Can Writing Poetry Help An Author Find Their “Voice”?

Writer’s Voice is one of those terms that seems to change its meaning depending on who’s talking about it—almost as if “Writer’s Voice” were capable of sensing who’s writing about it and letting that author’s Voice decide what “Writer’s Voice” means…

For me, writer’s voice is “simply” the way one puts the words down.

If an author stays rigidly within a genre, the way they put words down is constrained by their experience within the genre.

And, speaking of genre, the previous post, What Is A Genre & Should You Try To Write In One?, is where I add my writer’s voice to the discussion…

If a particular writer has a work classified as science fiction yet reading it feels substantially different than most sci-fi you’ve read, the book was either put in the wrong genre classification or, even though it could be fairly called sci-fi, the author’s voice is unique enough to raise the work above hackneyed-genre.

So, what does poetry have to do with helping a writer find their voice?

Well, The Atlantic recently published an article by Dorothea Lasky called What Poetry Teaches Us About the Power of Persuasion.

To me, an author’s voice is the main thrust behind their power to persuade—persuade in a forceful voice or one which woos or perhaps a deceiving voice that misinforms to persuade away from…

Then, there’s Ms. Lasky’s subtitle-sentences:

“Logic and grammar are important. But for students to truly own the English language, they need to read and write poems.”

Certainly seems owning language would improve voice, eh?

Let me share a few more excerpts from the article in an attempt to persuade you to follow its link:

“…if someone is telling you that there is a set and finite way to construct a sentence—and you’re a poet—you will naturally get a little annoyed. And you will be justified in feeling this way, because it’s simply not true.”

“I have found that all students can write. And one of the surest ways to awaken their love for language is poetry.”

“A lot of people argue that poetry is ‘difficult’ or that it has no real value for childrens’ future. That’s just not true. If you think poetry isn’t important to your students, you are not listening to them. You are not noticing the headphones in their ears, blasting poetry to soothe their walk to class. You are not thinking of them in their rooms at night, writing down their experiences. It may be that you are defining poetry too dogmatically.”

“…in a poem, a student not only has the freedom to express a new idea, but to do so in novel language he or she has just created. More so than any other type of writing, a poem takes into account the indispensable dimension of well-chosen words.”

“A poem is not just a place to present a student’s grammatical knowledge (in fact, it is often the space to subvert it!). Poetry, more than any other form of writing, trains students to take into account the style of language.”

Yes, Ms. Lasky is talking about students, because she’s a poet and a teacher; but, any author who stops learning is an author that just might lose their voice…
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Me and My Poet Friend

Most of this blog is devoted to posts about Writing—with the rest concerning Reading and Publishing.

Some of the posts deal with the act of writing and that can be very hard to describe…

I published a novel and I’m working on a follow-up short story collection—I’ve written about this process and will certainly write more.

But, long before I wrote a novel I published a book of poetry and the final book of the series I’m in the middle of will be poetry again.

Writing about how to write poetry is a task I don’t even want to try to comprehend…

{ btw, you can get free copies of the novel and poetry book at those links up there… }

I have two good friends, whom I’ve not met in person, who are fantastically talented poets.

Today, I want to introduce you to the work of my poet-friend, John.

While trying to describe how to write poetry is beyond me, trying to tell you what to expect in John’s poetry is even further beyond my ability…

Plus, there’s the often experienced phenomenon of a single poem meaning quite different things to different people.

One thing I can say is that the poem of his I’ll share below is worth any writer’s perusal…

First, here is John’s site, Once Written.

And, here is a recent poem of his:

“Curious It Is”

Curious it is that in these few lines I find flaws
And weightlessness in adamantine words in flight
From the abstract incident and the concrete patterns of the night,
And yet, as I drown withal comes light, air, and morning, in silent thrall
That each breath brings its confession, countless dispensations of reverse
In every verse, thoughts easily dismissed as conceived; I am satisfied that here
And there again have I exhaled a truth or two. This, and as I inhale I hear
The insurrection from the gallery, the ranks of rhythm, immersed
In unintentional casuistry as much as anyone within the curse and blessing
Of abstruse allusions to possession and its loss. The final scenes are mine
And mine alone that lead me to a place somewhere in time
Between celebrated valleys of knowledge and experience addressing
Artifacts and all their codices that qualify duress and mitigate the brine
Of seas of tragedy for what the world rejects and comedy in what eternity denies.
We gather and disperse the seeds, we minor gods in ceaseless search.
No ends exist in harvests of self-satisfaction with their certainty of blight.
And which of us discerns the which through veils of light
And endless revision, design and aspiration seeded on a mountain perch
Or the imminent descent to sound the maw of landlocked gulfs and oceans?
No one here survives mortality but all will live to tell the tale
Of peoples, nations, and all such lofty wholesale tales that fail
Within the present, feed again upon themselves from springs of notions
Filled with promise and devotion, to simply prove their axioms secure:
Nor time, nor reticent imagination can define
The earthly limitation of the heavens here below a line
That pays out golden threads in pride among the weavers of this world.
How often is it so that few if any see beyond a moment’s pause
The awful symmetry between ephemeral success and devastating loss?

If it’s possible for you to relate your thoughts and feelings about this poem, I’d love to see your comments…
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