Have You Found Your Writer's Voice?

 

(A former post that still has good information for the writer)

When I was a newbie writer, I asked a writer friend to look at a couple children's stories I had written to see if she could give me some tips or point out major errors. After she'd read the stories, we got together one afternoon, and over a cup of tea, the first thing she said about my writing was, "You have found your voice." 

I looked at her and wasn't sure what to say. Voice? What the heck was that? Being so new to this world, I hesitated to ask her for an explanation. She went on to point out things in the stories. I did learn more later on about what a writer's voice is. 

The important thing is to find your own voice. You don't want to mimic another writer's voice. 

A simple explanation of voice is that your voice as a writer is your style. It's the way you put words together in sentences, or in paragraphs. Elements of voice are word selection, writing structure, and pace. Every person is unique, as is every writer. The way I put words together should not be the same as you. 

Other parts of your voice are the way you allow emotions and feelings to come through. Also, your tone and rhythm, perhaps even patterns in the way you arrange words. 

Our writing voice lets our personality come through to the reader. 

Think about a handful of authors whose books you enjoy. Don't they each have a different writing style? Some are slow paced, while others race through the story, and you're right there with them. Some put long descriptions in their stories while others make do with a few adjectives here and there to give you a sense of place or let you 'see' the scene better. If you have a list of favorite authors, give some thought as to why their work appeals to you. What is it about their style of writing that makes you want more? The story itself is of prime importance, but so is the writer's voice. 

I've mentioned an author by the name of Charles Todd before. He (actually a mother/son writing team) has a series about a young detective at Scotland Yard, set in the early years after WWI in England. The stories move at a slow pace, but new bits and pieces keep me reading. The writer's voice comes through clearly, and stays consistent in each ensuing novel. I find that most interesting since the author is two people writing as one. 

Don't try to be John Grisham or Nora Roberts. Find your own voice. Write as only you can write. Be yourself. If you want to read about your writing voice in more detail, use a search engine and read several articles. 

Set Your Writer's Voice Free

 

I've often posted a freewrite exercise here. For those who aren't quite sure what that is:  We use a prompt, usually a single word or a phrase. The writer is to start writing, no thoughts ahead of time. Write continuously for a minimum of 10 minutes without stopping. It doesn't matter what you write. Let it come from the recesses of your mind to your fingertips. Set a timer to help you know when to stop.

One of the big benefits of this type of exercise is that you may pull deep thoughts from your subconscious, ones you keep buried under normal circumstances. You also free your emotions and can bring forth some strong writing. When working on a story or essay, many writers tend to keep their emotions in check, refusing to let the reader see the real writer. It's then that someone critiquing your work will tell you to 'dig deeper.' They are trying to tell you that you've only skimmed the surface of your subject. It's more common than you think.

It's when we release those deeper thoughts and emotions that our writing becomes stronger and worth being published. As the poster for today says, it sets your writer's voice free. Suddenly, the real you appears. The more often you do a freewrite exercise, the easier it will be to let your writer's voice shine through. We establish a habit.

What if the majority of what you write in that ten or fifteen minutes seems like gibberish, worth nothing? It can happen, but you can also end up with the bones of a story or personal essay. You might find that you've written some excellent phrases. Those phrases might end up in a poem sometime.

Remember to write continuously without stopping. That is key for this exercise. Keep your thoughts moving as though they are on a wheel that keeps spinning. 

Prompts for a Freewrite Exercise

 A. Words

blue

lemons

regret

shock

flowers

bulldozer

Phrases for a Freewrite Exercise

a sip of tea

running through  a rainstorm

the grace of a woman

the strength of a man

a soothing lullaby

a bloody battle withiin

Develop Your Own Voice When Writing

 

The tv was on as I was clearing the breakfast dishes and filling the dishwasher this morning. Even with my back to the tv, I could tell who was speaking, the moderators of the news show as well as their oft-appearing guests. Every one of us has a distinctive voice. Just as our facial features are all different, so are our voices. 

I've written about our writer's voice many times. For those who aren't sure what that is:  a writer's voice is his/her style of writing. It's their own unique way of putting words together so that the readers hear it. 

It takes a while for a beginning writer to develop a true voice. It's then that new writers are trying out different ways of writing or trying to write like someone they admire. Your writing voice should not be like that of any other person. It's should be yours alone. Think of it as your trademark. 

Consider a handful of your favorite authors. When you read multiple books by an author, you know what his/her voice is like. You recognize the style of writing. The way he/she puts the words together. 

Think about your writing voice as coming from your personality traits. We all have different personal characteristics, and they will emerge as you write, too. 

If a writer always uses short, choppy sentences, he/she gets known for that. The same with those whose sentences are what feels like miles long. It's their way of writing. 

The freewrite exercise is a good one to allow your inner voice to be set free. When you freewrite, writing for ten or more minutes without stopping, letting your fingers fly over the keyboard without giving thought to what you're writing--that's a wonderful way to let your true voice come out. 

Don't try to be someone else when you write. No matter how much you admire that other writer, you're far better to develop your own way of writing. Let your writers know that it's you who is writing and no one else. 

