Echo and the Writing Voice

The greatest difficulty I have writing is finding my writing voice. Perhaps keeping this blog will help. Now, I suppose I should define what I mean by this.

Your writing voice is the voice you hear inside your head... Let me provide an example. Say, I am reading Arendt or Gadamer or Heidegger for instance... all three philosophers have a writing voice. In fact, their writing voices are so powerful that as I read them they get stuck in my head and swallow my writing voice (because as you can tell, I have a weak writing voice). Now imagine I am starting to write my thesis and I am referring to Arendt or Gadamer or Heidegger and am attempting to describe their philosophies. I invariably get stuck. I get stuck because I am attempting to write their thoughts through my thoughts, and my thoughts aren't really that clear - and worse still, I can't really distinguish between my thoughts and their thoughts, because their thoughts are better articulated than mine, and mine are just well... seeming quite ad hoc to theirs. Right? Yet, sometimes when I get through all the his thought, her thought stuff (and the whole time, I am unconsciously mimicking their tone - or writing voice, if you will) I get to MY writing voice.

My writing voice is that free thought kind of moment. It's not like an epiphany but the feeling afterwards, when the world is free and clear and one experiences almost a disembodied feeling. I love that feeling. It's really great, except excruciatingly difficult to reproduce, probably because it is completely original. It's that point where you can be completely, inhibited, authentically YOU. You are so YOU in fact that you're not even (strangely), materially you. You are free you. I miss free me. I am now imprisoned me. Imprisoned in my thoughts... Imprisoned in this blog.

But, there's always that potential. I suppose that's my take-home message for you. Don't do drugs. I'm kidding (not really, but seriously)... we all have this wonderful capacity to just BE, or being as the continental philosophy guys (and girls) would say. Or they might make fun of me. Point being - find your writing voice... and you will find your writing soul.