In a post on Novlr, Pamela Koehne-Drube offers advice for finding your writer’s voice. “Voice is what makes an author’s work distinctive, and every writer has a different one, which is why it is important to find yours,” she says. She suggests six approaches:
- Read a lot. The more you read, the more different styles of writing you’ll experience, which you’ll absorb and incorporate into your own voice. You should also read outside your genre and take note of the way authors use language, sentence structure, and tone.
- Write a lot. This should go without saying! “As you write, you’ll find that certain words, phrases, and sentence structures come more easily to you than others,” Koehne-Drube says. “These are the elements that make up your writer’s voice. When you read back over your work, pay attention to your word choice.” Don’t force yourself to write in a manner that doesn’t feel natural. Experimentation is useful and recommended, but ultimately, you must be yourself.
- Pay attention to the things that make you unique. What are your writing quirks? Koehne-Drube suggests participating in writing challenges with other writers. “Seeing the different ways each writer interprets prompts can be a great way to find your unique style and voice,” she says.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment. Trying new things is important to your development as a writer and to the development of your voice. Identify what works and what doesn’t. Remember that your voice can change over time. “Try out different tones and genre styles to see what fits,” Koehne-Drube says. “Keep what works for you, and discard what doesn’t.”
- Get feedback from others. Ask trusted friends and peers for feedback on your writing.
- Keep a journal. “By writing down your thoughts over the course of the day with no other motivation than to document, you’ll start to notice certain unique quirks in how you formulate your ideas,” Koehne-Drube suggests.
