Leggo, Carl. Voice(s) in Writing: Symphony and/or Cacophony. Colors of a Different Horse.

Some quotes that lead off this chapter:

Because the whole notion of "voice" is so mystical and abstract, the term 'voice' may have become nothing more than a vague phrase conjured up by English teachers to impress and motivate the masses to write more, confess more, and be happy. (Hashimoto 75-76). 1

Your authentic voice is that authorial voice which sets you apart from every living human being despite the number of common or shared experiences you have with many others: it is not a copy of someone else's way of speaking or of perceiving the world. It is your way. (Stewart 2-3). 2

Voice is something that seems to be touched upon more in creative writing. We're told that the more we write, the more our own voice will emerge. For me it's a combination of style and how I talk, which seems to be reflected in some of my work. Of course my voice can get lost when I'm creating characters' voices, and don't want mine to intrude.

Voice can come across in all types of compositions. Leggo says that "the experience of voice, the politics of voice, the intertextuality of voice, the authenticity of voice, the origin of voice, the ubiquity of voice, the energy of voice cannot be conceptualized, schematized, and classified anymore than beach stones can be categorized and labeled" (167).

He points out something that I believe is true about academic writing: "As a young academic writer eager to be published, I am tempted to write the kind of essays that belie the meaning of essay as "trying." I am tempted to write essays that I don't really want to write, that don't seem especially significant, that are full of complaint and criticism, that croak in somebody's notion of a scholarly, academic voice, that huff and puff with braggadocio, whimper and whine with sibilant sycophancy, and pontificate with proclamations for progress -- a sort of bash 'em, trash 'em, hash 'em, flash' em writing. But in this essay at least I am trying to avoid those rhetorical stances in favor of an interrogative stance ..." (168-169).

Voice is often lost in academic work, which troubles me, because aren't we trying to teach people to write persuasively, which includes not just logos, but ethos and pathos as well? I can believe what you're saying is true, but if you don't move me emotionally, instead just throwing out facts, I'm bored with you. Yet much academic writing just does that -- which is why it's difficult to read, and why I feel many academics shouldn't teach writing -- they haven't thought about all of the aspects of good writing, and are preparing students to write for just one narrow, academic audience, instead of all of the audiences they will encounter throughout their lives.

1. Hashimoto, I. "Voice as Juice: Some Reservations About Evangelic Composition." College Composition and Communication 38 (1987): 70-80.

2. Stewart, Donald C. The Authentic Voice: A Pre-Writing Approach to Student Writing. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown, 1972.