My Article Is Up

I finally finished my article about my stint in Jackson, Mississippi for The New Media Institute. It was really hard to write even with a lot of great help. Initially, I was unsure why.

Katherine Dykstra's article, "Literary Laryngitis," in the November/December issue of Poets & Writers magazine talks about finding your voice. It resonated with me because she spoke about the different voices you take on for the different pieces that you write. Some people are able to have a consistent voice. For example when you read a David Sederis piece, you know it is David Sederis. But sometimes different venues require different voices. And finding your voice is a hard, hard thing.

When I was working on this piece, I realized that there is a voice that I have on my blog. I was not even aware that it was a “voice” per say but the more I look at past entries, I realize that my voice has a few certain characteristics: run on sentences, slang, random clauses with bits of tangential information. I am not saying that these things are bad. They are all fine for this blog but when I was writing this article, I had to use proper grammar and stuff. I had to explain what things were instead of just making the words into links. It was hard especially because though I know about new media, I am by no means a pro.

On the whole I am proud of it but it reminds me that writing is a lot harder than it looks.

Check it out here.