Your Voice is Non-Negotiable
It is currently 2:58 in the fucking morning. [Editor's note: read on to understand why we didn't edit that Spike-ism.]
Not for you ... or rather, I hope it's not. That would really suck. There's no reason why both of us should be up so damn late. At least that's what I used to tell my mom when she would help me rewrite my middle school essays the night before they were due.
And yes, I still feel like my logic holds.
No, I'm awake at this ungodly hour because I've had a cold for the last two days, and it's kicking my ass. I've napped so much during the daytime that now I am incapable of sleeping despite it being the middle of the night (er ... I guess it's morning now. Whatever). But my pain is truly your gain here, because a 3 a.m. burst of creativity has shot right through my stomach all the way to my fingers and into your eyeballs.
... a really weird way of saying I've got a new topic for an article I want to write about.
Anyway, I got some feedback recently that deserves some analysis. It wasn't addressed to me directly—it came into the Script Pipeline admin email account. It went something like this:
"Dear Script Pipeline, please tell Spike thank you for the article he wrote recently about the notes he most commonly gives on his coverages. I found it very insightful, informative, hilarious, and honestly life-altering. Truly ten out of ten stuff right there. You should give him a promotion, or a raise. Maybe both! However, can you tell that young man to tone down the cursing a little bit? I'm here for screenwriting tips ... not to hear profanity and satanic expletives. My young virgin eyes can't handle it and need protecting from the horrors of the world. Please and many thanks, Anonymous Customer."
(That was paraphrased obviously. Except for the part about giving me a raise. That was totally in there.)
Back to the point, there are three things I want to say to this person (who will go unnamed). The first is "you're welcome." I'm glad my latest article was so impactful that you felt compelled to reach out about it. There are some annoying aspects of my job (any job, really), but knowing that people actually learn and grow from my insane ramblings is a big part of why I churn these out. It's truly a great feeling.
The second is "thank you." As in, thank you for the feedback. I always appreciate and welcome criticism in all forms. Listening to other's opinions is one of the best ways to identify blind spots that you may have missed, even if you don't agree with them. It's something that every writer, no matter your medium, needs to become comfortable with.
And the final thing I want to tell you is ... respectfully, no. As in "no, I will not stop cursing in my writing." Yes, even if you don't like it. I can't. And I'll let you know the reason why ...
Because it's part of my writing voice. And frankly, I like it. So, it's here to stay.
In fact, I'll go so far as to say that writers should NEVER compromise their own unique voice. Even if they get feedback saying they should. And let me tell you why.
I once had a public debate with Karen Wells about this very topic. We were arguing over which was more important: narrative structure vs. writing voice. I was on the side of (and still believe that) structure was more important ... but only by the slimmest of margins. Voice is absolutely critical when crafting a story, too.
In fact, it's one of the elements that separates the contenders from the pretenders, so to speak.
If you don't know what voice is, I want you to go to your local library and pick up any Neil Gaiman novel. Read it ASAP. Because he has such a distinct voice. You can instantly tell it's him on the other end of the keyboard. He has a style all his own, one that captivates and entertains readers all across the world. No one else writes like he does, and it's one of the many reasons he's become so iconic.
And while I am NOWHERE NEAR as good or accomplished as Mr. Gaiman (one of my all-time writing idols), I have also been told that I have a strong writing voice. People have consistently praised me for sounding different than most others on the page. In fact, I'm willing to bet it's one of the reasons Jeanne and Matt keep asking me to write for them. This quality comes through in my articles. [Editor's note: that's a lot of humility there, Spike.]
If I were to stop the swearing, might I be a little more popular? Maybe. Might my articles appeal to a slightly larger demographic and get shared on Facebook more widely? Highly possible.
But the articles would stop being authentically me. They wouldn't be as good if I had to censor myself. And that's the critical point. The voice would stop being my voice. My writing would lose its edge. And that's what makes it special.
If you lose what makes your writing special, you slowly slide into the rabbit hole of sounding more generic. Which, in my opinion, is downright horrible.
One thing I've been picking up on lately is a growing trend of people out there who write without confidence. It may not be obvious to the laymen, but to someone like me (aka, someone who has probably read tens of thousands of scripts at this point), I can smell it almost immediately.
