“Voice” happens to be my thing.
In my 20s, during my quarter-life crisis, when I was trying to figure out what to do with myself after it became clear that Hollywood and I didn’t have a future, I had a series of really boring temp jobs, the most mind-numbing of which was answering phones for an exterminating company.
My entire job was to input data from the forms the actual exterminators brought back, detailing what had been done and how much poison had been applied, and answering phones. I was able to complete the data entry in about an hour each day — leaving seven incredibly dull hours remaining in my day.
So what did I do with all that free brainspace?
I wrote the entire sixth book of the Harry Potter series (before the actual sixth book was released). Longhand. On yellow legal pads. One hundred and ten thousand words.
The exercise kept me from going totally insane and my friends and family enjoyed it — but what I didn’t realize at the time is that it was also an incredible exercise in understanding the intricacies of a writing voice, in this case, J.K. Rowling’s.
Fast forward ten years or so, and it’s a talent I put to use every single day writing blog posts in my clients’ voice.
Finding your writing voice.
In April, 2015, I launched The Voice Identification Process, a resource to help you find, understand, and develop your own writing voice using the exact method I use when working with my ghostblogging clients.
- What is your writing “VOICE”?
- Once More With Feeling: How to Write with Emotion
- When Fear Holds Us Back from Blogging Authentically
- What to Do When Your Blog Attracts the Wrong Readers
- Finding Your Primility: A Conversation with Jerod Morris
- Are You Telling Stories? The Difference Between a Bland Brand Voice and a Brilliant One
- What’s Your Hook?
Now it’s your turn.
I’m pretty passionate about helping people understand their writing voice. If you’ve got questions about your own writing voice — what it is, how to find it, how to use it? — let me know in the comments below, and I’d be happy to help.
So how do you find and develop your writing voice? I use to have a stream of conscious voice when I first started writing, but then my voice stopped becoming my own when I started writing professionally. How do I get my voice back so I can build my own personal brand?
Practice, Niki. It’s not the sexy answer, but it’s the best one I’ve got! 🙂 Start writing in your stream of consciousness again for practice. Go through some of your professional writing and highlight the words and phrases that feel the least like you and then the ones that feel the most like you. How could you edit that piece so it feels more like you? Focus on the details of the words you choose and how you string them together. You’ll get there!!