“Voice presents the facts of the event, then steps back and steps up, and comments on the events. The voice is not linear. It can time travel.” – Tom Spanbauer. Tom continues that writing encourages us to describe the scene. Comment on the scene. Be in the scene. Step away. Go vertical. It’s so liberating.

I decided to try redemptive voice:

I knew the loss of my grandmother would have resounding affects on my family. What I didn’t know then what that it would bring us all back together again.

I knew it would be hard to watch my mom see my grandmother in her assisted living home. What I didn’t know was that my grandmother would say those three little words my mom always longed to hear growing up.

Working on redemptive voice reminded me of the importance of creating a scene that draws the reader in but also allows them to question just how much I’ll be sharing/ and makes the reader think critically about what I am saying. Although I am writing creative nonfiction I want my reader to be just as curious and engaged in my detailed writing as they would be in a fiction piece. It’s important to know that a reader can be just as enticed in nonfiction as in fiction writing. Redemptive voice is important in setting up a scene for a story that brings about a very important aspect of writing for yourself but also for others. 

Redemptive is defined as “acting to save someone from error or evil.” This is interesting. So to use redemptive voice in your writing you are using it to essentially save your own reader from committing error or evil in your own story but giving them enough sustenance to keep on reading. Or, are we saving our character from error or evil by writing to change their actions. Redemptive voice has a personality and it speaks from within the story. It literally speaks to the reader from inside the story. We cannot forget to give the reader a look on the inside so as to draw the reader into the story line. My writing has a very important job and that is to make the reader want to know more about a person that they do not know personally. I want the reader to become just as curious about my grandmother’s life and her mysterious past just as I was in knowing her. With doing this I cannot forget to make this writing also for my family members, it is important to keep in the family for generations to come. Most importantly I have a duty to myself to create who she was on paper, as best I can. Redemptive voice is another tool to do so.