It's fun to find your own voice in writing

I love freewriting when I am about to write a technical report. That’s when I just let my fingers type on the keyboard, creating a direct connection between my thoughts and what appears on the monitor, and not getting processed by my mind yet.

I had to do it fast before my ‘Censor’ wakes up and start editing everything that appears on the monitor.

I’ve done this before and I used to call it ‘self-brainstorming’. Literally, it’s really talking to yourself. Allowing your ideas to flow freely, not minding about your grammar and spelling.

A few years ago, it took me several pages of freewriting before paragraphs and ideas start to take shape. Writing at that time was such a difficult task. It took me several pages of writing and re-writing but I still could not articulate what I wanted to say.

Writing used to be my master, and I was the slave. The only thing I was aware of was the difficulty in writing and the running thought that I am not a good writer.

It was only years later when I started to write in a flowing manner. I read a lot. Wrote a lot, practiced a lot in my journal notebooks until writing became second nature to me.

I guess it’s like having a part in a play wherein one goes through several rehearsals first before one gets a feel on the role being played.  The same thing also happens when you are a musician who continues practicing until you become one with the instrument and start playing from the heart .

I write that way, too. 

I was on the third paragraph in this freewriting when I started to notice different ‘voices’ coming out.  I tried stopping this 'dialogue' before it distracts me from what I was writing. But the dialogue (inside my head) persisted.

“I think you should include a discussion about … in this report. ”

“But those are not my views and ideas about this. Besides, I didn't get any data that supports that... I believe I was contracted for this project to have an independent view about this matter. I hope I got that right.”

And a long silence followed.

I started writing again, this time following on an inner urging to express the 'silent voice' that was hesitant at first, but gained a stronger tone as my writing continued.

I know some people are expecting me to write something that resonates with what they have in mind.  But the resonance inside my being was far stronger than that.  I can hear that voice very well, when it's allowed to speak.

But yes, there are instances when we are unable to articulate what's truly inside our hearts. Not that we intend it to be so, but sometimes it’s more of not knowing and not having found our ‘own voice’ yet.

Or if we have discovered this already, for certain reasons, we simply cannot afford to ‘hurt’ or trigger negative reactions from those who might read it. Maybe not yet.

Finding one's voice is basically finding our own self. It's that small voice that gets louder only when we pay attention to it.

And once discovered, we have to be prepared to provide the venue for its outpouring. You might be surprised to discover what you didn't know you already know... a wisdom that actually resides deep inside our being.

 
Related topics:

1. Finding your voice
2. How to put your own voice in your writing