Voice. Shouldn't every human (and character) have one?

It was back in the summer of 1997, in a Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project (PAWLP*) class, when I first heard the term "voice" used in connection with writing. Teacher as Writer, that was the class, and it was also the first time I viewed myself as an actual writer. I remember the ten-or-so teachers in the class with me discussing and struggling to define what voice is and how to explain it to our students.

It's quite elusive.

In true PAWLP style, the teacher suggested we turn to mentor text -- or in non-teacher talk -- examples in essays, poems, memoirs or novels, in other words...real writing, to find where the writer shows a strong voice.

It's easier than it sounds, and it took me ten years in my middle school classroom to amass enough examples to feel like I was doing an adequate job explaining voice. And some kids still didn't get it.

Ralph Fletcher wrote this great book for kids on how to start and fill a Writer's Notebook. It was one of the many tools I used to teach my sixth graders how to write and write from the inside. I think that's where voice comes from, whether it be the actual writer's voice or the voices of the characters the writer creates. Ralph tells kids it's easy to write about yourself and your experiences because you know you the best. Simple, yet so true.

Each year I would watch student after student shed layers of doubt and fear...and find their voice...on paper.

A question for the writers: don't your characters deserve the same TLC? Don't they deserve to fill the pages of your manuscript with their essence...their soul? Let them out. Let them romp and feel and fail and soar. Let them do these things in their own voice. Make it real. Always make it real.

*PAWLP has since changed names. It is now called the West Chester Writing Project.