Found Voices Episode 9: Courage, Risk, Repeat

Welcome to the Found Voices™ Podcast. In this episode, I talk about courage. When we think of courage, we think of overcoming our fears. And this is accurate. In this episode, I add a bit of a spin to this definition as I talk about the courage to go deep and be revealing and true in your writing. I also talk about Voice. Your voice as a writer, and not just your voice, but the four voices of all writing.

I hope you enjoy this episode. If you do, please feel free to listen to the other episodes of this Podcast.

Either way, Write On.

Carolyn.
PS. Best to listen with headphones.

Transcript

Oh Boy do I dig this music Welcome to found voices.

I'm Carolyn zeal Hello.

Hello.

Hello This is Carolyn zeal and you are listening to the found voices podcast episode 9 Courage I've been away for a while I've been beating myself up about not recording this podcast Which is not a good use of artistic energy and yet we all do it We all beat ourselves up and there are only so many creative hours in a creative day Life gets in the way,

But so do other creative projects and sometimes we need to juggle There are some people who can write three books at once.

I cannot be that person.

I am NOT that person and And Beating ourselves up is no help if you beat yourself up for not writing enough or whatever stop Let it go and just go back and keep creating Yeah,

I think it might make a great episode stay tuned But today I want to talk about courage,

I Have a little bit of a different take on courage a unique Definition or at least a definition that when I heard it sort of blew my mind But first I want to share Merriam-Webster's definition of courage Which is mental or moral strength to venture persevere and withstand danger fear or difficulty also implies Firmness of mind and the will to persevere in the face of danger or extreme difficulty But it also suggests this quality of spirit and temperament Enabling one to hold one's own or keep up one's morale when opposed or threatened all of that implies I think when we're writing when we're exposing ourselves our deepest truths onto the page But my teacher Jack Rapes has a different definition.

And so I thought I would share that and start with a little story One day in class someone read something that was revealing Really revealing very intense and a great piece of writing When she was done reading it someone as we all commented on the work and said how amazing it was and all the things Someone commented and said wow that took so much courage For you to write but really also for you to share in the class and Jack Interjected he shared his definition of courage at that point Which is your capacity to give?

Think about it your capacity to give It's an amazing definition.

I don't think I was the only one whose mind was blown and if you think about it the capacity to give Requires your heart to be open so that definition Could also be taken as the capacity to open your heart the courage to expand Your heart the courage to expand your capacity to give on the page and in the world This is what I love about writing and creating art because what happens on the page Reflects out into how you are in life How you show up every day in your life Are we showing up in the world and in our lives?

Expanding our capacity to give Opening our hearts.

I Believe that when we show up that way to the page First it correlates to how we show up outside of the page or should I say off the page?

That's why I think writing is so life-changing It's so impactful in your life and then in the lives of others.

I Started taking class with Jack Rapes in 2008.

I sat in that class in the classroom Presumed I watched people change over time It is subtle at first that idea of finding your voice.

They became more confident more Self-assured in their writing and it reflected out into their lives That idea of courage that idea of expanding your capacity to give expanding your heart You grow stronger more assured more grounded You find your voice you change your life It's magical your writing makes a difference Your word makes a difference Find your voice change your life Jack defined his idea his definition of courage the capacity to give and then the question became How do you do that?

How do you expand your capacity to give on the page?

You must be willing to go deep you focus on your voice the musicality of your writing and you let go of your story Allow your story to reveal itself through the writing and Then allow yourself to go deep to share to expand your capacity to give on the page Tap into that deep connected voice opening your heart Expanding your capacity to give on the page Takes work takes effort It's your effort for the day you come to the page and you write and it's your effort for the day and Tomorrow and the next day and the day after you'll do the same thing so in writing there are different voices and You can use these voices like music when you're writing.

You don't want everything to be the same tone Everything isn't the same note.

It's like a song.

It's like music and you use these voices and You layer them upon your voice So really there are four voices and then your own and in level two of Jack Grape's method writing I teach four voices that are in all literature just four The first we call straight talk.

