Your writing voice is the deepest possible reflection of who you are. The job of your voice is not to seduce or flatter or make well-shaped sentences. In your voice, your readers should be able to hear the contents of your mind, your heart, your soul.
Meg Rosoff
You don’t find a writing voice, you tune it. It’s the unique way you express your thoughts, feelings, insights, and emotions on the ideas you choose to write about. It’s an umbrella concept that is a combination of your personality, style, and perspective. A strong voice will make a piece of writing more engaging and memorable for your readers. Tuning your voice will take time, but the journey is worth it.
To develop a writing voice you will need a strong understanding of the elements that compose a voice. The ingredients can be found below and you should take time to decide how you wish to develop the exercises for training your voice. You will also need to find some tools to help you practice developing the specific skills and abilities you require. If you want your audience to listen, you have to use their language.
Writing Voice Elements
Your voice is the result of a few interconnected elements that resonate together and give you a unique identity. If you want to build a strong powerful writing voice, you must master the very basics.
Words: The basic elements of writing that have a big impact on the audience we reach. Remember, words are used to communicate meaning and can describe all sorts of ideas. That is why you should make an effort to improve your vocabulary as often as you possibly can. Some people are binary in their thinking or have simple understandings. They prefer easy-to-learn words that can be used to describe everything. Others are more detailed and prefer specific words to denote even the slightest differences. We also need to consider the use of slang, which are words that are not officially recognized but may be used by smaller groups of people.
Sentence Structure: The way you decide to structure the words you use will affect the rhythm of your writing. Poetry is the perfect example. Most basic forms of poetry use rhyming or words that end in the same sound. Most modern songs are simply poetry with added music. The length of the sentences can change the way messages of perceived. Short sentences are sharp and create urgency. Longer sentences may be more calming. Using progressively longer sentences can build up excitement and wonder.
Tone: How do you feel about the subject? That is the essential question that will determine the tone of your writing. If you are curious, you may talk in a more inquisitive way and integrate a lot of questions and answers into the content. If you find it to be serious, you may discuss the risks and impacts. If you find it humorous, you may talk with a lot of jokes and exclamations. Tone is important in persuasive writing.
Perspective: This is the final structure and the lens by which you tell your narrative. What point of view do you intend to use? A first person point of view can make the writing feel more personal, such as a story about what you were looking for in the brand new store that opened on the block. A third person point of view can make the writing more objective and appear more fact-based. You can make writing more gendered with a female perspective or a male perspective. How would a female or male deal with the situation at hand? The lens is the most important part of connecting to your audience. It engages them.
Voice Development Techniques
You’ll want to refine the voice you’ve created before moving on. Reading the work of others can help you see how those writers have cultivated their voice. You can then pay attention to your own writing and edit. Don’t forget to get feedback from friends.
Flash Cards: Flash cards are great way to develop a larger vocabulary. If you want to craft a story for example, you will need to utilize words that create vivid images in the minds of your audience. You can use flash cards with a picture demonstrating the image and the resulting word on the back. This will help you differentiate between synonyms of words that describe varying degrees of observations.
WordHippo: WordHippo is great website that functions as a dictionary, thesaurus, and rhyme matcher. Learning the definitions of words is an important skill even if you have assumed what they mean. They may have multiple meanings you’ve never heard of, and will allow you to create double meanings in you work. A thesaurus will help you describe your text in more detail and WordHippo also has slang words.
Reading: You can’t create without consuming first. Everything that you have ever created is just a result of the unconscious connections you have already observed or integrated. That is the basis of the skill we call creativity. So go out and find books, blog posts, or any type of text you find interesting. Think critically about how the author decides to use the vocabulary, sentence structure, or tone to build their message.
Known Writing Voice Perspectives Archetypes
The Guru: You may have read some writing that got you pumped up and ready to spring into action. They often contain positive language and uplifting messaging to bring you into a state of happiness or bliss. Then they might use encouraging language and call to actions to motivate you into doing something. Gurus often target niches that have to do with personal self-development. If you want to become a guru, you will have to learn and understand emotional words that will connect with your audience.
The Sage: Some writers are more informative and cryptic with their writing. Their content integrates wisdom and expertise to get you to understand complex concepts or insights. They want you to comprehend the knowledge they are giving you, but also to think critically about it so that you will search for knowledge on your own. If you want to become a sage, you have to learn how to break complex topics down for your target audience. If you can explain a concept to 5 different types of learners you will have mastered being a sage. Sages are often needed for specialized niches.
The Reporter: The reporter lays the facts as they are. They get to the truth no matter what the cost to their own personal safety. They make sure to use their talents to make the truth seem interesting and cover all their bases by verifying the authenticity of the information. They hate misinformation, disinformation, and surface level double-speak designed to placate their audiences. If you want to become a reporter, you will have to learn how to identify what interests and engages your audience and suit the truth to their needs.
The Storyteller: As long as you are entertained, you will bring joy to the storyteller. Storytellers love to share wonderous tales filled with excitement, suspense, lessons, and wonder. Everyone loves a good story that they can immerse themselves into when it’s time to rest. Storyteller’s can build worlds of complete fantasy, or pocket universes that mirror our own. If you want to build a good story, you will have to work on your ability to describe settings and build engaging characters.