Unleash Your Inner Author: Finding Your Unique Writing Voice

Have you found your voice yet?

What does it mean to find your voice? It’s not like you’re a boy who reaches a certain age and his voice finally cracks into the deeper one he’ll have for the rest of his life—although I think it makes a decent metaphor for this subject.

We all have a voice, and we use it every day. But a writer’s voice isn’t as simple as that.

So, what do we mean when we say a writer needs to “find their voice”?

To me, it means feeling so comfortable with yourself and what you’re saying and how you're saying it that you raise your writing to the point where you sound like your true self on the page.

You use the words that you would use when you speak and when you think. The copy that appears on the page is as close to you as it can get.

A friend or relative, or someone who knows you well, should be able to identify your writing as yours because your words come together in that way that is uniquely you.

In other words, when you find your voice, your writing will have you written all over it.

How does one reach this point in their writing career?

I’m sure you’ve heard the “It takes ten thousand hours of practice to (possibly) become an expert” at whatever it is you want to excel at, an idea popularized by journalist, author, and speaker Malcolm Gladwell.

Well, I think that’s true for finding your voice. You may find it sooner, of course, but either way you’re going to have to slough away the inauthentic, excess, bad writing stuff in order to reach the authentic, precise, good stuff.

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg is a book that hugely influenced me when I was a new writer. Its mission is to help writers find their authentic voice. Basically Goldberg says that you should adopt a regular writing practice, often timed (even if just for five or ten minutes), with the focus on keeping your hand moving across the page (yes, this was back when we wrote in journals instead of typing on a keyboard, though you can easily use a keyboard instead).

The important rules to adhere to are the following:

+ Start writing and keep writing until the timer goes off, even if you think you have nothing to say. If that's the case, write, “I don’t know what to say. What should I say? I'm trying to think of something but I can't. Etc., etc.”

Hopefully your brain will come up with something, but if it doesn’t, just keep writing—anything. Soon you'll stumble on a subject and your thoughts will began to stream.  

+ All subject matters are allowed.

+ Do not edit yourself. Let the commas go. Let the misspellings happen. Let the awkward phrases fly.

+ Let your thoughts flow wherever they may.

+ Do timed sessions to help you push through those barriers that are holding back your authentic voice.

+ Listen to your thoughts and follow them. Explore whatever ideas rise to the surface. If you listen to your thoughts, you will learn what you think about things. You may even surprise yourself.

This is a great practice for breaking down self-imposed barriers. And if you are prone to writer’s block, I highly recommend it.

More Tips

Write Daily. The goal might be a sentence or a paragraph. Just start scribbling.
Journaling. Talk about what’s going on in your life. Your feelings, worries, joys.
Don’t limit yourself by saying you’re going to write a poem, short story, or something else. If you have an idea, just go with it and see where it takes you.
 
Keep practicing this type of exercise until the dam that is blocking your authentic voice falls, and the you flows like a rushing river that’s been set free. Your words will one day eagerly spill onto that page.
 
Let me know how it goes!