Wild Women, Wild Voices: Writing from Your Authentic Wildness
Judy Reeves
New World Library, 2015
Review by Rebecca Bailey.
What is a wild woman? What is her wild voice?
Judy Reeves is a writer and a writing teacher who has recognized “twin urges” in women: to reclaim the true (or authentic) nature that is usually kept below the surface of everyday life and to give it voice. In Wild Women, Wild Voices: Writing from Your Authentic Wildness, Reeves presents in book form her most popular writing workshop. The book is a thoughtful and inspiring read full of beautiful tools to help women “write to celebrate, heal, and free the wild woman within.”
“By nature we are creative,” Reeves affirms. “Creativity flows through us like blood in our veins. In our natural state we are writers, dancers, singers, poets, and makers of art, even though in our daily lives we may not practice our art or even acknowledge this part of ourselves . . . . Try as culture, politics, religion, or families might to eradicate it, this knowledge of our innermost Self—intuitive and rich and wild—is always with us,” even if we stutter when we attempt to express ourselves.
In her workshops, she brainstorms with participants to tie into words what nearly all women feel when we pair the words women and wild: the color red, earthy smells, nature-connected, creative, fierce, brave, wise, undomesticated.
The wild voice, as Reeves defines it, “is untamed and unbounded and holds the possibility of great beauty . . . Wild voice can be dangerous; it can be outrageous.” This book is not about editing and grammar or placing any restrictions on word-flow, but instead invites women writers to tell their stories and their truths from a place that is deep and true. It’s not about making nice.
The book’s chapters provide “explorations” (rather than writing exercises) of several arbitrary stages/cycles of a woman’s life, not only chronology (being a child, becoming a mother), but the geography of our lives, the illumination that can be provided when we are courageous enough to face our shadow-selves, our quests and life journeys, dreams and death. Offerings from professional writers and workshop participants are presented throughout; each and every one is worthy of contemplation.
I did many of the “explorations” as I read through the book; some I skipped, although there were things that felt like they would be fun to do. An example: write messages to yourself about your wild woman qualities with lipstick on your bathroom mirror! (I am not a woman who owns lipstick, or else I certainly would have done it.)
As a long time writer and writing teacher, I was more drawn to her writing prompts. My real name is . . . Yesterday my name was . . . Secretly I know my name is . . . My mother never told me . . . I never told my mother . . . Pick one, light a candle to acknowledge your move into the space of the wild, and write without stopping for five minutes. I paired the last two, and was surprised by what emerged.
I also found the writing selections evocative and inspiring. In thumbing through the book, a poem title jumped out at me, “If Death Were a Woman.” A lightning bolt struck something inside me, and I grabbed paper and pen. “If Death Were My Grandmother” poured out—rather than a skeletal spectre with a blade, I imagined Death coming to me as my beloved and much-missed Grandma Crisp, who would give me time to feed the cats before I joined her and my mother; in death we three would be the same age and be best friends for eternity. I can’t imagine ever again personifying Death as a clanky old mean man. That’s the kind of power the tools in this book can provide.
Appendices include suggestions for creating a Wild Woman Writing Group, chapter end notes, recommended reading, and an index (which always makes me happy). Definitely I’ll be using ideas from Wild Women, Wild Voices when I teach a writing workshop again. Highly recommended, especially for women who want to express themselves through writing but don’t know how to begin, or for those who find themselves bored by their own writing. When our writing begins to contain surprises, we know we’re writing in our wild voices. When it’s fun, when it’s exciting. Our stories, our truths, are all valuable. Judy Reeves provides a trusty roadmap for this introspective part of the journey.
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