In seeking to build an audience and make a corner of the literary world decidedly your own, your voice is one of the differentiators that sets you apart from the crowd. Your voice, consciously or unconsciously, informs writing decisions related to punctuation, tone, sentence structure and word choice. As defined by Britanny Levy, “The writer’s voice carries their experiences and personality.”
What is a Writer’s Voice?
Writer’s voice refers to the unique style and tone that a writer uses in their work. It’s what makes their writing distinct and recognizable. A writer’s voice is influenced their personality, life experiences, and writing influences and is a reflection of who they are as a writer and a person.
Why is it Important to Find your Writing Voice?
The first reason many people will tell you is finding your voice or at least refining your voice as a writer is what helps set you apart from the crowd. This helps readers remember your work more clearly, which in turn helps build an audience, and an audience is a useful thing to have.
However, ultimately, finding your voice should never be done for or about anyone but yourself. If you do not know who you are and why you write, your voice will never be anything but a hollow reflection of the people you think you are writing for.
Finding your voice for you can also help you stay motivated and inspired. When you have a clear sense of your voice, you have a better understanding of what you want to say and how you want to say it. This can make it easier to stay focused and motivated as you write.
How can you Find your Writing Voice?
When I started reading up a couple years ago on how to find my writing voice, it felt like such a daunting process. No one can tell you how to find your voice; it is a journey that relies on you at least setting off down the road and seeing where it takes you. Ultimately, it takes practice and a lot of writing to find perhaps just a vague idea of what your voice sounds like on the page, but here are some tips to help you get started.
1. How to Find your Writing Voice: Read Widely
I include this suggestion hesitantly as I do not necessarily believe that reading is of much help when it comes to writing. I find that, if I write after having immediately read a book or short story, I unconsciously begin to mimic the style and tone of the work I have just read and this serves only to bury my voice under the cry of someone else’s writing.
Instead, I suggest that reading is a useful tool by which to learn and study story structure, observe sentence style and word choice, and broaden your horizons as to the possibilities and purposes stories can create and serve. It can also be a useful way by which to discover what genres you are interested in, but it is not one of the best ways by which to find your writing voice as only by writing can you find your voice.
2. Write Regularly
It is by writing; by churning out hundred upon hundreds of words and filling so many pages that finally the mark of your voice upon the page becomes both inevitable and distinct that you find your writing voice.
Set aside a time each day to write or at least try and commit to fifteen minutes whenever you can. Do not sit down to write a perfect piece. Sit down with an idea or an image in mind and see where it takes you. Write freely. Write.
3. Experiment with Different Styles
Reading is a useful way to find styles and techniques that may interest you, as well as discover genres that engage you. Do not be afraid to try out different styles and techniques as you write. Even if you start out by mimicking someone else’s tone and style at first, you will find that if you keep writing and push past that comforting need to copy i.e. start out on semi-familiar ground, you will soon find your feet and make the writing your own.
This type of experimenting helps you find your strengths as a writer and diversifies your ability to write simply anything.
4. How to Find your Writing Voice: Be Authentic
Your voice on the page reflects who you are as a person and is made real by your experiences and perspectives. Do not compromise or favor another writing style/tone because you envy it or believe it sounds better. By defaulting to someone else’s writing voice, you mask your own.
In your writing then, be authentic and be honest, especially if you are writing about something that is inspired by a personal experience.
5. Get Feedback
Share your work with others and ask for feedback. This can help you identify areas of improvement or begin to notice where your voice takes a backseat on the page.
Starting a blog is another wonderful way to share your work and offer people the chance to comment on your work of their own free will. It is also a lovely way to get varied and diverse opinions on your writing.
How Finding your Writing Voice Cultivates your Creativity
Finding your voice as a writer is an important part of the creative process and one that does not have to be daunting. In fact, it truly is a call to write, experiment, and have fun. It takes time and practice, but it is worth the effort. When you have a strong voice, your writing is more authentic, engaging, and memorable. So, keep writing, keep experimenting, and do not be afraid to let your voice shine through.
Finally, remember that your writing voice is bound to change as you change and it is a beautiful thing to keep writing, to keep creating, to keep connecting with your creativity, and feeling how you are evolving, how your stories are evolving, and how your voice is changing to become stronger, more polished, and more reflective of you.
Have you ever struggled with your writing voice? Did you ever go looking for your writing voice or did it come more naturally to you? Tell me below!