Developing a Unique Voice
Voice is an incredibly important component of writing and it is also happens to be one of those things that is somewhat elusive. You have probably heard any number of famous authors talking somewhat abstractly about how it took them a good deal of time before they were able to “discover their voice,” but perhaps you never really gave the concept of voice much thought. A professional writer – no matter what their chosen medium may be – should give this concept a great deal of consideration while actively working to cultivate it through their writing.
There are a variety of strategies that can be used in your daily writing practice that can be helpful in developing your unique voice, but it is equally important to revisit and re-read what you have written previously in order to gain a better understanding of voice and how it applies to your writing. The ultimate goal of developing voice is to reach a point in which the reader no longer requires a byline to recognize a piece that you have written, meaning that your voice is entirely your own and is therefore inimitable.
In order to properly develop your voice in writing you must first have a deep understanding of the concept. In this section I will discuss the ways in which voice can be defined while also offering some advice with regard to its continued development. I feel that it is also important to note how voice will benefit you as you seek to become a professional blogger and to also identify how to properly use voice to your advantage throughout your writing career.
What Exactly Is Voice?
Voice is the unique and distinctive manner in which a writer tells a story. This is not to be confused with style, as voice includes a variety of factors that go well beyond the way you structure sentences or organize information. Voice also includes the way you perceive the world around you and how you choose to relay what you perceive. In a lot of ways, a writer with a fully developed voice is able to access their subconscious and allow it to come through in their writing. Of course, developing your voice does not have to be this complicated, but it is nonetheless one of the most important things you can do as a writer.
The best way to cultivate voice is to simply focus on writing in a straightforward and honest manner. Readers want to know and understand what it is you believe and why you happen to believe it, and being able to explain yourself in a way that is both honest and forthright is an important tool for you to have as a writer. While you may think of honesty and forthrightness in terms of what you write, it also applies to how you write it.
Honest writing is done without any pretense and comes across to the reader as natural and effortless. Any writer who has ever labored over a particular word choice or revised a single phrase over and over again knows that writing can often be anything but natural and effortless, but the fact remains that it must seem that way to the reader. When you write and revise, take great care to make choices that reflect your voice and simultaneously engage the reader.
Write to Inform, Not to Impress
As a professional blogger it is your job to both inform your readers and to ensure that they are engaged and entertained by the way you choose to present the information. Many writers mistake the goal of entertaining and engaging for the goal of impressing their audience. This can be a significant miscalculation that alienates readers and prevents you from ever developing a core group of readers, so make sure that you understand the difference.
Consider the following: Imagine you are at a party and decide to conduct an informal survey on the literary preferences of the attendees. Given the choice between reading say, William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury or John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, most would undoubtedly choose Green’s work of young-adult fiction to Faulkner’s innovative masterpiece. This is because that while most would acknowledge that Faulkner’s work is superior, it is also, at times, completely incomprehensible.
Rather than writing to impress a very narrow audience, instead endeavor to write clearly and concisely while focusing on the message rather than the way the message is delivered. This does not mean that you have to oversimplify your writing; it just means that you have to ensure that what you are trying to say is not obscured by how you are trying to say it.
Recognize Your Influences Without Ripping Them Off
Whether we realize it or not, we are all influenced by the voice and style of other authors and some of that influence will creep its way into our voice. I am guilty of this and most other authors are as well, and that is perfectly acceptable. When you first learn to speak you adopt patterns of speech based on those around you, which is why there are pronounced regional dialects and accents. This happens with writing as well, and it is often a subconscious occurrence.
The authors that you read most frequently will affect how you write and will influence what is still your own unique voice. While having varying influences is entirely all right, you must also be careful not to engage in imitation. A look at the world of sports blogging will reveal a whole host of Bill Simmons imitators, and a quick look at the world of political blogging will demonstrate countless misappropriations of even the most obscure of Hunter S. Thompson’s work.
The next time you sit down to right a column on how the President’s dogs are “decadent and depraved,” or feel like weaving in countless pop-culture references that are only tenuously linked to the topic, take a moment to ponder a different approach. The reason Thompson and Simmons -- however disparate their voices may be –- are frequently imitated is because their voices are unique and honest. Try to be the one whose voice is imitated rather than the one who is imitating.
Identify a Goal and Write Fearlessly
When you finally sit down to write, make sure you do so with a specific goal in mind. Whether you intend on writing a post on how to crochet or a post on diplomatic relations between foreign countries, make sure you understand what you want to accomplish and what message you intend to get across. Once you have identified this, write fearlessly and without any regard for what the reader or anyone else might think. Just write what comes naturally until you have accomplished your goal.
This is how you write with fearlessness. Writers sometimes get caught up in what their audience might think or say in response to a statement and this is certainly natural (especially when your readers begin quoting lines out of context in the comments section to criticize you). You have to consciously avoid this consideration while writing your first draft. If you read your post again and you feel that something is too controversial or is at risk of being misinterpreted you can always make an edit to cut or clarify the statement.
When I first started writing professionally, I had an editor who laid out a specific process she wanted me to follow while crafting a piece. I don’t remember exactly what it was because, frankly, it didn’t help at all. In fact, it made things harder on me. Whatever process you choose, use it and use it confidently. I know writers who obsessively edit and I know others who feel that their first draft is always their best draft (the latter authors still edit their work, but just to clean up grammar and clarify anything that is unclear).
I feel that I work best when I write freely from start to finish and then walk away and do something else before returning to what I have written. This gives me a fresh set of eyes and allows me to read and revise more effectively, but that does not mean this will work for you. Choose a process that makes you feel comfortable and stick with it, even if an editor asks you to do otherwise. As long as the final product meets their editorial standards, how are they going to know what process you used?
Allow Your Voice to Evolve Over Time
Your voice is uniquely your own, and one of the things that makes us human is our ability to change. This applies to our writing voice, as you should not fear the fact that your voice will evolve over time. This is a good thing, so don’t get overly concerned if you notice that your writing is evolving. Go back and re-read your work from years gone by, but do not try to return to your voice of the past. Simply focus on writing honestly and fearlessly. Your readers will appreciate it.