Thanks, Traci.

Thank you. A note from my experience... The voice is sometimes buried or muted if we leave our practice for an extended period of time and once the work is resumed, I am fiinding it again and I find that it is true. It may evolve again ... I don't know!

Hey There, It's Borhan here! I'm a huge fan of your "Traci Skuce" KZbin channel. Your content is always top-notch, and I can see the passion and effort you pour into each video. I believe you have incredible potential to reach an even wider audience with a solid KZbin strategy. I would love to schedule a short meeting with you to discuss how I can help you grow your channel faster. This is not a sales call, but an opportunity to share ideas and offer assistance. Let me know if you're interested, and we can find a convenient time to chat. Thanks for your time and for creating such amazing content.

Thank you,

Pema has been a major influence for me, too! So glad you’re sharing this!

That's exactly what I've been trying to do...write it the way I like it. Don't worry about what's popular or considered on the best writers list. Write MY story, use my voice and if it doesn't sell, that's okay. Write it for my vision. Thanks for confirming that.

Thank you so much, I need these words.

Thank you, Traci for lifting the guilt from my shoulders. Some days it takes me an hour (or more) to write a paragraph - a paragraph, that is, that's satisfactory, that delves into emotion, engages the senses and creates a deep scene. I feel liberated.

Birds appear in my novel, in actuality and as a motif! I'm off to play! :)

"Stepping Stone Intentions" I intend to write stepping stone intentions to help me [main intention] finish this draft of my novel.

Nicely said

I do think these things.

Awesome

Intresting, I'm not an writer but it's interesting!

Traci - Wow, just wow. Attacking my self doubt with this new approach starting right now. I said out loud as I listened "this is radical" and it is. I am so willing to try.

Love this suggestion Traci.

Many thanks, Traci - excellent.

Like your video

'promo sm'

Thank you for this. When I first started sharing the story I’m writing with others, one of the first questions someone asked was always, “Who’s telling the story?” I thought I knew, then I learned I didn’t have a clue about how to present the POV. 😂 I’m still working on my first draft, and I’m still trying to get it right.😊

I loved this story Traci - the language is beautiful and the scene so evocative. Wonderful writing.

Good

so cool, thanks a lot!

Best explanation ever of how your writing voice develops! Thanks, Traci!

Traci is an AMAZING writing teacher! Currently taking one of her courses...Before her course, I wrote narratives that were stiff and boring. Now writing is more effortless and my prose emotionally involves a reader. I still have a long way to go....

I love this! Thank you !!

Thankyou. I really wan't to continue mine, I am about halfway through and have not wrote since a year ago but I have it all in my head because it is all true.

Very interesting, Traci. This one will stick with me.

Yesterday, he woke up knowing he was going to have a long day of work teaching. Tuesdays sucked because they were the days that sucked the life out of him. Intermittent fasting be damned. He had a croissant and a hot latte on the train to work while dreading the day of work ahead. The morning went unexpectedly well with the creation and mounting of eighteen gingerbread men on the wall outside his classroom. Lunch was delicious. The other teachers made him laugh with their banter. Perhaps the day wasn't going to go to hell in a handbasket as usual. The extra classes he taught on Tuesday evening went well, too. He napped on the train home while listening to overly dramatic double speed text stories on KZbin. They lulled him into a storyteller's sense of security with the voices babbling intimate nonsense in his ear. As he exited the train he thanked the crisp winter night air for a day that had gone better than expected. After dinner and a shower, he was more than ready for bed. He curled up under the duvet and dreamed about taking a bath in hot blue water, the same shade of blue his daughter's fish swam around in when they injured a scale or a fin. He wasn't hurt, but accepted the medicinal comfort of a long deep sleep.

Would love examples of character relating to “greater consciousness” and great point about simile and metaphor being within the voice and range of the character. Thanks.

Nice!! I am here in Kensington now, JHB...mmm

“You have to be [both] disciplined and flexible, that’s the first thing about writing.” ❤ I have to watch this again, mine it for more goodies. Send a word to a friend!

I seriously doubt I will ever be as fluidly funny as Roddy Doyle. Lord knows I’d love to be able to give life to my younger self the way he does Henry Smart in his, A Star Called Henry (historical fiction about the Easter Uprising and the unimaginable poverty of 20th century Dublin slums). That’s OK. I’ll find my own way and still love him.

'an ancient nothingness' - I love that phrase and concept

Good advice Traci, I've never heard of this approach. There are so many writers that have influenced me, I never thought of researching who has influenced them. Thank you!

Very nice 👍...are you in South Africa btw?

I too am feeling like a lonely mama with Emmett about to move to UBC. I have so many stories in my head but not enough time. But then when I find some free time I usually spend it reading or in nature watching the moon rise or other such wonders. Thanks for being committed to encouraging us to write Traci!

I'm not in that "in-between" place, but I really appreciate this lesson that I'll keep in my "back pocket", for when I am. Beautiful lesson Traci, I love how you took your time explaining it.

I always write by hand and it's feel like I'm free whatever I want, but when I write it again in my computer it's turn me into an éditer if that's make sense 😅.. but in the end I always love writing by hand

Agree with the suggestion to dig deeper in a section that stands out when handwritten. I took piano lessons and if a section of the piece was awkward or difficult the teacher had me just focus on that one part and play it over and over. This helped me with working through sections of my writing.

Raw and burnt. Let's make a cooking show called Raw and Burnt

Nice! But that leaves me questioning. Do you mean we need to hint at what's gonna happen, as in "foreshadowing"? I usually write from the protaginist's POV and what's s/he's thinking and experiencing at that particular time. How does knowing what's going to happen to them in a few months or a few years going to affect the narration?

Hi you love U

Hi you love U

oh yeah I do the same thing. Yes, people should definitely think about nothing that is related to whatever it is that you're creating. It just comes to you. I take a 45 mins walk on the roof of my apartment and just keep looking at the night sky with 3-4 stars or kids playing and then I talk to myself, about things - future, work, what I wanna do at the present, etc.

Love the timing of this post, as just today I was thinking of your comment (in an interview, I believe) about writers needing time to just stare out the window. And then I read from my list of writer's quotes (I'm sure you know it): "It takes a lot of time to be a genius. You have to sit around so much, doing nothing, really doing nothing." But most importantly, you're absolutely right that writing comes out of nothingness. Thanks for your message, and for sharing about the nourishing retreat you've just enjoyed! Sounds lovely! Gertrude Stein

Great reminder Traci. The art of "nothing," so important, easy to forget. Valuable Lesson, Thank you