I journal. I do a mixture of morning pages, planning and general thought dumps. I write to myself. Okay, I talk to myself too but this is a little more structured. I have recently been having a discussion with myself about ‘voice’ and the broader issue around identity. It is possible both are linked and solving one might help with the other, or vice versa.
I feel like I don’t have a voice. Or, I am unsure as to what my voice is. I don’t like genres and classification for a start, which might be part of the problem. But the problem is, worrying about my ‘voice’ stops me from creating. Which then enables me to fall into the imposter syndrome. No authentic voice? Then you must be a fake. And I sit and procrastinate.
Yet one of my musical heroes is Bowie. The eternal voice changer… the ultimate imposter? Glam rocker, space minstrel, ambient wanderer… one singer, many voices.
So I turned myself to face me
Changes by David Bowie
But I’ve never caught a glimpse
How the others must see the faker
I’m much too fast to take that test
Yes, but that’s music and music Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, what about writing? I want to write in different styles and genres.
One of my favourite authors is Iain M Banks. His creativity pushed the boundaries of contemporary sci-fi. And yet he also wrote other books. He dropped the M when he wrote them. Some of his non-sci-fi books are also amongst my favourites. One author, multiple voices.
There is no reason I can’t create in different styles with different voices. I just have to be me. Me, expressed in different ways. Channel creativity. Creation then takes its form. Form follows unction.
Whether what I create is any good is subjective, and don’t get me started on quality and perfection… that is another reason for my procrastination and an altogether different blog post.
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namaste
d
xox
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