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."

Writers Are Individuals

School-age children like to copy their peers in what they wear, the slang they use, actions and more. It makes them one of the crowd. Or so their young minds tell them. Even as adults, we often try to copy a celebrity or someone we admire. It might not be as often or as strong an urge to do this as when we were kids, but we still do it. Little boys and grown men are copying the hairstyle of winning Super Bowl Quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.

When it comes to writing, we shouldn't attempt to copy the same style of writing as an author we admire. Nothing wrong in liking the way someone else writes. We just shouldn't want to be a carbon copy. We need to be ourselves.

All the books on the craft of writing mention something called a writer's voice. It's your style of writing, the way you write, and it should be different from every other writer. It's the tone, the word choice, even the subject matter. Hemingway developed his voice just as Charles Dickens and Louisa Mae Alcott did. The important thing is that you, as a writer, develop your own voice. Not a copy of theirs or some other writer you revere. 

The choice of subject matter when you write should also be yours (unless you're a freelancer who writes on assignment). Maybe you are an expert in some particular thing so you can write with authority. The genre you choose to write in should be your choice, not because it is wildly popular at the moment but because you feel comfortable with it. I could never write sci-fi or horror stories. That's just not me. It wouldn't be right for me, and I'd probably do a terrible job. I write in niches where I am comfortable and bring satisfaction to me. It's what is right for me.

When it comes to writing, don't be only one of a crowd. Be yourself. Write from your point of view, from your experiences, not from that of some other author. Be an individual. 

Why You Should Be Yourself When You Write

We are all different and we are all special. We are unique in that no two of us has exactly the same personality. Genes decide our physical attributes but our environment is mostly responsible for our personality. I say mostly because I do see a few personality traits passed down from generation to generation in my own family, and it probably happens in your family, too. 

Going on the premise that the kind of person we are depends on our life experiences, I will venture out on a limb and say this: As writers, we are individuals. Yes, we learn about writing from our English teachers who try to pound grammar and exposition into teen-aged minds. We also glean much about writing from the books and magazines we read. Much of that kind of learning is subconscious but our minds do register a lot when we read a book, even if it is strictly for pleasure. 

So, we have the background of learning in school, absorb from our own reading and certain inherited traits along with our life experiences. When you become a writer, all four work to create a writer who writes in his/her own style. It's what gives you the base for your writer's voice. Yours and mine are completely different. And should be! You shouldn't want to write like me, nor I you. 

Don't try to emulate a writer you love by attempting to write in exactly the same way. That writer is an individual and so are you. Be yourself. Be the writer that doesn't copy anyone else. Use your own voice, not another writer's voice. Finding your voice is simply another way of saying that your personality comes through in your writing and readers can recognize it when they read what you've written. 

All our life experiences work together to help us form our writing voice. It makes a difference as to whether you grew up on a farm or in a major city. It makes a difference if you grew up in an affluent suburb or a ghetto. It makes a difference if you grew up in one country and moved to another. It makes a difference if you quit school when you turned 16 or if you hold a PHD degree. It makes a difference if you grew up with four siblings or were an only child. It makes a difference if your parents were loving and nurturing or cold and distant in their parenting. 

It comes down to this. I'm me and you're you. But just as the little girl in the poster says, you're special and so am I. We all need to believe that as we journey on our writing path. We'll traverse much faster if we do because of our positive attitude.