Every writer has probably heard the advice: find your voice. It’s easy to say, but it is hard to do. What exactly does that even mean? I asked myself that a hundred times, if not a thousand, when I first started writing. I was filled with ideas and eager to put pen to paper, so to speak, but wondered if my voice, whatever that meant, would come through to the reader.
Today, more than ever, it is hard for new writers to find their voice because we are in the age of AI and information overload. It’s too easy to use the technology as a crutch just to put something out there in print. So here’s some different advice. Get away from this technology for a couple of months and find your voice. Grab a notepad because I’m about to tell you how to do that.
First of all, you can’t find your voice when you are constantly surrounded by the voices of others. We’re ruining ourselves with YouTube, AI platforms, TikTok, and the tendency to compare ourselves to our literary heroes way too often. I hear this a lot when I do the occasional book event with fellow writers. Someone will ask a writer what their book is about and I’ll hear a general description followed by, “It’s kind of like a Stephen King novel…” or another bestselling author. I’m guilty of the same thing! This past week at the Highland’s Festival in Abingdon I heard myself tell someone that a book I wrote was written in the style of the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. I felt my gut sink the moment those words flew out of my mouth. The book in question took three years of my life to write (with my co-author) and the wording, the style, and pace of the book was what worked best for the reader to get the most out of the story. I belittled my own pen name and it will forever be “inferior” to Dan Brown forever in the eyes of the person that bought the book. I disrespected my own voice, in other words.
What is a writer’s voice?
Your voice is more than just vocabulary and sentence structure. It’s the personality behind your words. It’s the way you observe the world and the emotions that you emphasize in your writing. It’s the humor you use. It’s the truths that you choose to tell. Have you ever noticed how two authors can write about the same thing? For example, let’s take the same mountain sunrise. I get up every morning to watch it. One writer might write about it in a poetic way that emphasizes the colors of the sky and the birds singing. The other one might write about the chill in the air and the aching knees of an older man working in the yard next door. Both scenes are true, but come from different perspectives. That perspective is voice. I can tell you from experience that it isn’t something that you perfect over night. It is something that you discover with time.
Advice: Ask yourself, “How would I tell this story to a close friend?”
How do I find my voice?
It’s not something that just happens. However, it does grow and form from deliberate habits. Here are some things I’ve learned along the way that helped me.
Write before you edit. It’s okay to write imperfectly. Every first draft should look like a first draft! It should sound like you, not like your inner critic. (For the record, I have a bad habit of trying to edit as I go along. It’s a bad idea and only slows down your progress.)
Read everything you get your hands on, not just your favorite genre. Read outside of your favorite genre often. Read histories and the classics. Read memoires and poetry. Every genre expands your understanding of life and language. I’ve found that expanding my reading has led me to writing across multiple genres instead of limiting my growth in the craft.
Keep a writing journal. A friend of mine gave me this advice years ago. The reason this is a good idea is because it captures your own natural rhythm of thought. I’m not nearly as good at keeping this advice as I should be, but the woman who gave me the advice said it has helped her notice recurring themes and expressions that are uniquely hers.
Tell stories aloud. Before writing, imagine sitting down with family or friends. The language and style that comes out naturally in conversation reveals your authentic narrative voice. I have found this to be incredibly helpful over the years. I can find spot (in the editing process) when I’m trying to sound like someone else instead sticking with being who I am as a writer.
Many writers will spend years trying to find their voice. Forget about that. Your voice is already there. If you haven’t found it yet just know with confidence that it is waiting patiently for you to find it. It’s in the stories that only you can tell. Appalachia has always valued authentic voices. Stories were carried along around here long before someone bothered to write them down. They’ve been passed down through generations. No two storytellers tell a story exactly alike.
As Appalachian writers we inherit that tradition. Our responsibility isn’t to sound like famous authors. It’s to preserve our own experiences with honesty and clarity so future generations can hear them. Your readers are waiting for the next book or story or essay that only you can write.
