Write Just To Write: Finding Your Voice
New writers need to find there voice but how?
“You must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin the less likely you are to find it at all.”— Robin Williams’, ‘Dead Poets Society’
I’m a new writer. I mean, I’ve been writing for a while but not consistently nor correctly. In this new writing journey, I’m learning.
Some of the stuff I already knew and am relearning. Some stuff I learning and pausing before consuming more information about the topic so I can actually implement and apply.
Application of information has always been a shortcoming for me.
Without application, learning is basically just another form of entertainment.
One thing I keep hearing and reading over and over again is really important to new writers is finding your unique voice.
Well, first, you need to start calling yourself a writer, then start actually start writing. Certainly obvious but so true. #WritersGonnaWrite
Next is finding your unique voice as a writer
Your writer’s voice is your personality on paper. It’s unique and can only come about through practice while in a flow state (those mini moments of genius where a topic or task is oddly efficient).
I’m still discovering mine. And once you have found your writer’s voice there is no pretense and your readers will be as comfortable as you are.
There is really only way to find your voice in your writing style and that is to write and then write some more!
Just like in baseball, it’s hard at first to field the ball or hit the ball correctly but do it thousand times and you get the hand of it.
I’m not say you need to write a 1000 articles to find your voice (though eventually you might) but with practice you will find your voice. And good news, Medium is a great place to begin writing and publishing because Medium is like mall (here’s what I mean by that “mall” comment)!
So, what do you write about?
Many people suggest never to publish less than your best but I would disagree. As a beginner, just about everything you write will be less than your best and certainly less than your potential!
Personally, I suggest writing about everything.
- Literally, everything.
- Write about your day.
- Write about your feelings.
- Write about what your reading.
- Write about what you are learning.
- Write about the outcomes from what you learned.
- Write about recaps of the experiences from your outcomes.
Yes, literally everything is a perfect potential topic for you as a beginner writer searching for your voice.
And when that becomes not enough, here is a list of creative prompts and another list of writing exercises. These aren’t perfect for everyone but will be good to keep the ball rolling while you’re on your own writing adventure.
Before you go, here’s a quick tip about writer’s tone
Don’t confuse tone with voice. Voice can be explained as the author’s personality expressed in writing, while tone refers to the attitude of the writer in a piece of writing.
How do you find the correct tone?
According to Writer’s Write, you can usually find a tone by asking these three questions:
Why am I writing this?
Who is my intended audience?
What do I want the reader to learn, understand, or think about?
Follow me on this Medium Adventure. I’ll post my monthly updates here.
Thanks for reading Writers Guild — A Smedian publication
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