3 Ways to Discover Your Writer's Voice

3 Ways to Discover Your Writer's Voice

One question I get over and over is "How do I create my writer's voice?" The obvious answer is "write." But that's not very helpful if you're really struggling with this, so...

What is a writer's voice?  A writer's voice is your individual writing style. It is the way in which you put the words together, use punctuation, develop your characters, create dialogue, and more.

Why do you need a writing voice? As a children's book writer, you need a voice whether you're writing fiction or creative non-fiction. The reason? There are so many good children's books out in the marketplace, you don't want your writing to feel similar to other works. It's important to be your authentic self, not a blend of the books you've read and TV shows you've seen. Actually, it’s a big deal for children's book writers to find their voice.

Here are 3 Ways to Discover Your Writer's Voice:

1. Practice, practice, practice. I know it's cliche, but you need to practice writing. You won't get any better or discover your writing voice if you don't write. You can read a million books or articles on the subject, but unless you are adding the experience of actually putting pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard), you won't find your writer's voice. In the book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell says it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in any field. So start practicing if you want to find your writer's voice!

2. Copy. I'm a little hesitant to put this here, because when I say copy, I don't literally mean copy someone else's work word-for-word. That is copyright infringement and a HUGE no-no. The idea is to read other peoples' work that you admire and really examine it. What do you like about it? How are the styles alike or different? What about the writing creates emotions in you? Often times, what we admire is what we aspire to. If you are comparing yourself to someone else's writing success, you're being pointed in that direction for a reason. Learn from it. Also, I strongly suggest that as you are exploring this avenue, do not use any of your writings for publication. Your "new" voice will be too close to the work that you admire.

3.Write how you speak. You're gonna laugh. When I write, fiction especially, I grab my phone and talk it through on a recording app. Yep, there's an app for that! Sometimes I even act out a scene with the different character's voices. It's pretty funny, but it helps me get into what the character is feeling and sensing when I do this. It also helps me write in my voice. If you write how you speak, it will be much easier to maintain throughout a story and easier to find your writer's voice. Try it! Use a recording app on your phone or computer instead of writing it out.

Have you found your writer's voice? Tell me how you did it in the comments below.