Voice

Voice . . . hmm, voices surround me in the Oasis area. A gaggle of girls loiter near the stairs, and I wonder what they're doing: waiting for class, waiting for teacher training of some kind. Ages escape me now. I miss them wildly when I guesstimate.

Voice . . . I don't know how to teach voice, but I teach style, the effect word choices have on style. I fight against Engfish, Ken Macrorie's term for smelly, stuffy academese, the kind of writing that seems authored by a robot. Richard Lanham, Peter Richardson, Joseph Williams--all good authors for helping students with style and conciseness.

A professor's lecture floats into the hallway. I listen closer and realize she's reviewing test answers, explaining correct choices, distracting me. I grab distractions easily, preferring to explore tangents rather than stay on track. I get that from my dad. He rarely goes the same way twice; he figures out new ways to travel. The other day I cruised through Pavo to get to Valdosta, a route Wes never wants to take because we can't drive as fast as we can on 84. But taking the Pavo route connected me to my father as if I were walking in his footsteps, the way children like to do at the beach, trying those steps on, seeing how they fit.

I'm not sure I could find a better guide than my father. Yes, girls often idealize their fathers, seeing them in some kind of softer light, excusing their faults. That's not me. My critical faculties are highly developed. He's a good man, a good person, the most ethical person I know. He never capitalizes on the mistakes of others. He is a great teacher. He taught me how to ski, how to drive, Hmm, way too serious for this morning.

I wish the professor would close her door. Instead, I should move further away. I do. Much better. Her voice still carries to me, but it doesn't demand my attention.

Voice is a nebulous concept. LC warned us she was going abstract today with the topic. She did. Students can understand voice by hearing it, I think. Perhaps just bringing in very different writers and reading their words aloud would help. Hmm, writers with strong, engaging voices: David Sedaris (probably my favorite writer right now), Anne Lamott, Jane Austen.

I wonder if anyone is doing a teacher demonstration on voice. Cool topic. No one has focused on revision yet, but revision is closely linked to voice. In fact, revision is where I begin to think about the way I sound. I don't worry at all about voice in early drafts. I just write, spilling words onto the page, watching where they take me.

Voices overpower me now. A mass of men head down the stairs, shouting at each other. They look like construction guys to me. I wonder what kind of construction is occurring upstairs. Finally, they exit the building, their voices trailing after them. I'm always surprised by the impact people make on spaces, the way people shout in public. I'm not a quiet person, but I get loudest at bike rallies and concerts, not in college buildings. I guess I still act on the concept of inside voices and outside voices. Such a good little girl.