What does it mean to “find your voice”? Well, today I am going to share with you how I found my writing voice and some tips that might help you find your own. Finding your voice in writing is something that comes with time, but it will come. It is all about being patient and persistent. After three years of actively writing, I feel like I am confident enough to share this with you, so I hope you enjoy and are able to take something away from this!

I didn’t realize until a few months ago that I had finally developed a clear and strong writing voice. It was when I was “forcing” myself to pump out stories for my creative writing class that I realized the words sounded like me. When I looked at stories written by me 3 years ago, it was like looking at a picture of myself ten years ago when I was six with a bad hair cut. Luckily, I like to think I have gotten a lot better by now. The point is, finding your voice is like finding that one piece of yourself that has been missing all along, and when it finally falls into place, everything clicks. Its the same with writing and discovering your voice. It all just suddenly makes sense. The good thing is, is that anyone can find their writing voice, and it may take more or less time than the person slamming their keyboard next to you. The important thing is to not give up, keep going. You’ll find it when the time is right.

Finding your voice can be frustrating, and while like I said, it will come with time, sometimes we want to speed that time up. If you want to find your writing voice fast, here are a few tips that I used in order to find my voice and some that you can follow to find yours too:

WRITE! – How easy is this? Super easy because if you are a writer that means you like to write. Shocker, right? No, but seriously. It is because I started writing so much these past few months that my writing voice really developed and became strong. I started setting goals and submitting to literary magazines and contests (which is how I sometimes motivate myself to write) and that is when I noticed a shift. Just sit down and write, and if you spend time doing that then you are on the right track.

Take a Writing Class – When it comes to finding your voice, developing editing skills, etc, the more technical craft side of writing, a writing class is a phenomenal way to lasso your voice and reel it in. I am taking a Creative Writing 12 class (almost done though, fingers crossed I finish by the end of March) and because you are being forced to not only write but analyze other people’s work, your sound really starts shining through.

Journal – When you journal you are writing about yourself. Through words you recap your day or your feelings, but the point is that writing about yourself means you are writing in your voice. Does that make sense? Not only is journalling a great way to find your voice, but it is also incredibly therapeutic! Try it out sometime.

Read, Read, Read – By reading other people’s work, and reading in their voice, you will be surprised that it will help you find your own. You also realize what not to do when reading other people’s books, and how you can improve as a writer yourself. If you are a writer you are also a reader though, so this one like writing, should be a no brainer for you!

Experiment: Write in New Genres and Styles  – Test the waters, find out what works best for you. Maybe you have always wrote fiction, but by branching out and writing creative non-fiction or poetry you developed a voice quicker. Or maybe you always write fantasy but once you try another genre like sci-fi, something just clicks and you are one step closer to solidifying your writing voice. Sometimes the genre you think is best for you really isn’t, so give different genres and styles a try! The point is, this tip is beneficial even if you already have discovered your voice.

That is all I have for you today and I hope you enjoyed! Don’t forget to check out yesterday’s blog post: January 2018 Wrap Up and remember to keep on writing 🙂

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