“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” ~ E.E. Cummings
It is a rite of passage and a fact of nature that, when we grow from a child to an adult, our voices change. Perhaps I hadn’t realized when I began my blogging journey that I was a child of writing. I was a mere toddler grabbing at words like they were all mine but contrary to a toddler’s way of thinking I wanted nothing more than to share those words.
Recently, I have been going back through the moments of my childhood. I have not been pouring over photographs in family albums but I have been going back through the early stages of my blogging days and I am amazed at how dissimilar my writing voice is from then to now. The nuance of my phrasing is a far cry from what it once was and my voice has changed to signify the growth in my writing.
Contrary to going through that awkward teenage phase in life, my progress as a writer has been uncomplicated and relatively steady. I feel comfortable in my writing skin and I walk down the hallways of the writing school in my mind with great confidence. There are no cliques to contend with, no teachers to please and the only club I wish to join already has my name on the roster of its members.
I want to write, plain and simple. I want my voice to continue to develop and be able to show the experience I gain each day by simply writing more words on a page. I want my voice to whisper. I want my voice to sing. And I want my voice to yell at the top of its lungs when it has something to say, anything to say.
Maybe this is the puberty stage in my writing. And just maybe I have reached the cusp of adulthood and I can finally embrace the voice that will truly represent who I am as a writer. There may a be a few breaks in the inflection and the tone but I think this voice is here to stay.
polysyllabic profundities 
Everybody knows your voice changes when you hit puberty!
I, too, recently looked at my early blog posts. I wasn’t much of a fan. My writing style was pretty much the same, but I had no idea as to what I should use this blog to write *about.* For the first year or so my bloggy home base was a bit of a mess, really.
I’m so prone to go back and make corrections or adjustments but it’s part of the learning curve. 🙂
I hear you. This is why I sometimes re-edit an old story and re-post it.
I know the feeling. Same here.
I always cringe a bit when I go back and read my earlier posts. Not only was my voice a bit different, some of my posts were pure fluff. Now, even though I still like to maintain my humor, I try to have a point to each one. I imagine my readers appreciate that too. 😉
It’s very interesting to see how much my comfort level has changed with my writing. Perhaps it’s finally time to finish the novel now that I feel much more confident.
For sure. Much of writing is like everything else: practice improves our technique.
Sometimes I go back to the early posts and cringe…but I try to resist the urge to rewrite and correct.
It’s a great way to track our writing journeys!
I feel that way when I look at a draft compared to my final piece. Every draft I write I’m like- this is the best. And then I go back a few days later and swear a child wrote the piece.
Sadly, I completely understand that. But there are those magical moments I feel like Brian from The Breakfast Club and I punch myself in the arm because I’m pretty proud of what I wrote. 😉
You are a brave one – I never go back and read what I write! (I don’t want to know, haha.) I do think my voice has changed some, though. The best thing about writer puberty? It doesn’t involve acne 🙂
Lol…excellent point. That would be horrendous!