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How human voices can inspire your writing

When I am outdoors, I like to listen to human voices. 

Each voice has a unique texture and sound quality, which cannot be compared to another. [Bonus READ: On Success, No Woman on the Moon]

I carry a notebook with me - with a navy blue cover -to write the dialogues that catch my fancy. When I first began jotting down these dialogues, I thought that this notebook will be sparsely populated. That didn't happen.

The notebook is now filled to the brim. We can learn so much from a set of dialogues - about a person's beliefs, region, education, culture, etc.

Svetlana Alexievich, the winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature, shares some beautiful insights about how human voices inspire her writing. 

I thought I'd share it here - for you.


What are the human voices, conversations or dialogues that have made a remarkable impact on you?

[DO READ: Shobha De says "Writing is like a heartbeat to me...I live to write! ]

Comments

Richa Singh said…
Recently I read brainpickings and a series of love letters of famous writers completely left me reeling in dreamy thoughts! <3 <3
Vishnu said…
I find voice really important for writing Swapna and trying to get better at identifying my own. I love the technique of writing down voices, conversations that you hear around you. Isn't it so refreshing when the writing is reflective of how we sound and how humans converse? Thanks for the tips and links.
@Richa: Thanks for reading and commenting on my blog, have always been fascinated by the love letters of famous writers. Will check out the series you mentioned.

@Vishnu: Ditto. Like you said, human voices make conversations more refreshing and my experience is that it always brings to our attention something original and informative.
seeya said…
As usual, you always share motivational posts on your blog.
Thanks again, Seeya. Looking forward to your feedback on more posts here.
thoughtful interesting post sharing

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