Finding Your Voice

I read a lot. Well, some of my closest friends and family will state that is an understatement of how much I read. What I read does not really have any set pattern to it, I'm not at the book aisle every Tuesday when the new releases are shelved screening possible additions to my book case. What makes me pick up a book and actually purchase it is not just the story alone, or the wonderfully witty characters, it's the writer's voice. Yep, their voice.

Now, I'm betting you are wondering what an author's voice is and if your are a writer what yours sounds like. An author's voice is how they phrase their sentences, convey their words onto paper, the type of language used (an example, do they write in American tones or British tones?)The author's voice can tell you a lot about the author from what period (Renascence, Victorian, etc.), what class they were cast in society (this can even expose a person's education level), and in some cases even reveal what area they were raised in from their vocabulary selection and slang use in their writing. A writer's voice is as individual and unique as a finger print. For an example compare Edgar Allen Poe's works to Mark Twain's writings. Yes They are both American and born in the same time frame but their voices are different.

For us writers to understand and hear our own voices read aloud your work. Read it to yourself, your friends, your family, if you need toread aloud to your houseplants. Just don't read it thinking, "oh, this again, I've read this 100 times since I wrote it.", that maybe true but read it and you will hear yourself. The easiest way to hear your voice is to get a friend to write a short story and then you write the same short story, the same everything; character names, storyline, beginning and ending. Then swap stories and read them. Your voice will stick out like a sore thumb to your ears.

Once you can recognize your voice you can control it and how it effects your writings. It's your voice it can be anything that you envision it to be. If you try the short story exercise let me know if it helped you, I love feedback.