How to Find Your Voice

  What new voice will you bring to the world?

Again and again through college and grad school, my professors have told me that finding your voice is more than half the battle of writing a good novel or story. You can play around, write buckets of manuscripts, but the story won't begin until you reach that page until suddenly you are in control of that voice. The important thing to think about, therefore, is what voice you can bring to the world.

Writers may have many different voices for different stories, but there is often something unique about their style that can be seen in every one of their works. The difficulty of finding that voice is where the job of writing comes in. Some writers find their voice by diligently copying others, by imitating the work of writers they admire until they put together a mixture that is all their own. Other writers don't want to be too tainted or changed by other voices, and try to work in isolation, crafting a voice that comes from within.

After the jump: tips for finding your own voice.

Try Other Writers On for Size
Because of this difference in styles, the first step is to find out how you want to work. Try re-reading the books of authors you really admire. Study their techniques and observe how they write their sentences. Then try writing a few sentences as if that writer were writing them. Try writing an entire story that way. How does it feel?

Think About What Your Voice is Like
If you feel uncomfortable doing that, like it might be "corrupting" your own voice too much, you can try a different approach. Instead of writing or reading, try to do a little thinking on your own. What mood do you want to give off with your writing? With my own voice, I often picture a kind of color that I am trying to evoke with my writing. Sometimes I picture the color of looking down into a dark well, or the cool clear feeling of water. What images do you want to evoke with your voice? Think about a color or image that perfectly captures your writing's mood.

Follow Your Character
Some writers find their voices indirectly; that is, they don't think about themselves, they think about the needs of their characters. If you have a vivid character in mind, you can ask yourself what kind of voice would best serve as the tale-teller of this character's story. Do you want a proper, cold voice? Omniscient, or close? Folksy or urban? Old-fashioned or modern? What matches your character's personality?

If you can find a good match for your character, your story will feel harmonious and organic, as if it simply had to be told with that voice and no other.

Comments

[James Bent]

I'm not going to claim that I've found my voice completely, nor that the voice that I am finding is great or fantastic or perfect, but I've found that since November 8th I've been keeping a 1000+ word a day short fiction blog http://jamesbent.com/blog and that's really, really helped for me to find a voice. I wrote a novel earlier in the year and when I went to send to agents most said that they wanted "a strong narrative voice" - and I hadn't really thought about what this was when I wrote my novel, so couldn't really identify it. But since writing these shorts, and having "strong narrative voice" as one of the main points to work on, it's really coming through.

I think as well it helped to look up what a narrative voice was. I found that the narrative is simply the way of putting the story together, including all the combination of characters, plot, scenes, story, dialogue etc etc.. and having that being consistent throughout (or where not consistent, purposefully inconsistent!). So even though my stories are from different character's 1st person perspectives / narratives, the way my writing is being put together; the sorts of words and phrases and metaphors I'm using are starting to become consistent, and I can see a link between them which I guess is becoming my narrative voice and therefore style.

If you want to see if I'm right (!!), please feel free to take a look at my offbeat fiction shorts at: http://jamesbent.com/blog

[DeidraK]

I have had serious trouble with my voice on a recent story. I restarted twice and I still don't like it. I think it's time to put this one to bed. But for me it's very important for me to determine the character's voice early on. At the same time this can bog me down as I tend to over think.

[Mark Pennington]

Constructivists tend to adopt a narrow definition that voice is what makes one’s writing unique and personal; the intangibles that demonstrate an honest commitment to its writing. Constructivists would argue that the only clues provided to developing writers should be widespread reading and unencumbered writing practice. After a journey of self-discovery, the squishy concept of voice may emerge some day for some writers.

I take a different view. I define voice a bit more globally, encompassing what old-time Strunkers called style, as well as point of view, tone, and diction (word choice). I think that discovering voice should be the result of a guided journey.
http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/writing/how-to-develop-voice-in-student-writing/