Hemlock Jones by Lynda Waterhouse

Finding your voice is important whether you want to be a writer, a songwriter or you just want to feel confident sharing your thoughts and opinions. But it’s hard! It takes practice, involves making lots of mistakes or writing many drafts to create that fresh and spontaneous voice. But when you pull it off there’s no better feeling. It’s like you’re flying through the air.

There are three forms that I find really tricky to get the voice right; poetry, picture book texts and song writing.

The simplest forms are the hardest because the fewer words you have the easier it can be to fall into clichés, over rhyming or just trying to be too darn clever for your own good.

You also have to have an open heart and mind and be able to examine your own feelings. Then you have to mould those feelings into something that everyone can relate and share.

Last week I went to a gig in Yorkshire and listened to Hemlock Jones perform a mixture of covers and her own songs. She writes beautiful, witty and wise songs.

She made me smile and she made me cry. She is finding her voice.

https://hemlockjones.bandcamp.com/track/devil-in-my-heart-demo

I hope you find yours. Happy Holidays!