Voice Choice
by Caron Levis

Take 1: HOLLA TO MY PEEPS! O.M.G!!! I am, like, so totally PSYCHED to be posting MY FIRST BLOG EVER!
No, that’s not me.

Take 2: Greetings, readers, I am honored to have been invited to partake in this online adventure of Teachers & Writers Collaborative and am pleased to present to you my inaugural posting—
Oh, definitely not.

Take 3: Hello my dears, goodness, now isn’t this exciting? My very own, how do you call it? Oh yes, Blog Post. Blog. What an adorable word, what will they think of next? Oh, for goodness sakes, I hope I’m doing this right. I mean who would’ve thought? Me, blogging?
Yeah, I don’t think so.

Argh. So what, then, is my blog voice? What is Voice anyway?

I had to ask myself this question when I was hired to teach “voice” to seventh-graders. Somewhere I read that it is “the essence of the self.” What’s essence? What’s self? Wonderful questions, but I had forty minutes, and I wasn’t expected to philosophize, I was expected to get kids writing. People speak of the “elusive voice” as if it is some intangible, magical element of writing. Now, I enjoy intangibles and magic, but I needed something I could write on a chalkboard. I got out my dictionary, I Googled, I read works of authors with “strong voices,” found notes from grad school and acting class, searched my own experience, and in the end I had to teach voice the only way I knew how. I decided that for me, voice is HOW who tells what.

I introduced myself to the class three different times, as three different characters: one was a pretentious middle-aged professor, another an apathetic teen, and finally a shy five-year-old. Then I tossed a pack of tissues on the table.

I asked how each of the characters might describe the pack of tissues. Students called out that the five-year-old might think the tissue looks like a snowflake or a cape, the professor would remember the embarrassment of having to blow his nose during a lecture, the teenager would say whatever, they’re just a freaking bunch of tissues. We kept a list and we compared.

Voice is CHOICE

I wrote it on the board and students brainstormed all the choices a writer makes about HOW to tell a story: details, vocabulary, length of sentences, emotions, memories, images, metaphors, similes, spacing, secrets…

Was I teaching voice? I’m not sure but I hoped so; according to NORC's recent report, about “Teaching Artists and the Future of Education," Voice—with a capital V—is something most teaching artists want their students to develop. Merriam-Webster defines voice as “an instrument or medium of expression.”

I couldn’t give them their instrument, all I could do was encourage my students to listen, imagine, take risks, and… throw more objects on the table, and ask them to choose one, describe it, and tell a story. “Don’t worry about spelling or grammar mistakes for now,” I said, “Those are important, but those things can be taught. Voice is something you have to find for yourself. So, look at the tissues. Tell me what you see, feel, remember. Make choices and let me hear you.”

Caron Levis is a playwright and T&W teaching artist. You can read more about Caron by clicking here.