Just a thought
“Be yourself… no-one else is better qualified.”
Frank J. Giblin II
Writing courses, books and the speakers at writers’ workshops and seminars often promote the idea of “finding your voice”. What exactly does that mean? How do you find your voice through your writing?
I believe that it comes in two ways:
- Frequent and constant practice in the art of writing.
- Being yourself, that is, letting the “real you” speak.
There is no substitute for frequent, daily if possible, writing practice. Write, write, write – anything, everything and with great enthusiasm and passion until writing becomes second nature, it becomes a part of you.
I read many years ago about a young writer approached Ray Bradbury (I think – it might have been Asimov) and asked for advice about becoming a writer. His reply, “Go and write a million words, and then we’ll talk about how to be a writer.” His point; practise writing – write, write, write – and then you’ll be ready to be a writer.
New writers expect instant success. You have to do the hard yards first. An athlete doesn’t expect an Olympic Gold Medal the first time he pulls on the running shoes, so why do writers expect their first piece of writing to be a blockbuster?
As you write, write, write you will develop a writing style that is just you. Nobody else can write just like you. That’s your voice. Don’t pretend to be anyone else. It will sound false and it will certainly turn off your readers. On occasions, I have tried to write in a certain style copying writers I admire. It doesn’t work. It sounded pretentious, insincere and downright stupid.
Be yourself – and you will find your writer’s voice.
Oh – by the way – I’m well on my way to completing my second million words!
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This one is from another blog called Books and Writing:
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Writing Hint #13 Use These Writing Prompts
No Comments »16th October, 2006; Category: Writing Hints
The Writer’s Digest is one magazine I used extensively in my earlier days to learn about writing. In recent years I haven’t subscribed to the magazine because they are too expensive here in Australia. I still use their web site extensively.
On one page on their web site they have a long list of writing prompts. Click on the link below to read these writing ideas.
Links:
- Free writing prompts – 52 ideas and prompts for your writing.
- Writers Digest.Com – the home page of this useful resource.
- 101 Best Web Sites for Writers – an absolute goldmine of information, hints, ideas, help and inspiration. This is the 2006 list so it’s reasonably up to date. Lists for the previous five years are also available. While this is a great list with heaps of resources, don’t spend all your time surfing these sites; remember your core business is writing, not reading.
- Remember to read every day.
- Remember to write every day.
- Remember to take time for yourself every day.
Ways to Improve Your Writing and Blogging
Writers and bloggers should be striving always to improve their writing skills. These skills can develop in a number of ways. I have read a number of books on writing, attended workshops, seminars and conferences and read numerous magazine and online articles about improving one’s writing skills.
Eventually the learning process must give way to putting it all into practice. The learning should never cease; no-one is a perfect writer and we can all still develop ways of improving. But the application of all that learning is the vital factor here. Practice, practice, practice. Keep writing, keep striving to improve, keep writing, edit your work, be critical of your own work and read it aloud.
All these methods – and more – are employed by successful writers and bloggers. Darren Rowse has a list of 10 Ways to Improve Your Blogging through Practice on his ProBlogger site.
Related articles:
- Writing hints – a series of hints on improving your writing.
- Great Writing Ideas – links to some great blogs on helping you to improve your writing and blogging skills.
- The Importance of Proofreading – catch those pesky little errors in your writing.
- How to Improve Your Blog – links to good articles on this topic.
31 Tips for Freelance Writers
Anne Wayman on her blog about writing called The Golden Pencil has a list of articles about tips for freelance writers. There are some very useful hints and tips in this list and they are well worth reading.
Links:
- “31 Tips for Freelance Writers.” – this is the index of the articles.
- The Golden Pencil – the Freelance Writer’s Resource.