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Who Am I?: Finding Identity & Voice in Composition
Beverly Faryna
Imagine a table set with white linen, fine china, crystal goblets, and sterling silver. The tone of the meal is established - authoritative, a bit opinionated perhaps, but dependable. Contrast this with a blanket spread out for a picnic. Because of its informality and portability, the atmosphere here is less serious and more playful. In a similar way, establishing and controlling tone and atmosphere is a key component of a writer's craft, and often involves the question of voice.
Dear Diary...This paper on identifying voice in writing is such a bitch!! Who am I? That is the question. I don't seem to have anything intelligent to say on the subject. I feel so constrained … so confined. I don't have a voice to speak with!! From what I've been reading so far, voice is about displaying confidence in your topic. Is that my problem here? Am I experiencing an identity crisis? What am I going to do? What have I got to say? I guess I'll just sleep on it and hopefully my muse will hit me tomorrow.
The struggle to find an original voice in my writing is challenging. It's one thing when I'm writing in my journal. That's where I'm me. It's my own private space and I can let it all hang out. There is no audience, no critic, and no teacher to grade me. However, it's another thing entirely when it comes to writing for the public - be it for a teacher or the student newspaper or some even wider audience. I know how to churn out the regular essay-type material expected for a literature course, and I do that well. However, change the rules and open the format slightly and I'm nowhere to be found! Here I have an opportunity to truly express myself and I choke! I think it is interesting to note my expression above of feeling constrained and confined when the reins have actually been loosened. Without my formula for academic writing, I'm lost!
I'm not alone. As I've combed through books and articles in researching this chapter, I've found that both students and teachers are frustrated when it comes to establishing an unique voice in academic papers. At a conference on college composition and communication, Maureen O'Leary stated:
The voice that students consider their "real voice," the voice that emerges when first they put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard is the least individualistic of their voices, is the voice that least reflects who they are. We hear instead the generic, homogenized voice of clichés, of advertising, or popular culture. It is a voice without color or tone. Thus the voice that is "born" needs something else to jolt it into life and resonance, so that it can reflect the individual student in all the writer's glorious tones and colors. Unattended to, it is often interchangeable with the next student's voice. (2)
So, what's a student to do?
Academic style has traditionally been something of an oxymoron. In the past, scholarly writing has had a reputation for being pretentious, stale, and incomprehensible - and that was supposed to be flattering! It seemed that the more complicated the sentence structure and obscure the language used, the more seriously the writing was taken (Engel 1). However, as noted above, many professors today are in favour of bringing academic style into the modern world. They would like to see academic writing take on more vibrancy. They support the use of active voice, first-person narration, and personal anecdotes - tactics that give writing energy and character. At least some professors do. The progress of academic writing style is debatable.
I'm confused. Can I speak with authority on this topic because I'm a student and I write papers - does that qualify me enough to speak from a first-person perspective? I've been reading about Mikhail Bakhtin - a noted Russian literary critic and theorist - in search of enlightenment around this. I've never studied Russian philosophy, so I'm having a bit of a hard time comprehending what's being said - ah! There's that voice thing again - it's rather highbrow … not Bakhtin himself, per se, but those writing about him. Might I say that philosophers, in general, have a certain "intellectual" voice...
In their confusion and lack of direction to identify their own voices in writing, students often draw upon the convoluted style of so-called experts in their fields of study to use as examples. With all due respect, Katerina Clark and Michael Holquist deliver a great example of this style as they define dialogics in describing the basic idea of Mikhail Bakhtin's philosophy:
Bakhtin's point is that I can mean what I say, but only indirectly, at a second remove, in words that I take and give back to the community according to the protocols it observes. My voice can mean, but only with others - at times in chorus, but at the best of times in dialogue. (Clark 12)
Now, here's what Bakhtin himself has written:
Retelling a text in one's own words is to a certain extent a double-voiced narration of another's words, for indeed "one's own words" must not completely dilute the quality that makes another's words unique; a retelling in one's own words should have a mixed character, able when necessary to reproduce the style and expressions of the transmitted text. (qtd. in Knoeller 13)
It appears that some experts lose the point of what Bakhtin is saying. Bakhtin's language is somewhat dense itself. However, I do sense or "hear" his voice. What I gather he's saying is that a layering of words is required in retelling a text in order not to lose the characteristics of what the original author brought to the piece: "a retelling in one's own words should have a mixed character." It doesn't mean just stringing a whole bunch of gratuitous big words together in the hope that the reader will be confused enough to think the writer is informed. Communication and clarity is the baseline of good writing. Voice is layered throughout these essential components.
Hey, this is getting interesting. I think I know what I'm talking about now. This isn't so bad. I just have to open up and reveal a little of "me." I am an informed person. I have something to say. And by the looks of things, some of these so-called scholars don't know what they're talking about. I can do this. Peter Elbow said in his Power in Writing book that "one reason people don't use real voice is that it makes them feel exposed and vulnerable" (309). Well, I can relate. But, now that I'm out, I feel like I'm turning into a bit of a ham! Somebody, STOP ME!!!
With all that said, there has to be a middle ground between simple, straight-forward language and academic discourse where a student can find an original place from which to speak or write informatively, authentically, and authoritatively. Perhaps it's a good idea to look at what we can do to develop our own voices. What can you do to infuse more of you into your writing?
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First, study writers who have a strong voice. William Zinsser states: "Don't ever hesitate to imitate another writer - every artist learning a craft needs models. Eventually you'll find your own voice and will shed the skin of the writer you imitate" (126). I've done this myself. I've found my journal entries heading in whole new directions after reading a favourite author. When you immerse yourself deeply into a certain genre of writing, your voice will be inflected with that tone.
