Voice and Vogue

*will my little astronaut one day want to read Teen Vogue? And if so, will I want to borrow it?

I’ve been thinking a lot about first draft endings and the nail-biting unknowns and pleasures of revisions. About thunderstorms, the sharp raps of a storm rolling in, the lightning seen from my balcony.

About voice.

{Thank all that is good for Abby Kerr because she knows voice. Lives voice. Breathes voice. Read her 4 Elements of Voice now. Love ‘ya Abby!}

Voice in fiction. About mom voice and writer voice. As in learning new voices and reading in Turkish. Every other page of Elif Şafak’s Siyah Süt (Black Milk) has me gulping back tears.

I have been thinking about my international subscription indulgence to Teen Vogue. In high school, I read Sassy and Raygun. And Wallpaper mag. I stayed clear of fashion mags because of a tendency to obsess over how I looked nothing like the models. Now, I eagerly wait each month for a dose of what I (may) have been missing. Yet, one article per issue on a teen topic? ONE? Does Teen Vogue really think teen girls don’t think about anything meaningful? Or is this a special request from readers to trim the content? Of course, I did highlight everything that had to do with the Hunger Games in the February issue. I probably am just missing the point. It is a mag devoted to fashion, after all.

Even still.

I was hoping to read it like meeting up for coffee with a good friend. Gossiping. Trading secrets. And shoes. Instead, I’ll be hunting through the pages looking for the best outfits for my characters.

So there you have it. Thunderstorms. Voice. Teen Vogue.

What’s brewing in your corner of the world?

Tagged as: Elif Safak, Teen Vogue, thunderstorms