Finding Your Voice

This past weekend I travelled to Shediac for WFNB's WordsFall. I stayed with a group of four other writers at a lovely cottage in Pointe-du-Chene. Thankyou Heather, Andrea, Rosalyn and Annette for welcoming me. It was beautiful in November so I can only imagine what a nice spot it would be in July. I particularly enjoyed a session on Saturday morning with Rebekah Chasse. Rebekah is an actor with lots of energy and enthusiasm. She conducted an excellent workshop encouraging us to find our voice. As writers we supposedly find our voice on paper. But then we must take what is on paper and bring it alive when we share it orally. Several tips she taught us stand out for me. As an exercise when I got home I randomly opened Waiting for Still Water and attempted to deliver whatever I stumbled upon . What a powerful lesson that was for me. Each passage should have power in isolation. She kept saying our work should leave questions; should leave the listener or reader wondering a whole range of things; caring about what comes next; curious to know more. This should be achieved without a preamble . What a huge lesson this was for me. Possibly she hit the nail on the head as far as good writing is concerned. As a yardstick randomly check your work and see if each passage offers an element of intrigue, a glimpse of something bigger, something important to the story. That all being said I am anxious to set my current work to this expectation. Thank you WFNB, WordsFall, Rebekah and the writing community of NB for challenging us all to be better at what we do.