Saving the best for last…this chapter sums up the main purpose of many authors, captivate the reader’s attention through voice. Our overall goal as writers is not the five paragraph structure, the number of transitional words used, nor the word count. A writer’s goal is to move the reader in such a way that triggers emotion.
Often times, students with several teachers can accurately identify a piece of their teacher's writing based on the true voice it portrays. This would be a neat activity to try with students who have multiple teachers.
As Spandel noted, voice is like an individual’s personality, we simply have to teach students to recognize and value this quality in their own writing as well as others.
What makes us read a five hundred page (or more) novel in one day, forget about our daily chores and escape to a new world, or get up an extra three hours early on a Saturday just to read- VOICE. In contrast, what causes us to read the first paragraph of a book and never pick it up again, continuously procrastinate reading an assigned book or text, attempt to read a book yet our thoughts consistently wonders as we painfully try to pick up where we left off- THE LACK OF VOICE.
The 9 Rights of Every Writer, encourage teachers to instruct and model for prospective young authors, not future prompt responders. We are to promote writing daily. Respond whole-heartedly to our students’ writing. Concentrate more on the flow of words as in the rhythm of music. And most importantly, teach students how to seek voice as they read. Consequently they will discover their own.
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