Finding my voice.

This blog represents a step on the road to finding my voice.

What? you may ask. You sing, you write fiction, you write advertising copy for a living, for Pete’s sake! What’s this about finding your voice?

Well, let me tell you how scary all this self-expression can be. Is it any wonder the #1 fear for most people, above death, of all things, is public speaking? Every act of self-expression is an opportunity to make a mistake. Exposing vulnerabilities gives an opening for someone with sharpened words to take a jab.

I have a friend who blogs practically every day, on a far more deeply personal level than I intend to get into here. I have praised him for his courage, in revealing his ongoing emotional development as it happens. It’s far different than fiction. Good fiction explores life, especially good genre fiction. But it’s not me, and it’s not my life. Recently I compared it to theater, where, while you certainly tap into your own emotional intelligence and experiences, you don’t do it as yourself.

But I’m beginning to realize as I crack the door open that I have more to talk about than I thought.

So, setting character aside, here I will be learning to express my likes and interests, my struggles and triumphs. I think it will be good practice as I get better at creating new worlds and people out of my own experiences.

It’s been a struggle to get started, to convince myself that what I have to say will be interesting to anyone but me. I hope you’ll join me in this experiment, and tell me what you think.