We each have a unique message we seek to share through our artistic works. Join me as I explore creative voice and how it is influenced by vision and craft.
So, in my last post I explored artistic vision, which I defined as one’s unique way of seeing the world and how that is translated into and voiced in one’s artistic works. In this post I want to focus on the idea of artistic voice, or essentially, how one’s vision is distinctively communicated to the world across one’s creative works. Vision is concerned with how you see, voice is how you communicate what you see back to the world. Like your vision, your voice is unique and develops over time.
Your voice is about your message, and how you convey that message to others. It is both what you are saying and how you are saying it. Voice is concerned in many ways with the choices we make to communicate our vision to the world. One of these choices is artistic medium and format. Words or imagery? A combination of both? Poetry or prose? Film or digital? It doesn’t have to be only one thing, always. Explore different mediums, ideas, possibilities. I love both photography and creative writing. They each can tell a story or communicate a feeling in unique ways. Through photography I love capturing moments and the beauty of the world around me. In creative writing, I often reflect on emotion, relationships, and experiences through story.
Other essential choices are concerned with style and craft. Whatever mediums we work in, there are unique stylistic choices we make to portray a given subject or idea – the language we use. In visual art, this could be elements like shape, line, and color. In creative writing, these are elements like tone, plot, characterization. Part of this is the natural, subconscious expression of our unique vision. We are naturally drawn to a certain style or approach. This can be enhanced and refined through knowledge of craft and conscious choices. As we are educated and practiced in our craft, we become more familiar with the tools available to us and how we can use them to communicate our vision.
Like I said, voice is something that develops and changes over time, something we continually refine and redefine. It can be difficult to balance between conventions in craft and establishing a unique voice. I have learned so much about craft and current trends in creative writing from my critique groups. Each month, before a meeting, I will prepare a small section of my manuscript to submit for feedback. I have finished the second draft, but before submitting I piece I will go over it again and adjust some areas according to feedback I have received on prior pieces. Show, don’t tell is a major concept I am still definitely working to perfect. The technique involves using actions, dialogue, etc. in a story as a cue to convey an emotion or idea to the reader – for example, tears burned Sarah’s eyes, rather than just stating, Sarah was sad.
A few months ago I went over a piece and did a fair amount of editing and streamlining. The last paragraph wrapped up the scene with a little bit of description, but wasn’t sure about it. Did it contain a lot of telling or other unnecessary elements? Should I rephrase it? Cut it? I ended up leaving it in without changes, even through I wasn’t sure I wanted to ultimately keep it. At the meeting, the other members read my piece and one-by-one went over positives and areas for improvement. And something surprising happened. “This last paragraph,” someone said, “is where we really get to see your voice starting to come out. Keep working in this direction.”
I hadn’t expected that. I wondered if there were places where I had been unintentionally cutting out my voice. Ultimately, craft is meant to help us refine and amplify our voice, to communicate our message more clearly. I am still learning to use it to the best effect, to have confidence in my message, my vision. There are times when I am unsure about how I ultimately want things to go, when I am so concerned with meeting expectations or conventions that I lose focus on my characters, my story, the driving forces behind my work. I think it is at this point, when we lose clear focus on our vision, that our voice becomes muddled – when concerns like these overtake the message we are trying to communicate, the reasons we are creating in the first place.
There will be times when we are in a period of uncertainty or exploration, and our vision may be changing. That doesn’t mean we are failing. The unknowns and continual evolution are part of the journey. These elements are just as essential. But remaining committed to your ultimate vision, your passion, your why, is what ultimately helps your voice shine through, even if it takes some time to flesh it out. And it is this balance that I am still working to achieve – remaining committed even while being open to growth and change. So I don’t have definitive answers on this, at least not yet. Most of the critique and advice I have received has served to help me grow and ultimately make my artistic work stronger. And I still have a long way to go as I continue to develop my voice and learn to recognize and embrace it.
I guess the best advice I can give you is to keep working at it. Keep pursuing your vision. Keep growing and exploring. Don’t be afraid of change, but don’t be afraid to hold tight to your vision and your message. You will find the voice that helps you stand out, that truly expresses what you see, what you feel, what you believe.
Ink, Ember, Glass 