Your Writer's Voice

The other day I was working in the kitchen with the tv on. I heard different voices on the program, and no two were alike. Without turning and looking at the tv, I could determine who was speaking.

I noted the same thing the next day as I read a book while my husband was watching tv. My eyes and mind were on the book, but my ears still heard the people speaking on the tv, and without looking up, I knew who they were from hearing their voice.

Each of us was given a distinctive voice just like other physical traits. Writers also have a writing voice. You've heard reviewers mention the voice in a particular story or essay or book. What exactly is meant by that?

Your writer's voice is the way you write, the style you use that is unique to you. If a reader likes an author and reads numerous books by that writer, they instantly recognize the voice the novelist uses. You may have heard a reader say something like I like the way he writes. They mean they like his voice.

What things make up our voice? Our writing voice is filled with sensory details and emotions. When we speak face to face with a person, we use hand gestures, intonation, and body language. You can't make eye contact or use your hands when you write as you can when you speak. All you have is words to get the message across.

Some writers use certain words or phrases many times. That's part of their unique voice. It's what pleases us as we read. If the writer comes across as a speaker who speaks in a monotone, he has not found his voice yet. If he has no appeal to emotion, the same thing. If he uses generic words that have little meaning, same deal.

There are many books and articles on finding your writing voice. It would be beneficial for you to use a search engine to find them, then read a few and ask yourself if you have found your writer's voice? It doesn't always happen as soon as you start writing.

Long ago, when I was a newbie writer, an experienced writer agreed to read a few of my children's stories. As we were discussing them, she said, "You have already found your voice, and that's not always the case with new writer." To be honest, I had no idea what she was talking about and was too embarrassed to ask for an explanation. Later, on my own, I looked it up and was pleased with what I realized had been a compliment. 

What About This Voice Thing?

Ah yes, the writer's voice. I remember the first time I heard that term. I'd only been writing for a couple of years and had recently found a writing critique partner. She had been writing far longer and had been published. I was in awe of her as I had yet to have anything accepted for publication. Even so, after she read a couple of things I'd written, she agreed to working together.

One afternoon, we sat at my kitchen table while she went over the critique she'd done on a children's story I'd written. I don't remember which story it was. I don't remember the month or the day. I don't remember whether she liked the story or not. But I do remember her comment as she finished. She said, "You have found your voice. That's something some writers don't do for a very long time." 

I wasn't quite sure what she referred to. What was my voice? And I didn't want to show my ignorance by asking her to explain it to me. This occurred before we had google to help us so handily. I thought about her comment for a long time and I watched for the term whenever I read a book about writing. Eventually, I came to understand that my voice in my writing was me! It was the way I spoke, the way I phrased things when I wrote, the way I wrote dialogue and more. My writer's voice is unique to me and me alone. 

Too often, beginning writers try to copy the way famous writers write. If you want to write like Stephen King, you're going to attempt to use many of his techniques, to write in his voice. Big mistake! Copying other writers is not going to bring you fame and fortune. No one is going to know you for who you are. Develop your own voice in writing and as time goes on, readers will begin to recognize it. 

I knew a writer once who could tell a whale of a tale. Excellent storyteller but she used similes on every page until the reader wanted to yell "Stop!" Even so, that was her style of writing and she never did change her voice. She self-published a few books and then I lost track of her. I often wondered if her stories would have been published by a major printer. Sometimes, the voice we use is not always best for our success in the field.

I do think that it is better to have a voice with a problem such as the woman I just mentioned than to have no voice at all or to copy another writer's voice. Susanna Kearsley nailed it in her quote when she said "...You want to sound like you." 

You can google 'writer's voice' and come up with article upon article that will go into more detail than I have here. If you're a bit unsure about the meaning and what to do to develop your own voice, do some reading. Then, let yourself be yourself the next time you write a story, poem or essay. 

Use Your Own Voice

Have you found your writer's voice? A question asked in many articles on the craft of writing or by teachers of creative writing. Or perhaps by other writers. Beginning writers are sometimes perplexed by what a writer's voice actually is.

In simple terms, it's a style of writing that is unique to you alone. It may not emerge with your first effort at writing a short story or essay, but as you write more and more, your writer's voice begins to take form.

When I was a newbie writer, I had the good fortune to meet a children's picture book author who agreed to critique my work. We lived only minutes from one another and spent an afternoon now and then at a kitchen table, hers or mine, going through stories we'd written. She was a published author at the time, and I was not, so I felt especially blessed that she'd agreed to this arrangement.

One afternoon, after she'd gone through a new story I'd shown her, she turned to me and said, "You are so lucky. You've found your voice. It takes some writers a very long time to accomplish that."

I can't tell you how I was able to do that early on, but I can tell you one way to delay finding your own voice. That's to copy the style of writers you admire. We all have authors we especially like to read. We admire their  work because the stories they write appeal to us. So why not write just like Danielle Steele or Nora Roberts or David Baldacci? The answer is that you are not any of those people. You're you! And your writing needs to have your voice, not anyone else's.

At one point in your writing life, your voice will show itself loud and clear. When talking about personality, psychologists and counselors frequently advise people to "Be yourself" rather than trying to be something you're not. If you admire a horror fiction writer, fine, but don't try to use his dark voice in your teen romance. Make it all yours.