REFLECTIONS ON VOICE

AS A FIVE RIVERS AUTHOR, I have access to all Five Rivers titles which include some of the best science fiction and fantasy Canadians put out there. It's one of the perks I enjoy for being part of the Five Rivers family. Recently, I finally figured out how to transfer all of this great work onto my Kindle. I've been catching up on my reading ever since.

You would think that having been an editor  for over twenty years with On Spec Magazine, I'd appreciate all the different voices On Spec has showcased over the years. I do, but short fiction only gives you a sampling of that unique way each writer handles their prose - what we call Voice. Reading novels in quick succession really brings Voice home to me - especially if I know the writer personally. It's amazing to read beyond plot, beyond character, and to realize how characters approach situations, and how the story is paced, really does reflect the writer.

Okay, pretty obvious on the surface, but I'm talking about subtleties here. For example, one of my writer friends approaches conflict in a certain way. She thinks a lot about the issue before she acts, she moralizes, she tends to talk a good argument, she plans, and, in the end, she side-steps or defuses the conflict whenever possible. She also handles conflict in her fiction in exactly this way. Where some may throw themselves into the fictional fray with swords swinging, guns blazing, karate chops chopping (because they tend to be a bit more volatile in life), she doesn't. I'm not saying either way is good or bad - there is room for both. Readers enjoy different things. Only that how she acts and thinks reflects how she writes, which mirrors her Voice.

I mentioned in an earlier post that my book The Tattooed Witch was included in an Aurora Awards StoryBundle curated by Douglas Smith. As part of the promotion, those of us who were involved, promoted the Bundle on our blogs, on Twitter, and elsewhere. Hayden Trenholm, publisher of Bundoran Press, wrote this about me: "I've known Susan MacGregor for enough years that I can't quite remember...in any case, we met from time to time at conventions in Western Canada, both when I lived in Calgary and later...where we would have brief but intense conversations..."

Brief but intense conversations. I had to smile at that. Because that is me. It also reflects how I handle my prose, how I write, my style of Voice.

As I read, I sometimes find how others handle a scene is not how I would, either pace-wise, or character-wise, or what have you. We all have our different styles. But I also began to wonder how an editor of novels respects the work without insisting an author's voice adhere to their preconceived notions of what is right (or better). So I asked an expert, my own editor and publisher at Five Rivers, Lorina Stephens. Lorina writes:

"How do I manage to edit all these different voices and honour them? Respect the artist’s work. Don’t put your hand to it. Suggest. Guide. Nurture. It’s difficult sometimes because I know how I’d handle a story or scene. But that doesn’t necessarily make it the right way. As an editor I think you have to walk out of yourself and learn to view artistic expression with a broad view, to understand, to learn.

I've learned a lot personally from voices like Thomas King, Joseph Boyden, Richard Wagamese, Salman Rushdie, Rohinton Mistry. Particularly Rushdie. I am always blown away by his writing, how he gets away with breaking every rule and does so brilliantly. How he chooses words and structure carefully and with precision to suit the action, mood, and voice of the work or scene. Simply brilliant. But not easy to read. By no means. He makes no apology whatever for his work. I believe he simply writes for himself, and if anyone else enjoys or gets what he's doing, well great. But otherwise, as Sting has said, "I'll write for the cat."

Well said, Lorina. I'll finish with two quotes by Steven King. The first, because many writers, when they're starting to write, get caught up in what might be popular: "First, write for yourself, and then worry about the audience." The second has to do with Voice: "Stick to your own style. One cannot imitate a writer's approach to a particular genre, no matter how simple what that writer is doing may seem."

So, we all have a Voice, even if we don't think we do. It's just a matter of being yourself and putting down those words.

- Susan.

ON DOUBT, VOICE, AND BEING TRUE TO YOUR WRITING AND YOURSELF

IT'S BEEN SOME TIME SINCE MY LAST POST. There are a few reasons for this; mostly because there are times when I just need to shut down. I don't know about other writers, but for me, it's about focus. I'm not going to complain about first drafts; for me, they are work, the minor points involve a fair amount of second-guessing, and there's lots of worry about whether an audience will 'buy' what I'm writing - not in the literal sense (although that's nice when they do), but in the acceptance/believability sense. Ah, Doubt. You whiny demon that clings to my shoulder and gets snot all over my shirt. Fly away, you crappy thing.

This post is all about doubt.

I have a sneaking suspicion many writers have had a problem with doubt at some time or another. It's bound to show up when a writer steps into unknown territory, when he or she is writing what they know is not necessarily popular, or not popular yet. There's always the hope. Doubt stems from individuality and the courage to allow yourself as an artist to be who you are, and to reflect that uniqueness in your work. Yes, we are all different, but some of us are much more different than others. It's never fun to realize you're not just part of a minority (writers are in a minority), but that within that minority, you're in an even smaller one, maybe even a minority of one.