I can tell when a person is writing scared. There's a timidness to their verbiage ... like they're terrified of making a "mistake" that turns the reader off. They want so desperately for people to like their work (or them) that it bleeds through onto the page. That's truly an awful place to be. Because if you're operating from a place of fear, chances are the reader is not going to respond well. They're going to feel it (maybe not as fast as I do, but eventually).
And you know what else?
I'm willing to bet those writers don't like what they're writing either. Because it's probably inauthentic to their core. And I don't want any of you to end up in this position.
One of the major aspects of my voice is my wordsmithing. I absolutely HATE when people use the same words in short succession. Sentences like "Ed walked to the cabinet and opened the door. He looked through the pantry and decided he wanted cereal. He took out the box, and he grabbed a bowl. He poured the cereal into the bowl," drive me UP A FREAKING WALL. I do NOT need to hear "he" so many times. And "cereal" and "bowl" repeat twice, too!
It's repetitive and dull!
Because of this, I have implemented a strict wordsmithing policy in my own writing. I will painstakingly review my work to find repeat words and delete them. To the point where if I am writing a story about Ed, I refuse to call him by his name too often. I'll go out of my way to say "our protagonist," "our hero," "the patriarch," or anything else to NOT refer to his first name. Because that's how I like to write.
But not everyone likes that! I've gotten feedback before that some people think it goes too far, and I should be more simple with my verbiage.
I read that feedback, quietly say "not interested," and put it to the side. That person isn't my audience. I won't be changing my writing voice to accommodate them. Because in doing so, I'll be losing another reader out there who IS my audience. And that's perfectly fine with me.
You're never (repeat: NEVER) going to please everyone. This applies to ALL creative fields. The best you can hope to do is get a spectrum of reactions that are mostly positive. Eight out of ten is wonderful. But I promise that it will NEVER be one hundred percent. Never.
"Now wait just a gosh darn minute, Spike!" you interject. "This sounds completely hypocritical. Didn't you write a whole article about how people should simp for their reader? That was all about how people SHOULD take the audience's concerns into consideration! How do you level THAT?!"
First of all, that's way too aggressive. Calm down. Remember, it's only *checks clock* 3:47 in the morning for me, and I'm not feeling well.
Secondly, you're correct. I did say that.
But I want you to go back and read that article again (shameless plug for more clicks on my stuff). The point of that article was to do the little things that make your audience's life easier to improve their reading experience. Not to compromise your voice on the page.
Yes, work on improving your structure, if it isn't working. If being more streamlined and engaging with your narrative can attract more fans, do so. Yes, make changes to your characters when necessary. If everyone is complaining about Protagonist A, and you don't have a good reason for keeping them that way, you might want to consider listening to the feedback.
And yes, read other people's work to pick up on their voice. If you find something that someone else is doing, like it a lot, and want to integrate it into your own material, then by all means, please do so!
Imitation is the greatest form of flattery ...
But I NEVER want people to adjust their voice because others said they should. You can't take away the authentic, personal quality of being a writer. It's too important to the process.
That's not to say you should never seek to improve your writing style. Please, by all means (in fact, I downright encourage you to) become a better writer. You should evolve and adapt over time. But what I don't want y'all to do is hear someone say, "I don't like how you write this, do it differently," and then change because of that.
Which is why I will continue to curse. And write random asides in parentheses because I find them quippy. And randomly start off articles with weird sentences.
Because that's my personality coming through on the page. That's the part of me that no one can take away. I refuse to compromise that for anything. And I feel strongly that you should, too.
The fact of the matter is this: regardless whether or not anyone else likes your stuff, YOU need to like your stuff. If you don't, then what the hell are we even doing this for anyway?
And you know what? If you're one of those people out there who HAS compromised your voice ... if you've been noted to death over the course of years and years in pursuit of being liked by others ... you might want to consider reverting back to your own authentic style.
Because I guarantee if you do, you'll write more passionately than ever before. And that passion will permeate through the page. And readers pick up on that. They really, truly do.
So, Anonymous Reader of my "Five Notes I Always Give" article, thanks, truly, for the feedback. But it has been denied, and I hope this explains why. I put it in a box and shipped it straight off to PASSadena. But please feel free to send in more comments on this essay.
I very much look forward to reading them. :)
Godspeed, y'all, and happy writing.
*Feature image by Jorm Sangsorn (Adobe)
