The Author’s Voice

June 12, 1987:

          Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.       

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate!

Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

I don’t know your political leanings, nor do I care.

I defy your arguments, though, should you think that Ronald Reagan was no less than one of the five most dynamic voices of the 20th century.

The excerpt above will be chronicled for generations as one of the defining moments of an age – a speech delivered to West Berliners that could easily be heard by those on the other side of the literal and metaphorical wall.

Reagan’s voice ran hot and true, but did he write those words?

Nope.  Peter Robinson did – all 2,807 of them.

According to neuroscientists words have no meaning until our brain translates them into sound – even when those words are only read silently in the mind.

As a writer, you have the terrific privilege of channeling voices – and while you may not yet shape public policy and world opinion you most certainly can have a profound impact on your place in the world.

Can you voice the true values of your client, and furthermore, can you write the way your voice talent speaks?  Do you know, in advance, who’ll be delivering your client’s voice?  Can you plant their rhythms and drawls and cadences in your head before you write word one?

Can you bring down walls with your voice – even if the only sounds present are the furious clicks of a keyboard?

We’ll speak of this more tomorrow … in the interest of equal time, we’ll turn our ears toward a much more liberal voice.