A Writer's Voice

 

Our poster today is one I've liked for a long time. The soft pastels the artist used are pleasing to the eye, and the quote makes me nod my head and smile. "Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures."

I think it is much the same with another group of artists--writers. We also dip our metaphorical brush into our soul, and the words that emerge are from deep within us. Those words we write become our 'voice.' 

Every beginning writer is perplexed when the term 'a writer's voice' is used. Huh? What do they mean? 

The writer's voice is your style of writing, your way with words. It is unique to you. It should not be exactly like any other writer's voice. They have their own, and you have one all your own. A reader cannot see your hand gestures or facial expressions. All he has to know you by is your writing voice.

At least, you should have your own voice. A common mistake that new writers make is to write 'just like.____" writes. Big, bad mistake. You don't want to be a derivative of someone who is a roaring success, even though you may greatly admire them. What you should strive for is to be yourself. Be yourself from the first step on through your writing journey. 

Are you crazy about the way John Grisham writes? Do you want to emulate the writing style of Barbara Taylor Bradford? Go ahead and be crazy about Grisham's style. Like Bradford's way of writing a novel, but do not copy them. They have established their own voice, and they want to keep it. 

It's up to you to come up with a voice that is all your own. Will it happen right away? Probably not. You will need to dip into writing over and over before your own voice becomes visible. You'll need to stop writing exactly as the reference book tells you. It's quite simple. Write like yourself and keep your style in all that you write.

Can you come up with your own voice by reading articles about the subject? It certainly can't hurt, and it might help. Use your favorite search engine and the keywords 'voice in writing' and read as few or as many articles as you like. 

Most writers end up developing their own writing voice merely by writing and writing and writing. The more pieces you write, the more of 'you' is going to come through. You'll be 'painting your own nature into your word pictures."