Finding Your Writer’s Voice
Greetings and salutations Scribblers!
Today, I’m talking about the unique author voice you bring to your writing. In the past I’ve compared author voice to the style your favorite music artist has. You can hear a new song and within a few bars you’ve clocked the song as being that artist. It’s their unique style, their voice that they bring to everything they do.
As authors, we strive to do the same. Our goal is to have a recognizable voice across all our books despite having different plots, characters, or even different genres. Author voice is a very nebulous concept and it’s really one of those things that you need to just experiment with and find what feels natural and comfortable.
Developing our writer's voice is a universal struggle among the writing community. When we’re first starting out on our writing journey, it’s not uncommon to feel as though our voice is generic. Oftentimes, we mimic our favorite authors to an extent when we first start writing. It’s what we know and love and until we figure out our own style, we play in a familiar sandbox. But when we do start to figure out what makes us stand apart, we can begin leaning into that and really developing our author voice.
Searching for your writing voice is not a unique problem. We’ve all been there. If you’re a writer who’s worked with an editor or sent out some queries, it’s very possible you’ve been told they wanted you to either enhance your voice, or, if it was an agent, that they didn’t feel your voice stood out enough. And that’s frustrating to hear.
It doesn’t mean your voice isn’t good though. It means you have an opportunity to lean into what makes it stand out and really make it shine.
Why does it matter? Because it’s another way readers connect with your writing. The way you decide to say something makes all the difference sometimes. Think about taking advice from people. There are some people you will never listen to or consider their advice simply for the way they convey the message. But when someone says it in a way that connects with you, voila! You connect and that other person whose voice you didn’t like? They’re just rolling their eyes and thinking “I’ve said that for two years and you’ve never listened.”
Your writer's voice works the same way. It’s your unique way of telling a story. Every word you write is developing the rhythm and cadence of your style and some readers will love it. Which of course also means that others may not like it. But that’s writing. No book is 100% universal. But there are readers out there who are going to connect and there are readers out there looking for your specific book in your specific voice, so you need to stick with it.
The You element that you bring into your writing has so much power, and that power comes from being authentic. Bringing your unique perspective to the page in an honest way builds relationships with your readers even if you never meet them. All of this to say that as you explore what your writing voice is and what it will become, be sincere in your approach and honest with yourself about what is and isn’t authentic.
And, much like almost every other aspect of your writing journey, your voice will evolve over time. So if your writing feels different now than it did five years ago, that’s okay. In another five years, it will have evolved again.
What really matters is that you stay true to yourself and let your authentic voice guide you forward.
As always, your mileage may vary! We’d love to hear about how you found your voice!
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