Find Your Writing Voice
My daughter Chelsea loves to sing. She’s been singing even before she could speak in complete sentences – she’s a teenager now – I’m still not sure about her ability to speak in complete sentences sometimes. Anyway, about a month ago I downloaded and installed Audacity on my computer and she’s been playing around with it. She sings along to her favorite songs, recording herself and then playing it back. She has a beautiful voice. Except when she tries to make herself sound like someone else. Then her voice sounds strained and stressed. It’s actually painful to listen to for any length of time. But, when she sings in her own voice, it’s beautiful … music to my ears to use a cliché. The same happens when you write.
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. That’s not true in music – unless you’re Michael Buble – and it’s not true in writing. You need to write in your own voice. Ask any editor what she is looking for in a new writer and, 9 times out of 10, she’ll answer “a fresh voice.”
What is your writing voice?
Basically, your writing voice is how your words “sound” on the page. It the way you write. It’s your tone: are you friendly, formal, chatty, or distant. It’s the words you use: are they simple, everyday words or scholarly, technical words? It’s the pattern of your sentences: are they short and choppy or long and drawn out or a combination of both? It’s the way you put these elements together.
So, how do you find your writing voice?
It was the great American sports journalist Red Smith that said to write, “you just open a vein and write.” Don’t fear, finding your voice doesn’t have to be difficult or even painful. Here are 5 steps you can take that will have you writing in your own authentic voice in no time.
- Write as much as possible. The more you write, the better you’ll write.
- Keep a journal. Journaling is an excellent way to develop and strengthen your own voice.
- Turn off the computer when writing and write with pen and paper. As author and teacher, Heather Sellers points out, “Writing by hand is the difference between store bought cookies and from scratch. Everyone can tell.” Give it a try.
- Quiet your internal critic. This is easier then you may think. Simply write fast. Writing as fast as your hand can move quiets your inner critic and your own writing voice will emerge.
- Try writing in different forms and genres. If you write romances, try westerns. If you normally write mysteries, give science fiction a try. Experiment here
Follow these exercises and before long you will find your own voice and dramatically improve your chances of getting noticed by publishers.
Until next time …
No day without a line.
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