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Practice, practice, and practice some more. Writing practice is essential to the development of good writing. It's like anything else that you want to excel at. If you want to be a good musician, you practice every day, whether you like it or not. It's the same with writing. That's where journaling is especially valuable.
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Write about what's important to you. If you feel a connection to your topic, your passion will be heard.
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Keep it simple. Omit clichés. Find your own words to convey what you mean. Original expression can include colourful figures of speech taken from your own life experience. This can be much more powerful than relying on big pretentious words for effect. Using strong imagery can add energy to your writing. Using comparisons can add clarity to a piece. Drawing on the natural language of conversation rather than complicated, convoluted jargon can make your writing more accessible to a wider audience.
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English is a musical language and it's up to the writer to make it sing. Sounds create images. Long, drawn-out, incoherent, long-winded, nonsensical, complicated, rambling, inarticulate, wordy sentences can really disrupt the flow of an idea. Short choppy ones can break up a contemplative mood. Fine-tuning can be done during revision. Sometimes just flipping a sentence order around or rephrasing things can dramatically change the rhythm. It is always a good idea to take the time to read what you have written out loud. Listen to the words and rhythms. Do they ring true? Good writing flows. It delivers its message without effort or struggle on the reader's part. If, when reading aloud, the writing sounds forced or pompous, you may have an authenticity problem. This may indicate that your voice may not be strong enough in the piece. Now is the time to go back and adjust the tone.
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Writing in the first person, particularly in essay composition, can be tricky. Writer Jim Collins says, "Writing in the first person can infuse personality and voice, add credibility, depth and perspective, but only when it has something to say" (21). In academic writing, first person use is often discouraged as it is not considered a voice of authority. The "need to always 'back up' assertions with evidence is a distinct characteristic of academic persuasive writing" (Read 389). Taking the I out of a piece of writing can actually introduce a stronger sense of self into a piece of writing than by writing in first person. By removing the first person, a writer leaves room for a reader to get closer to what the writer is saying without using the writer as the mediator between the two. William Zinsser affirms this:
I realized that the material was so rich that any attempt to explain why it was rich would be patronizing. It would deprive readers of the pleasure bringing their own emotions to whatever portions of the story happened to touch their own lives. In fact, many readers made connections … that had never occurred to me. I saw that the reader plays a major role in the act of writing and must be given room to play it. (239)
Although Zinsser is speaking about narrative storytelling, the application to other forms of writing is clear.
Without a strong voice, writing comes across as boring and tiresome. It is integral to good writing. As noted author Peter Elbow states:
Writing with no voice is dead, mechanical, faceless. It lacks any sound. Writing with no voice may be saying something true, important, or new; it may be logically organized; it may even be a work of genius. But it is as though the words came through some kind of mixer rather than being uttered by a person. (287)
As readers, we all can relate to what Elbow is saying. Voice lends personality. When character is steeped into the writing, words take on new life and fill the page with energy. With experience, your voice will develop its own timbre. A unique personal voice is the most creative part of the act of writing, so don't hold back. Speak up and be heard. Develop confidence in yourself. Be passionate and share your opinions. Demonstrate your credibility. Imparting your voice into your writing will remain a vital practice throughout your career as a student and beyond.
There, I did it! Finished at last. What a journey. I feel like I've come out of the closet or something. It's a very freeing experience, this finding my voice. I didn't realize that I was being so shy on paper. So, what's next? Look out world....here I come!!!
Bibliography
Clark, Katerina and Michael Holquist. Mikhail Bakhtin. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1984.
Collins, Jim. "Very few writers understand that a story has an arc, not just a beginning, a middle, and an end." Nieman Reports 56.1 (Spring 2002)
Dasgupta, Geri and Jon Redfern, eds. Reading Writing: Essay Strategies for Canadian Students. Scarborough: Nelson Canada, 1995.
Elbow, Peter. Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process. New York: Oxford UP, 1981.
Engel, Mary. "Finding Your Academic Voice Means Making Choices." Fall 1998. The Graduate. (http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/publications/thegraduate/fall98/f98voice.htm)
Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. Boston: Shambhala Pub., Inc., 1986.
---. Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life. New York: Bantam, 1990.
Grimm, Nancy Maloney. "Redesigning Academic Identity Kits." Academic Literacies. 1998. (http://www.geocities.com/ramonatang/academic_literacies.htm) (30 November, 2002).
Hamilton, David. "Selecting a Voice in Academic Writing." 1996. Liverpool University. (http://www.liv.ac.uk/education/hd/voice.html) (01 December 2002).
Kerner, Fred, ed. The Canadian Writer's Guide: Official Handbook of the Canadian Authors Association. 11th ed. Richmond Hill: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1992.
Knoeller, Christian. Voicing Ourselves: Whose Words We Use When We Talk About Books. New York: State U of NY P, 1998.
Levin, Gerald, David Rampton, and Gerald Lynch, eds. Prose Models. 3rd ed. Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1997.
O'Leary, Maureen. "A Voice of One's Own." 44th College Composition and Communication Conference. San Diego, CA, March 31-April 3, 1993.
Read, Barbara, Becky Francis, and Jocelyn Robson. "'Playing Safe': Undergraduate Essay Writing and the Presentation of the Student 'Voice'." British Journal of Sociology of Education 22.3 (September 2001)
Zinsser, William. On Writing Well. 4th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1990.
© Beverly Faryna 2002
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