Voice, art and spirit

On Saturday, I had the wonderful opportunity to hear editor Cheryl Klein speak on “Voice” at the New Jersey SCBWI Craft Day. As I've just started a new work in progress, the timing couldn't have been better; I've been playing around with different persons, tenses, levels of humor, and so on—but seeing the element of voice clearly portrayed in Cheryl Klein's signature analytical style was just what I needed. If you haven't read her book, Second Sight, I highly, highly recommend it.

Voice is difficult to define, I think, because it is largely intangible. We see voice as the trademark of an individual writer—the personality, form, point, thematic elements, etc. that combine to the show the truth of the work in a way peculiar to one human being. Looking at it that way, every artist in the world must find their own voice—their way to show their unique spirit in their art.

In painting, for example, given the same topic, the same medium with which to work, three different artists will create three different paintings. Consider these versions of the Madonna and Child with St. John:

Bouguereau

Jacopo del Salleio

Raphael

Composers, too, must find a way to show a truth while being true to themselves. Here are a couple variations on the theme of “night”:

I find that looking, and listening, to other forms of art helps me define what I want my own art, in writing to be. Like the Bouguereau painting, I want my writing to be clear and haunting—sophisticated and innocent at once. Like Chopin's nocturne, I want to achieve a beautiful simplicity, growing tension, and phrases that linger. Like all the pieces of art I shared, I want my art to be carefully crafted in order to share truth through beauty.

If you could compare your writing style to one composer or artist, who would it be?