Friday, December 01, 2006

"Author's Favorites" Defined

I'm kind of amazed at how long I've kept the site going, albeit in new and evolving forms. I've seen other sites come and go. And also evolve. But mostly go. I don't think the content of No Apologies has changed that much over the past four years. Except that, after experiments with different storytelling conventions - writing as other characters, linking more than writing, attempts to specialize, comment whoring, etc. - I've found my voice.

"Finding one's voice" is the appropriate, graduate school, writing class phrase used to describe when a writer finally becomes comfortable with herself and stops being self conscious about what anyone else thinks about her writing. It's also the red herring of writing. Finding your voice doesn't necessarily mean you'll become successful as a writer, at least not in the conventional, financial sense. So many writers strive to find their voice thinking that once they do, they'll be able to quit their day jobs. It's kind of like going into therapy thinking that once you name your issues, you'll be done. You realize that you do A, B, C because of that time in your childhood when your father did X, Y, Z. Then you get disappointed when, after the big "break through!" happiness fails to flood your life. Naming your issues is only the beginning step towards self-realization. And a writer finding her voice is the same - only the beginning of her journey. But judging by how little I care anymore about what anyone else thinks about my writing, I think I've made progress. I'm not about to quit my day job, however.

I've saved a handful of articles from the original site that I thought were any good (there weren't many I tell you wot), and will be posting them throughout December. Judge for yourself whether I've grown.

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