Voice Lessons: Uncovering and Claiming Your Unique, Creative Voice
You're a writer, artist, singer, choreographer. Think Lady Gaga, Judy Garland, Prince. Hemingway, JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien. Picasso, Van Gogh. You're tired of trying to uncover your voice by imitating other artists. If you've peeled back the layers of your voice and think you finally recognize it as yours, do you have the courage to claim it? These are the questions we aim to answer during my biweekly podcast, Voice Lessons: Covering and Claiming Your Unique, Creative Voice.
Voice Lessons: Uncovering and Claiming Your Unique, Creative Voice
Marcia Menter’s Journey From Music to Magazines, and Finally, to Memoir
This week, I had the pleasure of talking with Marcia Menter, a seasoned writer and editor who has held senior positions at renowned magazines such as Glamour, Self, and Redbook. Marcia opened up about her multifaceted career and her book, “That Voice: In Search of Anne Drummond-Grant, The Singer Who Shaped My Life”. We explore Marcia's early fascination with the dramatic soprano Anne Drummond-Grant, which led her to pursue a degree in singing, a journey filled with challenges and life lessons.
Marcia revealed how this long-standing obsession eventually culminated in Anne’s deeply personal and compelling biography intertwined with her own life story. We discuss the impact of art and music on her personal growth and how Marcia's initial “failure” in singing led her to discover her true voice through writing.
I hope you’ll find Marcia's frustrations, perseverance, and self-realization incredibly relatable and as inspiring as I did. And as always, tune in to learn our guest’s tips for uncovering and claiming your unique creative voice, as well as her insights on the importance of vulnerability and honesty in writing.
Key Topics:
- Marcia’s inspiration to write her memoir
- What drew Marcia to Anne Drummond-Grant and how it inspired her life’s journey
- Weaving together biography, memoir, and a coming-of-age story about “failure”
- Learning a lot through failing
- Revision is an important part of the creative process
- Finding relatability in Marcia’s book
- How Marcia recognized she had found her true creative voice
- What corporate writing taught Marcia about structure and form as a liberating thing
- Differentiating between a corporate voice and her true creative voice
- Why Marcia believes writing can’t be good unless you’re completely honest
- Vulnerability is relatable and connects you to your audience
- The limitations Marcia encountered in refining her singing and writing voice
- Finding influences who really speak to you and imitating them when you’re just starting on your creative journey
- The importance of finding people you really trust to help you refine your voice
- What trying to be a performer taught Marcia about herself
Connect with Marcia online:
Website: www.marciamenter.com
Instagram: @marciamenter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcia.menter/
Buy Marcia’s book: https://www.amazon.com/That-Voice-Search-Drummond-Grant-Singer/dp/1647426626
Find more from Jill:
Email: jill@thewritersrefuge.com
Website: https://www.thewritersrefuge.com/
Writing Coaching Programs: https://www.thewritersrefuge.com/coaching
Sign up for my free 3x weekly writing session: write to jill@thewritersrefuge.com for ZOOM info
Special thanks to LVDY for allowing us to use their song, Saltwater, in the intro and outro of the podcast!
