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The Creative · № 17

Built Your Voice

Developed a distinctive style or voice in your medium that a stranger could identify across multiple works as yours.

The idea

Voice is noticed, not chosen. Put three of your kid's pieces in front of a stranger and ask: what do these have in common. Whatever the stranger names, that's the voice forming. It's almost never what the kid thinks it is. Voice is what shows up consistently when the kid wasn't trying. The harder they try to choose a voice, the less of one they have.

Steps
  1. Show three pieces to an outside reviewer. Don't name the artist.
  2. Ask what they have in common. Write the answer down.
  3. Lean into what they named. Do more of that on purpose.
  4. After ten more pieces, repeat with another stranger.
What counts

A stranger could identify your kid's work across multiple pieces by its voice. A short writeup of the recognizable traits is plenty.