Advice: My last piece of advice is to do a half dozen writing prompts. Before you start writing, sit down with someone (or pretend someone is listening to you) and tell the story or scene out loud.
Today, more than ever, it is hard for new writers to find their voice because we are in the age of AI and information overload. It’s too easy to use the technology as a crutch just to put something out there in print. So here’s some different advice. Get away from this technology for a couple of months and find your voice. Grab a notepad because I’m about to tell you how to do that.
First of all, you can’t find your voice when you are constantly surrounded by the voices of others. We’re ruining ourselves with YouTube, AI platforms, TikTok, and the tendency to compare ourselves to our literary heroes way too often. I hear this a lot when I do the occasional book event with fellow writers. Someone will ask a writer what their book is about and I’ll hear a general description followed by, “It’s kind of like a Stephen King novel…” or another bestselling author. I’m guilty of the same thing! This past week at the Highland’s Festival in Abingdon I heard myself tell someone that a book I wrote was written in the style of the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. I felt my gut sink the moment those words flew out of my mouth. The book in question took three years of my life to write (with my co-author) and the wording, the style, and pace of the book was what worked best for the reader to get the most out of the story. I belittled my own pen name and it will forever be “inferior” to Dan Brown forever in the eyes of the person that bought the book. I disrespected my own voice, in other words.
What is a writer’s voice?
Your voice is more than just vocabulary and sentence structure. It’s the personality behind your words. It’s the way you observe the world and the emotions that you emphasize in your writing. It’s the humor you use. It’s the truths that you choose to tell. Have you ever noticed how two authors can write about the same thing? For example, let’s take the same mountain sunrise. I get up every morning to watch it. One writer might write about it in a poetic way that emphasizes the colors of the sky and the birds singing. The other one might write about the chill in the air and the aching knees of an older man working in the yard next door. Both scenes are true, but come from different perspectives. That perspective is voice. I can tell you from experience that it isn’t something that you perfect over night. It is something that you discover with time.
Advice: Ask yourself, “How would I tell this story to a close friend?”
How do I find my voice?
It’s not something that just happens. However, it does grow and form from deliberate habits. Here are some things I’ve learned along the way that helped me.
Write before you edit. It’s okay to write imperfectly. Every first draft should look like a first draft! It should sound like you, not like your inner critic. (For the record, I have a bad habit of trying to edit as I go along. It’s a bad idea and only slows down your progress.)
Read everything you get your hands on, not just your favorite genre. Read outside of your favorite genre often. Read histories and the classics. Read memoires and poetry. Every genre expands your understanding of life and language. I’ve found that expanding my reading has led me to writing across multiple genres instead of limiting my growth in the craft.
Keep a writing journal. A friend of mine gave me this advice years ago. The reason this is a good idea is because it captures your own natural rhythm of thought. I’m not nearly as good at keeping this advice as I should be, but the woman who gave me the advice said it has helped her notice recurring themes and expressions that are uniquely hers.
Tell stories aloud. Before writing, imagine sitting down with family or friends. The language and style that comes out naturally in conversation reveals your authentic narrative voice. I have found this to be incredibly helpful over the years. I can find spot (in the editing process) when I’m trying to sound like someone else instead sticking with being who I am as a writer.
Many writers will spend years trying to find their voice. Forget about that. Your voice is already there. If you haven’t found it yet just know with confidence that it is waiting patiently for you to find it. It’s in the stories that only you can tell. Appalachia has always valued authentic voices. Stories were carried along around here long before someone bothered to write them down. They’ve been passed down through generations. No two storytellers tell a story exactly alike.
As Appalachian writers we inherit that tradition. Our responsibility isn’t to sound like famous authors. It’s to preserve our own experiences with honesty and clarity so future generations can hear them. Your readers are waiting for the next book or story or essay that only you can write.
Advice: My last piece of advice is to do a half dozen writing prompts. Before you start writing, sit down with someone (or pretend someone is listening to you) and tell the story or scene out loud.
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