World Voice Day: April 16th

You probably take your voice for granted. It’s always been there for you so why think about it?

But take a moment to imagine life without your voice: no phones calls, no smart ripostes when chatting to friends, no soothing lullabies for your baby, no reading stories to your children, no heckling at a council meeting, no singing your favourite tunes to the radio…

Writing, e-mailing and texting don’t make up for a lost voice because you convey so much more than words with your voice. Humour and all your many emotions are communicated by the pitch and loudness variations of your voice.

Working with people with voice problems - or dysphonia, to use the medical term - most of whom, I’m pleased to say, recover their normal voice, has shown me that even a minor problem with one’s voice can be a distressing and frustrating situation. Imagine waking up and looking in the mirror and finding your face had changed overnight and was unrecognisable. Think of the stress it would cause. A change in your voice is just as personal and can be quite as stressful.

• ‘When I had my voice problem, I felt I no longer had the right to speak.’ Maureen, 63
• ‘They teased me about my voice and said I sounded like a boy.’ Alexa, 11
• ‘My boss thought I was taking the mick, keeping on having days off, but trying to talk hurt my throat so much it made me feel tired and ill all the time.’ Simon, 34
• ‘Now my voice is normal, I feel as if I have my life back.’ Denise, 42
• ‘I just supposed it was old age and I’d have to live with that strange, weak old voice for the rest of my life. Now I sound like I used to, and I feel younger and livelier because of it.’ John, 84
• ‘I tried really hard not to shout and now my voice doesn’t hurt any more.’ Tyrese, 5
• ‘I can sing now. I’m so happy. I’m me again.’ Lindy, 33*

You may have heard of well-known singers and actors suffering from voice problems but anybody can experience dysphonia - I’ve seen people of all ages from toddlers to those in their nineties with problems ranging from minor changes that are remedied very quickly to those that are far more complex and, just occasionally, need highly specialist surgical intervention.

Many voice difficulties are a result of muscle tension, so keeping active but relaxed with good posture can help prevent problems. Your voice is precious and like all precious things, it needs a little care. One of the best things you can do for it, is to keep well hydrated and water is the best way - so drink 6 -8 glasses a day.

Your voice likes to be used but not misused. Shouting and screaming don’t do it any good at all. Talking over constant noise can soon cause it problems and smoking is a big no-no. Avoid frequent throat clearing as that too can irritate your vocal cords. (No, they’re not vocal chords!)

If you have concerns about any voice changes which have persisted for more than a couple of weeks, see you GP and ask for a referral to a specialist Ear, Nose & Throat Surgeon (ENT). Specialist Speech and Language therapists can help in overcoming many voice problems, once a diagnosis has been made.

World Voice Day on April 16th aims to celebrate our voices in all their wonderful diversity.

See also:

The British Voice Association

 

and the Voice Care Network

http://www.voicecare.org.uk/

NB. *Names have been changed for confidentiality.

When Less is More

Can Less be More? I think it can. In short fiction, especially flash fiction, I believe sparse text to be the most effective. Not everyone agrees with me. My peers, whose critiques I find invaluable, sometimes want detail that I don’t consider necessary. Who is right?

 

I recently submitted a flash fiction piece of 400 words for an online site. It wasn’t accepted but I was pleased and surprised to receive a mini critique from four readers. Two gave my piece the thumbs-up praising my effort while the other two said they didn’t feel there was enough of a story - they wanted back-story, more facts and reasons why the action took place.

 

Now, it could be that my writing failed miserably in its attempt to say all I wanted it to say, but it could also be that these particular readers didn’t want to use their own imaginations - that they wanted me to do all the work. One reader said she had more questions than answers. I wanted the reader to ask questions and to supply their own answers so I chose not give names or spell out the exact relationship between the two main characters - or even the gender of my protagonist, because that did not matter. A third character is absent - exactly where he now is, is unimportant - but my reader wanted to know. The other reader suggested my last paragraph should come first - to explain what was happening. To me, this would have rendered the whole story utterly pointless.

 

I’m re-examining my text to decide if I should re-write it, but my question is - did I fail those readers or did they fail me?

I sent it out into the world again. After it was shortlisted in two competitions, it was then placed third in Words With Jam Shorter story competition. I hadn't changed a word. You can read it here see who you agree with. Beneath the Arches
 

Books for travelling.

All my travels are accompanied by books. Here are my top 5 fiction books relating to countries I have visited (in alphabetical order).

Afghanistan - The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini

Burma - The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh

Egypt - The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif

India - A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

Sri Lanka - Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne

Sad Old Man - a short story.

My story Sad Old Man, which won 2nd prize in January's Writing Magazine competition began life as a 500 word monologue that I wrote as an exercise in an Open University Creative Writing course some time ago.

I've often recycled odd snippets worked on in a class exercise or as a warm up when I get writer's block, into something new. I might just use a character, a line of dialogue, or a setting and the original idea might change beyond recognition but keeping all those bits and pieces is invaluable.

Sometimes I look back at old work and cast a critical eye and see plenty of faults, but just occasionally I surprise myself by finding something that was fresh which stimulates a new story.

My story was published online here. It is also published in Greenacre Writers Anthology Vol 3.

Mslexia, Kiva and me.

I had some good news today. My second Kiva loan has been repaid so I was able to re-loan it to someone else.

In issue no 50 of Mslexia, there was a small article on p.24 about Kiva, a US based charity which administers micro-loans. People can lend as little as $25 to those in the developing world who are struggling to get a business off the ground, or expand it, but are unable to access conventional bank loans. This is not so much aid as enabling trade. I logged on to www.kiva.org/ to discover more and made my first loan to a group of women in Senegal.

Each borrower - an individual or a group - requests an amount which is made up from any number of lenders - for example, a $1,000 loan might be from 40 lenders each lending $25, or just a few each lending larger amounts. The loans are managed by carefully selected ‘field partners’ in the relevant countries.

A few weeks after I made my first loan I learned that a piece I had submitted to the ‘Monologues’ section in Mslexia had been chosen by Val McDermid (clearly a lady of great taste and discernment) for publication in issue 51. I received a welcome cheque which I used to make a second Kiva loan to a group of women in Mali, a country I visited 5 years ago in my quest to see Timbuktu.

The e-mails from Kiva telling me the loans had been re-paid, the second just this morning, brought me great joy in the knowledge that I had helped to make a difference. I was able to recycle that loan immediately. Priscilla and Susan who are both aiming to expand their farms in Kenya are my current loan recipients.

World Book Night 2012 - April 23rd

I'm so pleased to be chosen as a giver of books again this year. This time my book is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. My own copy is a bit battered having been read and leant out a couple of times.

The story of 9 year old Leisel, whose parents have been taken to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, is narrated by Death. Death will visit the book thief three times, but who is the book thief?

Last year's World Book Night launch in Trafalgar Square on March 5th was a fantastic experience, meeting fellow book enthusiasts and listening to actors and great authors reading extracts of their books and those of other writers aloud. It was bitterly cold, but was such a wonderful atmosphere, we didn't mind too much. This year it should be a bit warmer!

Creative Cafe Project

The Creative Cafe Project selects new writing. All pieces of work are classified as a drink. My flash fiction is Espresso and the title is Leaving. It is now published in  Best of Cafe Lit 2012