v v v v v o i c e

the dynamo in the process donald graves

the magical heard quality of writing donald murray

the personality behind the writer’s words georgia heard

the heart and soul of the writing.

the magic, the wit, the feeling,

the life and the breath ruth culham

it’s what makes our writing stand out.it’s what makes it distinctive.

harriet, harriet,born a slave,work for your masterfrom your cradleto your grave.

harriet, clean;harriet, sweep.harriet, rockthe child to sleep.

harriet, hear tellabout “the promised land”;how moses led the slaves over egypt’s sand.

how pharaoh’s heartwas hard as stone,how the lord told moseshe was not alone.

he was a hip cat a hep cat a cool cat

living all alone in a riverside shackoobie-do john the sax man scat man,the cool cat man.

one day he said to himself,“all i want to do is make jazzzzy music.”so he picked up his sax--what his friends called his “ax”--and tipped his beret and said,

“scat, cat. Go, cat, go!hip cat daddy-o’s got a horn to blow!”and that cat scat.

flo-o-ossie!

the sound of big mama’s voice floated

past the cabins in sophie’s quarters,

round the smokehouse, beyond the

chicken coop, all the way down to

Flossie finley. flossie tucked away

her straw doll in a hollow log, then

hurried to answer her grandmother’s call.

“here i am, big mama,” flossie said after

catching her breath. It was hot, hotter

than a usual tennessee august day.

achieving a unique voice is not easyespecially since we live

in an environment saturated with sound

did noah want to be a carpenter? No!

did noah want to be a shipbuilder? No!

did noah want to be a sea captain? No! No! No!

noah didn’t want to be any of these things because noah

wanted to be...a writer!

it just happened that one day while noah was sitting at

his typewriter a loud voice boomed,“noah!”

noah stopped typing and looked up.

“noah!” the voice sounded again.

“who’s there?” noah mumbled, glancing around the room.

“it’s me, noah,” the voice thundered, “the lord!”

“the lord?” noah gasped.

“yes, noah, and i need your help. i want you to build a

boat.”

“a boat?” noah exclaimed, “but i’ve never built a boat

before.”

“build it 300 cubits, by 60 cubits, by 30 cubits,” the voice

continued.

“but, i...i...”

“and noah,” the voice boomed, “i need it soon!”

there’s a fellow by the name of noah.

built an ark.

everyone knows he built an ark.

you say, what did noah do--well, he built an ark.

but very few people know about the conversation

that went on between the lord and noah.

you see, noah was in his rec room sawing away.

he was making a few things for the home there,

he was a good carpenter.

schubba-schubba-schubba-schubba--DING!

“noah!”

“somebody call?”

schubba-schubba-schubba--DING!

“noah!”

“who is that?”

“it’s the lord, noah?”

“right! where are ya? what do you want? i’ve been good.”

“i want you to build an ark.”

“right? what’s an ark?”

“get some wood. build it 300 cubits, by 80 cubits, by 40

cubits?

“right! what’s a cubit?”

a clear case of what mark twain

would call...

“unconscious plagiarism”

night is coming.crawling in on little cat feet.edging over hill.creeping through the forest.stealing its way in.

the fog comeson little cat feet.it sits looking over harbor and cityon silent haunchesand then moves on. carl sandburg

how do young writers find their voice,their distinctive, original voice?

revise. revise. revise.

p r e s e n t a t i o n

dynamicstatic

presentation changes initiated by me

the wind is whipping through the trees.

the rain is bouncing off the ground.

the world is dark and wet outside.

suddenly the storm is all around.

the storm is all around,

and all you can hear

is the rat-tat-tat

rat-tat-tat

of raindrops beating down.

light skin...

dark skin

long legs...

short legs

thick arms...

thin arms

brown eyes...

blue eyes

big nose...

little nose

straight hair...

curly hair

different, mm-mmm

but the same,

ah-ha

presentation changes initiated by the illustrator

original sequence

2 verses and a chorus2 verses and a chorus2 verses and a chorus2 verses and a chorus2 verses and a chorus

illustrator’s sequence:

2 verses and a chorus3 verses and a chorus2 verses and a chorus3 verses and a chorus

for more information about my background and published books

please visit my website at:

www.nikolabooks.com