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THE CRAFT OF WRITING
How Writers Use Voice and POV for Protection
The delicate balance between cloak and dagger
We writers tightly grasp cloak and dagger to shield ourselves from our critics and from our own truths. Even the most forthright author speaks in a voice that differs from the person behind the writing.
Our narratives are the cloaks we use to conceal our private feelings and deep beliefs about politics, religion, and social norms. These treasured feelings and thoughts leave us vulnerable to character assassination by well-meaning readers as well as nasty social media trolls. Conversely, it is the mighty pen — or these days, rapid-fire keystrokes –that we wield like daggers to discover and reveal portions of our pain, confusion, and unpleasant truths, aka, “our dirty little secrets.”
And it is the delicate dance between cloak and dagger that allows us to forge forward with the difficult work of writing from the heart while remaining safe. What readers discover in our final manuscript is our victory march.
By revealing that we writers all have literary tricks up our sleeves, I’ve thrown open my cloak and lifted my dagger so that we may explore our verbal veils and the raw honesty that lies beneath.