It's that snarky sarcastic voice Think Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye.

There's a fancy schmancy poetic voice Literary voice we call Lost World.

It is not writing like you talk.

Then there's a repetitive voice We call it read and sung Here's a really fun thing to do Find Martin Luther King speech I have a dream online and get different color highlighters and Highlight all the phrases that repeat see how it affects the reader Because when we think about these voices,

We're thinking about music how the music of the writing Affects the reader and then there's another voice.

It's called absence of field,

But we won't look at that right now I want to focus on your voice and The deep voice the head voice and the analytical voice all your voice So for instance the reporting voice,

You know,

I did this he did that I went there he went there blah blah blah You're not going deep.

You're just reporting what happened.

It's not a bad voice You need that voice,

But it's not a deep voice Then there's an analytical voice a head voice the writer the narrator.

They're turning something over They're trying to figure something out.

They're analyzing something.

It's analytical It's up in your head.

And then there's the deep voice and that is a connected Powerful voice and it's lower.

It's deeper in the body,

Right?

It's the heart.

It's the gut.

It's that revealing confessional voice That's the voice that reveals all the things we're afraid to reveal about ourselves That's where that idea of courage comes in What's your capacity to reveal to go deep you hear people talk about writing in first person and how it's?

Too self-indulgent But that's the deep voice and if you can do it in first person you can do it in third person That's not self-indulgent That's what compels the reader to keep reading.

That's what connects your writing to the reader.

It is a compelling voice in 2019 I went to a conference there was a panel of agents and One of the agents said he does not ever sign books or Writers who write in first person and I thought that is insane Think about all the amazing books that guy isn't reading or isn't signing because they're in first person That first person voice can be so compelling Can go so deep Can be so connected and the writing can be so good But I digress as I often do Anyway to continue So the deep voice is revealing and often what we're revealing is our life Experience and the core of where it all comes from Remember,

We are here to create art and our lives are what we have to make art from our experience our life experience Scary right?

I hear you.

I'm gonna tell you something here a little secret Because if you're freaking out right now thinking oh my god,

I can't do that.

I can't reveal all this Ugly stuff about myself all the things you're afraid to reveal about yourself Well,

Guess what the more you reveal the more people won't be seeing you Because you'll be hidden behind the deep voice Because in fact your reader won't be seeing you in what you're writing they'll be seeing themselves Should I repeat that?

Because that's pretty intense,

Right?

Kind of like whoa when Jack said that in class,

I I Had to think for a minute And I'm glad he gave us a moment to pause because you don't think of it like that.

Do you?

You think you're gonna judge me My mom's gonna read this My best friend is not gonna be my best friend anymore.

My husband's gonna be like,

Oh my god You know what?

I'm saying,

Whatever it is but really When I'm in a writing class and someone writes something really deep and revealing about themselves and the feedback is oh my gosh I know that place that happened to me.

Oh my gosh.

I did the same thing You were so good in your writing that I could see myself in this situation and that is the beauty of the deep voice and that is the courage the capacity to give and it's risky It's scary you risk everything by stretching your capacity by opening your heart by Expanding your capacity to give on the page.

Yeah,

It's scary as hell Risk is its own podcast So I'm kind of giving you a little bit of a teaser here because in the next podcast I'm going to talk about courage and risk But in the meantime,

If you feel that fear just write it put it on the page Put it on the page.

Don't be afraid and You can be afraid.

What do they say be afraid and do it anyway,

Or however,

They say that The point is just do it trust keep writing right through the fear funnel it into your work You'll notice a difference Remembering that the deeper you go the more compelling your writing the more hidden you will be behind the deep voice and your reader will see themselves and Not you.

I look forward to sharing a little bit more about courage,

But mainly about risk in the next Episode so please stay tuned and in the meantime Write on talk to you soon

Reviews

Thank you! Courage: " the capacity to give". I needed this discussion. Appreciate you sharing this.

Where can I find the other episodes please?