When I was younger – much, much younger – I had this thought that my inner voice would age and mature over time, in the same way that I would age. I even foolishly thought my inner voice would begin to sound like Jeremy Irons or Sam Elliot, and maybe, just maybe James Earl Jones! (You gotta admit, any of those voices would be cool inner male voices!)
But alas, that didn’t happen. One day I realized that my speaking voice and my actual voice intonation don’t, and won’t ever match, either! That was a real bummer. In my mind, my inner voice in my head has a nice timbre to it. My speaking voice, on the other hand, is rather annoying 🙁 Or at least I think so!
I have noticed throughout my time on the planet that there are, in fact, many voices in my head! (Don’t lock me up yet!) Different voices appear at different times in my life. As an example, when I am fearful of something the voice in my head is probably very young, as opposed to the much louder and more positive voice I hear when I am trying to talk myself into doing something.
As a writer, while I am writing and the characters slowly begin to develop, they take on a voice in my head. Master Akio and Graham, from my “A Warriors Heart Trilogy“, have distinct voices in my head. They have been with me for three books now, so I am very familiar with those two characters. They have have been making little whisperings in my head recently because they want me to write book four, even though I thought I was writing a trilogy. They have other things in mind for me!
One of my latest in-progress works, “Alchemy of the Heart, features a character, Shavon Sun Cloud, who has a distinctive Irish lilt in her speech. I hear Shavon in my head as I write her dialogue.
Even when I am writing non-fiction, the tone of the voice in my head changes.
I invite you to pay attention to these little voices – yes, you have them too! – and to the differences and nuances of them. Each voice is trying to share or teach you a lesson.
When you take the time to listen to the voices in your head, there can be some huge lessons in life to be learnt!
(The lesson might even be to discern where that voice is coming from. It could be that the voice you are listening to is simply a voice mimicking what someone else has shared with you, and not necessarily good advice to follow!)
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