Two of the doubt demons I've had to struggle with reflect my ideas about spirituality and love. In speculative fiction, both themes tend to be looked down upon, at least by those who loudly proclaim that they shouldn't be allowed to smear the genre, so I occasionally worry that because I mix them into my writing, my work and by reflection - me, are also dismissed. Because of my personal beliefs, I've been accused of having imaginary 'friends', a slur if there ever was one. Yes, I believe that there is more to this world than what we physically experience in this life, what can I say? I believe we go 'on' after we die. My books reflect that. But - if I'm not writing who I am and what I believe - what is the point? If I am going to write and be true to myself while I do it, then it's not up to me to snuff my voice or to silence what I know, even if others don't agree with me or haven't experienced what I have. And maybe it shouldn't even be a concern of mine to worry about it. On the plus side of things, a reader recently commented that 'she had never read books like mine, before. They were unique.' She meant that as a compliment.

I'm not alone in feeling different. A writer friend of mine mentioned on a Facebook post a few days ago, that she felt like an outsider. She adored Vincent Van Gogh and held him up as an artist to emulate. She mentioned in all of the 2,100 works that he created, he only sold one painting during his lifetime. (I have since learned this isn't quite true; Vincent did sell his paintings, often to pawnshops for rent money. He also had some shows, but his primary focus remained on defining and refining his work.) Vincent remained true to his vision.

Perhaps, it was also no coincidence that this essay by John Steinbeck on the creative spirit and individuality also crossed my path yesterday, as it talks about the same thing: remaining true to your voice and to yourself. So if you, like me, occasionally struggle with doubt, or if a lot of the world doesn't 'get you', read this and take heart. In the last two paragraphs, John says it wonderfully (although I must also add, I don't necessarily agree with him about collaborations). http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/02/27/steinbeck-east-of-eden-meaning-of-life/

VISITING GREEN GABLES and GETTING TO KNOW LUCY MAUD A LITTLE BETTER

I JUST GOT BACK FROM CHARLOTTETOWN and PEI, which accounts for my lack of posts this week. I had an interesting time, which included the obligatory trip to Green Gables in Cavendish. I wanted to see the house that inspired much of the setting for Anne of Green Gables, written by Lucy Maud Montgomery and published in 1908. As much as I loved reading the Anne books when I was young, I knew better than to be overwhelmed by a house, especially since Green Gables was owned by Lucy Maud's cousins and she never actually lived there. Still, Green Gables is a charming place, surrounded by the lovely countryside of Cavendish. Much of Lucy Maud's descriptions, so evocatively written, reflect it. Of course, I also made the obligatory trip to the gift shop. I eschewed the typical tourist paraphernalia in favour of Montgomery's biography, written by Stan Sauerwein.

I had always thought that Anne was an exceedingly well-written character. She is, but as it turns out, Anne is much more reflective of Lucy Maud than I thought. Maud (as she liked to be known, without the 'e') had a hard, early life, feeling like much of an orphan herself. Her mother died when she was two, and her father, facing bankruptcy, left her in the care of strict grandparents who often reminded her that they took her in out of charity. Later, she endured a step-mother who treated her little better than a servant, forcing her to step in and handle both housework and child-rearing chores. Maud was a sad, lonely, and imaginative child. Her ill treatment also instilled in her a tenacity and an iron will to survive. I read the biography in tandem with re-reading Anne of Green Gables, only to quickly realize that Anne was Maud, herself.

Maud writes about wanting to be a writer for as long as she can remember. And of rejection, and how hard those initial rejections were. And her determination to succeed; I love this particular quote from her biography: "I set my teeth and said, 'I will succeed.' I believed in myself and struggled on alone.... I never told my ambitions and efforts and failures to anyone. Down, deep down, under all discouragement and rebuff, I knew I would arrive someday." As writers, I think we can all relate to that.

I also used to think that our works of fiction didn't necessarily reflect the writer. I felt that belief allowed us some distance, as in - I can write about a horrific murder or rape or what have you, and it isn't me. It's just me engaging in 'story'. I no longer think this is true. I think that whatever we write, be it fantasy, or horror, or science fiction, or paranormal - whatever - the work is us. It reflects our demons, our loves, our drives, our attitudes, what we focus on and obsess about - our voice.

Anne is Lucy Maud and Lucy Maud is Anne. They both have a deep love of the natural world, of the quaintness, and limitations, and charm of simple, every-day, down-to-earth people. They also see magic and romance in the commonest of places, which lifts them up from the common.  When you look at your own work, what does it reflect of you? For me, there is passion, darkness, cynicism, grittiness, love, hate, tenacity, and above all else, the need to survive, endure, and celebrate life in vivid, brilliant colours. 

- Susan.