is used during speaking; how could it be used in writing? A brief explanation should clear this up. The voice that Mrs. Cramer taught me was the following:

V – Valentine Heart – draws the reader near
O – Opinions – make your stand clear
I – Ingenious – honest, open, sincere
C – Courageous – nothing to fear
E – Enthusiasm – words you can hear

“Voice” is a matter of writing with your own personality and your own creativity. Without your ideas and your imagination, they are simply words on a paper. In her creative writing course, she rarely chose a topic, allowing free expression from all of her students. My portfolio was quite full at the end of the year, full of a variety of different genres of poetry and styles.

The process of writing involves thousands of choices, the first being what to write about. In many cases, you are prompted with a question, idea, or topic to discuss. Though it may seem limiting, it is helping your mind to narrow down the wide variety of topics you could have chosen to the one that will best fit the purpose or class. The organization of thoughts is crucial to any form of writing. That is why it is recommended that some sort of brainstorming, such as an outline, web, or list, is done before the writing actually begins. In writing, every word you choose changes the path of the story. Be sure to choose your words wisely, as to best portray the message intended. The audience will, in a sense, be hanging on every word. Without these precious words, it would be impossible to express to others our thoughts. Proofreading is essential as well, because we are all humans and make mistakes. Even if there is not a grammatical error, there may have been a point when the paper wavered or possibly missed the point completely. There may be sentences that need rearranging to better express the idea at hand.

There are many circumstances in which we must follow a guideline in our writings. Any formal essay must include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The thesis must be stated in the introduction, and restated in the conclusion. A minimum of three sentences must be in every paragraph. Yet within these guidelines, you can work magic. You can open up your mind and allow your “voice” to shine through. The active verbs and detailed descriptions allow your paper to jump to life, as it should. Even a term paper can be springing with excitement amongst lines and lines of facts. It is all how you present the facts. The presentation is the expression, the expression of your “voice”.