When setting out on your writing journey, one of the key essential ways to create unique and memorable stories is to find your own writing voice.

But what does ‘writing voice’ really mean, and how can you find yours?

Your writing voice isn’t just the words you use. Whether you write in first person or third, your unique voice will be the overtone to your work. It’ll be the atmosphere for your story. It’ll connect readers to your characters, but also help you to create your own author brand.

What is ‘writing voice’?

Summed up, writing voice is the way a writer uses words, sentence length, syntax structure, rhythm, and tone to convey their ideas, thoughts, and emotions.

A writer voice feels like personality.

Your voice is what sets you apart from other authors. Think about the way you speak, and the way other people around you speak. Each with their own style and character. This is also true for writing voice. Done well, it could set your writing apart from other books to the degree where it is recognisable as your style. No-one else’s. Yours.

Finding your writer voice isn’t always instant. In fact, it rarely is. It can take time to emerge, or evolve. After all, our life experiences change us, too.

Why is having a unique writing voice important?

Spending some time finding your unique writing voice is vital to an emerging author’s career, because doing so can create a real connection with your audience and set your work apart in a crowded world of words.

After all, how many of us remember our favourite books because of the character who told the story? Or because we enjoy the sense of dread, or the lightness of an author’s wordplay? Think of how instantly recognizable the voices of authors like Ernest Hemingway, Terry Pratchett, Max Porter, or Kazuo Ishiguro are.

Readers are innately drawn to authentic voices that resonate with them on a deeper level. Your unique perspective adds value to the literary world, and sets you apart from formulaic work. Using your own, true, natural voice can actually be freeing – meaning you can reach new levels of self-expression or experimentation.

7 key steps to finding your unique writing voice

Finding your writing voice will inevitably take some time. The main way to get started is to just… well… write! But here are seven key tips for helping you to find your own author voice and style.

Write. A lot.

The more you write, the easier it will be.

The more you write, the more time you haveto experiment with style, tone, technique, viewpoints, and even genres.

The more you write, the more successful you will be.

Some authors try freewriting. Set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes and write without stopping. Don’t worry about grammar or structure; focus on putting words on the page. Doing this should help you tap into your authentic voice and bypass your inner critic.

But then again, this isn’t an instant fix, either. It’ll take time, and that’s OK. You have time.

Read. A lot.

Read a lot. Read widely. Read wildly.

Reading across genres and even age ranges showcases countless different writer styles and voices. It’s the best and most entertaining way to learn how authors express ideas and worlds in their own creative and clever ways.

Look for patterns in language, structure, and tone. How does the story feel? How does it evoke atmosphere? What works and what doesn’t?

Reading different genres— across fiction, non-fiction, and poetry — will hugely expand your writing toolkit. Each genre has its own rules and voice, and you might find yourself inspired by something unexpected.

Think about the tone you want to evoke

This is something to think about while reading and writing.

What tone do you want to evoke in your writing? Light-hearted? Funny? Dark and doom-laden? Whimsical? Urgent? Puzzling? Angry?

Think about how you speak when you’re conveying those things. How do your thoughts flit across your mind? How do the words leave your lips? Are they soft and swan-like, or are they short, punchy?

Every writer has their own rhythm, the natural flow of words and sentences that reflect their voice. Some writers lean toward short, clipped sentences; others use longer, more fluid structures. Some might prefer a poetic lilt, while others opt for a chatty conversational style.

Embrace YOU

Who are YOU? It’s a big question, but it matters here.

Readers can sniff inauthentic writing from a mile off. It feels pretender-y, fake. And not only that, but it limits your own creativity.

Finding your own unique writer voice is a sure-fire route to authenticity. Realness. It should reflect and honour your quirks, sense of humour, or appetite for darkness. Think about how you see the world, and how you want others to see it through your eyes. Your story is a way for others to experience the world as you do. So don’t waste it.

Write what YOU enjoy

You often hear the advice, “Write what you know,” but here, I suggest instead, that you “Write what you enjoy.”

By this, I mean think about the stories you love to consume, and the ones you’re consumed with telling. Don’t augment yourself to fit in with what you think the publishing industry wants. Or even what you think readers will like.

Write for yourself, first.

Avoid trends. Be timeless.

Try to avoid chasing trends. It can feel like a clever way to increase your chances of publication, but it just doesn’t work.

Aside from the fact that by the time it comes to submit your work to agents or editors, the trend will already have likely passed – there’s a chance that your work won’t be your best anyway, because you’ve mimicked the styles of other authors. In an industry where trends come and go like leaves on the wind, create a voice that is entirely you, and totally timeless.

Use editing to refine what you want to say

Haven’t we all wished that we could sometimes go back and change the way we say things? I probably have more ‘cringe’ moments than most, (believe me).

Editing means you CAN go back and change what you said. All of it, if you need to. You can cut words from sentences to make them more ‘clipped’. You can add more poetry, to sound more literary. Experiment.

Read your work aloud: Reading your writing aloud helps you identify the rhythm and flow. If something sounds off or feels forced, adjust it. This can be especially helpful when fine-tuning your voice.

Then, importantly, don’t forget to shelve the work for a little while. Consider this as letting the work simmer. When you come back to it, you’ll see it with fresh eyes, I promise. If you need any help working out how long you should wait between drafts, find out in my ‘how long should you wait between drafts of your novel’ blog.

Finding your unique writing voice may not be a quick process, but it is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a novelist, poet, journalist, or indeed any kind of writer. By reading lots, experimenting, and embracing your individuality, you’ll gradually discover a style that feels true to you. Your author voice will change and evolve over time, and that’s perfectly fine. Mine certainly has!

So, make yourself a beverage, pick up your pen, or sit at your laptop, and start writing. Your unique writing voice is just around the corner, waiting to be discovered.

Happy writing!

C.x