Every writer has voices inside his or head, angels counseling us what to write, what details to include, what generalities to omit. Most of us don’t actually hear these voices…but we aware of them as we grapple with character and plot development, and try to finish writing our books.

In the Book Writing World, Elizabeth has named these voices The Storyteller, The Brain and The Athlete.

With apologies to L. Frank Baum, I’ll call them the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man tells a sad story of lost love and rusts, while the Scarecrow uses his brain to save himself and his friends, and the Cowardly Lion discovers his stamina.

Not too long ago during a mentoring class, Elizabeth had us “put a face” to our governing committee. Mine are:

1. Writer Anne Lamott’s dad repeating “bird by bird” in a great story she tells in her writing advice book of the same name;

2. Comedienne Margaret Cho being sarcastic and telling jokes about lying to people at the bus stop and convincing them she didn’t speak English; and

3. Me, as a defiant 15 year old plotting to run away and make my mark upon the Earth by spraying graffiti art on the Great Wall of China.

Who are the members of your governing committee?