I’ve been throwing around the term “wild voice” for a long time, at least as long as I’ve been doing the Wild Women writing workshops (these date back to 1997). With my new book Wild Women, Wild Voices, due to be released April 7, I thought I’d better explain what I mean when I say “wild voice.”
As its name implies, wild voice is untamed and unbounded and holds the possibility of great beauty. It goes deep, like roots; it sings because it can. It is not domesticated or restrained. Wild voice can be dangerous; it can be outrageous. It is passionate, exuberant, and eager for life. It is turbulent and stormy, often arriving as unexpectedly as a summer squall. It can also appear as tranquil as an autumn breeze or a lazy river—but just try to capture either of these in a bottle and put them on a shelf.
Wild voice is what gives you the sentence or phrase that seems to come out of nowhere. It is what wants to be expressed. It tells you what you intuitively know and what matters most. Language erupts spontaneously with wild voice. When wild voice speaks, pay attention.
How do you know when you’re writing with your wild voice? When your writing surprises you. When you say, “I don’t know where that came from.” When what you read back to yourself resonates deep inside, maybe you even get “truth bumps” along the back of your neck or your arms. You know when you’re writing with wild voice when you know you’re telling the truth. When you’re excited by what you’re writing, when you’re having fun, when you’re not “trying.” When your ego has stepped aside and you’re writing freely and easily, intuitively. When the language you’re using is of your own making and the rhythm of your sentences is the beat of your own drummer. When your writing still feels honest and true when you read it weeks, months, years later.
How do you access wild voice? That’s another topic for another blog. For now, let’s just take 15 minutes and write to a prompt and see what happens.
(This prompt is from “The Bone Road,” by Brandon R. Schrand, Shenandoah, Spring 2008):
On a night ruined with stars
After you’ve written, let me know if you find traces of wild voice in your piece.
No moon hung in the sky,
on that night ruined with stars,
so bright that I needed sunglasses
and couldn’t sleep. Wanted to reach
up, grab one of those sparkly things
by it’s pointed tip, hang on as if my
life depended on it and rock
back and forth.
Thanks Judy, for continuing to “inspire” us. Here is my writing to the above prompt On a Night Ruined with Stars…..
I looked up at the sky and wondered why I felt so wide awake. I was alone and thinking about my life. My mother told me long ago that as you get older, time goes by faster….How true that feels to me now. I feel like my life is “passed do” and I have lived the meaty part of it already. At 71, I am no longer contributing to the world with a career or with a family. I am supposed to be reaping the “rewards” of a “life well lived” but I am thinking about what I can do to redeem myself. You see, I’m not satisfied with who I am, or who I was. I’m wondering if I still have time to remake myself.
Hi Arlene, Thanks so much for posting your thoughts here. And believe me, so long we can gaze upon the stars in the sky, there is a possibility of, if not “remaking” ourselves, adding to what is already there. Writing our experiences, for example. Telling our stories. At our age, we have much to say.
I guess we seniors do have much to say….
Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day, Judy…you
make a real difference in so many lives.
Arlene
Thanks, Arlene. ALL women have much to say, no matter what our age. Hope you make a lot of noise, Arlene.
Lovely, Jill
Beautiful, Jill. I think sometimes our lives do depend on such things as hanging onto the tips of stars on moonless nights. Thanks for posting your response to the prompt, and for your thoughts about doing this more often.
I know of a website called http://www.thewildvoice.org
Really cool story, though. We are wild indeed : )
Thanks Larry, I have never heard of this site. I did go and have a look. Each to her own wild, I guess. Thanks for telling me about this similarly named site (I’ve reserved the url: wildwomenwildvoices.com, though haven’t constructed it yet.
Well I managed to read two sentences. Sort of like doing calculus.
Oh I love this! I just went back to re-read some passage from my memoir and I had kind of forgotten what I had written… and I really liked it! Wild!!! lol
Yay for you Kandace! I love when that happens, and especially when we’ve forgotten what we wrote and then are surprised by our own wildness. Good for you. And thanks for telling me about it.
Yours in wildness,
Judy
Wild voices to me means voices coming from the gut. I don’t have to try to pay attention to them, they just are there. I am looking for a group in which I can share them with others who are hoping to write them down. Mainly, I am looking for more connection to others and to myself. i seem to be adrift spiritually.
Like eating sugar, the more we verbalize our inner feelings and thoughts, the deeper we are able to go and the more we are able to express them. Only, unlike sugar, it is healthy for us to do this…it can help us find ourselves, free ourselves, and grow ourselves.
Hello Arlene,
Thank you for your comment. I really hope you can find a group you can share your Wild Voices with. While we can do this work alone, and even within a group we do our work alone, but it is alone/together. For me, I find myself willing to take more risks when I’m with a group than when I’m writing alone, just me and my notebook.
All best,
Judy
Earlier this evening I became aware of an inner energy like a rectangle in front of a brilliant energy below my navel. As the observer, I watched with kind eyes and an open heart to this block. This took me into an inner journey of deeper layers of my psyche, that developed in an inner dialogue with this energy.
Then your e-mail came in Judy with “on a night ruined with stars” and I delved deeper.
The allowing of the full voice of both sides of this energy and my place as the observer, the one who is Aware of being aware, evoked clarity in the truth of myself as Awareness, while at the same time giving voice to those parts of my psyche. The wildness of my voice was in my strength of allowing those parts to have their say, while taking the stand of being the Master of my own life. No longer did I need to repress their dictates, nor did I need run from them. With an open heart I dialogued with them, and with firm kindness l told them that they have served their purpose of trying to keep me safe. With authority I asked them to leave.
They left because I was clear, my voice was clear and I was respectful towards them.
Thank you so much for your comment on this post, Eileen. You’ve had quite a journey “on a night ruined with stars.” Thank you for sharing it with me.
With best regards,
Judy
My pleasure Judy. i enjoy following your work and being invited to share as part of the group. Sometimes a question or quote asked, can evoke a story, a memory or an insight that might otherwise remain hidden.
So true about how a question asked or a quote stated, can evoke a story. I have relied on prompts for so many years, couple of novels mostly written with starting scenes from prompts. Characters emerge, grow; places take shape. And yes, the memories.
How true Judy. This morning I was pondering, how rich we are. What amazing treasures live in our unconscious, desiring to find the light of day, their voice through story, through writing, sharing, art, dreams, as life expressed.