Voltaire's voice

This quote by Voltaire is a fine metaphor for the writing voice (sent to me by Marilyn Olander).

"L'écriture est la peinture de la voix; plus elle est ressemblante, meilleure elle est."
"Writing is the painting of the voice; the closer the resemblance, the better it is."

- from Voltaire's "Orthography," in his Philosophical Dictionary

finding your voice

I'm interested in how writers find their voice. Here's an excerpt from a Critique magazine interview with Peter Elbow that I just came across:

"I want to emphasize something enormously simple about voice that in a sense I've only figured out in the last few years. If there's one activity that I think is the most helpful thing about writing, apart from just writing and writing, it is reading your writing out loud and also reading the writing of others out loud. Saying the words in your voice, with your mouth: I think that's the most powerful way to help one’s writing and to help one’s voice."
— Peter Elbow

Sound and Story

Jenny Brundin, a radio journalist from KUER in Salt Lake City, Utah visited my classroom recently. Here's what she said about sound and story.

confidence in voice

A great writer has a strong voice. "Voice" is one of the 6 Traits of Writing, but a lot of teachers don't see it as one of the more important traits.

On June 24, 2006 I saw Garrison Keillor perform an episode of Prairie Home Companion in Salt Lake City, and I again wondered about voice. How does a writer come by a strong voice -- where does that confidence come from? I remember the first time I heard my voice through the sound system of a big auditorium; it was unnerving. But now when I hear myself like that, it's not a big deal. Speaking from experience, I got better as a writer once I got used to my voice, and that included actually listening to my recorded voice, becoming accustomed to it, "hearing" my voice as I composed, and then making editorial decisions based this awareness of voice.

So when I had my classes write about their thoughts on 9/11 and played their recorded voice back to them, I asked them what they thought about their voice.

Do you think seniors in AP English would have more confidence in their voice than my 9th graders do? I did. But I was wrong. 63% of the seniors responded negatively (e.g. "I sound weird"), while 65% of the 9th graders felt the same (e.g. "I sound like a freak").

Do you think girls or boys have more confidence in their voice? Out of the five seniors who responded positively to the experience (e.g. "my voice sounds more professional, cool") 4 of them were boys. All six 9th graders who responded positively were boys.

I think that if I get them more accustomed to their voice, they'll be better writers. That's why I include podcasting in my curriulum.

Who talks most in class?

If you're a teacher, let me know if this sounds right. When it comes to the types of talkers in class, I've noticed three different types: quiet/reserved students, chatty students, and students who dominate class discussions. So in my class blog project this year, which students do you think "talked" most online? Who had to most responses to other students' writings?

Turns out the students who tend to contribute most to whole group discussions responded most online. The students who responded least were the chatty ones (students whose in-class interaction was usually off-task and with their neighbor). Anybody have any thoughts on that?