VOICE … that necessary, yet elusive “thing” in writing

Notes&from&the&Poetry&Student&Workshop&at&the&White&House&(segment&24:09&–&43:45)&&
featuring&Poets&Laureate&Rita&Dove&and&Billy&Collins&I&May&11,&2011&
&
Rita Dove

what
HOW&you&say&>&_____________&you&say&
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I tools
___________________,&…&which&takes&you&to&the&joy&of&________Iwriting&so&that&someone&ELSE&can&feel&your&
re
heart&and&your&__________________________.&
&
story
Billy Collins
Finding&your&voice&
&
• It’s&not&that&mysterious.&
• source
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poetry
[/writing];&it&is&lying&on&the&shelves&of&the&library.&
• read
To&find&YOUR&VOICE,&you&need&to&____________________&deeply.&
•
jealous
In&your&reading,&you&are&searching&for&something&…&for&poets&that&make&you&______________________.&
• influenced
You’re&looking&to&get&______________________________&by&people&that&make&you&furiously&jealous.&
• So&…&&
o Read&widely&

envious
o Find&poets&that&make&you&_________________________&

like
o __________________&them,&try&to&get&___________________&them….&That’s&basically&the&way&you&
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Poetry&is&______________________&
play
•

fun
o It’s&a&place&to&have&____________________&with&language.&
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enjoying
&
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&
• How&do&you&get&the&reader&to&CARE&about&your&story?&&

form
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pleasure
_____________________&of&human&intelligence.&&
signs
• How&do&you&know&you’ve&found&your&voice?&&
After&you&find&your&voice,&you&realize&there’s&only&one&person&to&imitate&–&yourself.&But&you&do&it&by&
_______________________________&different&influences.&Gradually,&you&come&under&the&right&influences&…&
combining
 combination
maybe&your&voice&is&the&__________________________________&of&six&or&eight&other&voices&that&you&have&

blend
managed&to&&__________________________&in&such&a&way&that&no&one&can&recognize&the&sources.&
That’s&one&of&the&paradoxes&of&the&writing&life:&that&the&way&to&ORIGINALITY&is&through&
_______________________________________.&
imitation something contradics butends uptrue
• How&do&you&PLAY&(with&language)?&
getannoyed
irreverent
Students&will&start&to&play&once&they&get&___________________________________&about&poetry,&once&they&stop&
taking&it&dead&seriously,&and&the&hope&is&they’ll&stop&taking&______________________________________&dead&
themselves
seriously&….&The&earnestness&often&______________________________________.&
overwhelms play
&
&
a tired
“She&walks&in&beauty&like&the&night”&…&_________________________________________________________________&!&
& bug
 My Voice
So … who are your greatest influences? Your job is to pick 6-8 writers whose
style, structure, and persona you want to imitate.

DIRECTIONS: Below are links to well-known authors, some more recent

than others. Feel free to choose from them or from your own choices of
more current authors. The one requirement is that they must be people
you’ve read and enjoyed. Also consider the areas of specificity within writing.
You may admire one author for his or her sentence structure and yet another
for word choice and still another for character development, etc. Use the
blank write space below for jot listing, and then use the chart on page 2 for
your official draft.

http://www.famousauthors.org/list
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/top_poems.html
http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous_poets/most_popular_famous_poets.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_young_adult_writers

Areas of specificity to consider –

• Word choice
• Sentence structure
• Character development
• Wit (humor)
• Unfolding of events (plot)
• Point of view
• Organization
• _______________________________
Keeping reader intrested
clear of
• _______________________________
meaning story
• _______________________________
world building
 Who are your influences and for what do you admire them?

AUTHOR TITLE OF SPECIFIC WHY I IMITATE

WORK(S)
I knowwhy the the ability to
Maya Angelou Caged Bird Sings convey a deep
shotting the
Raven
EdgarAllanPoe The disparity Gerson
William Romeo Juliet able to show the
Shakespeare reality life
to
Glass Domestic Bliss able convey
such a deep meaning
Animals
the Ibility to convay
The Office the entire relationships breaking 4ᵗʰ wall
show
all their lore able to tell a
Twenty one over many
Pilots albums story
albums songs
 My Works

Spoken Word- “The Growing Tree”

As the sapling continues to grow, it starts getting e ected by the harsh weather.
From the blazing summers to the frozen winters, the tree still holds it grounds, being there for the
little girl.
As the little girl continues to grow, she faces new challenges in her life.
Shes growing out of her little girl phase and turning into a teen,
She never sees how old she’s getting until she sees the tree again,
The tree and her always a little di erent from the last time they saw each other,
Still, saying nothing to each other.

What will my major be in college?

Seasons changing,
One more year,
Four more quarters,
Two more semesters.
Only after this time will the tree get to experience the heights of reality and the girl will leave.
However despite their current situations,
Both the tree and the child aren’t ready to move on.
Visiting one another for that reliable support,
And soon, one of those visits will be the last.
Again, each saying nothing to each other.

What will be my lifelong job?

After the time is spent, just now does the tree nally realize that it’s not a sapling,
And the girl realizes she’s not a child.
They both grew up.
The tree growing to be one of the tallest in the hills,
And the girl growing to be a amazing adult.
Never once taking in all the time she had for her childhood until it was to late.

Shows my opinion on life

now with a metaphor
right
Note in My Pocket- “ I’m Sorry”

Car horns blasting its way through my ears. With out a thought running through my mind, I was
already at my destination waiting to pull onto a parking lot. The sound of a car horn bringing me
back to the present day, just waiting for me to pull into the parking space already. Who knows how
long I had been idling in the parking lot, longing for a distraction to bring me back to reality.

At last I have been brought to the place that I’d never thought of going to in the past 10 years. My
mind racing around, all the sounds around me ampli ed by a million decidables, everything I touch
feels like burning lava, yet a fresh ice cube straight from the freezer. Here I am, sitting in the parking
lot of the cemetery that my boyfriend is sleeping peacefully. I have yet to come to this place since he
was buried because I couldn’t bare the pain.

I can’t describe how I feel. It’s almost like I nally feel accomplished for my doing, yet so guilty for
not having done this sooner. I don’t know which feeling I should feel, I don’t even know why I’m here
in the rst place. It was a spur of the moment idea my friends had said, but I think my mind knew it
was nally time to except the truth. The truth that this really happened, that this if reality that I need
to accept.

I used very descriptive words

for certian things