3 Must-Dos to Establish Your Writer's Voice In Your Writing Work
One of the questions I received from a reader was about voice. He wanted to know how he could establish his voice as a writer or determine if he had one and how to strengthen it if he did.
Establishing your writer's voice can be achieved by doing three things. The more you do them, the more you will feel you have things figured out.
1. Know Yourself
This seems like a no-brainer, but you won’t believe how many people realize how much they really don’t know about themselves when going through business coaching. There were so many things I didn’t know about myself when I started business coaching in 2011. Things that were holding me back from achieving my dreams and succeeding in my business. My political views started to develop, opinions took form, and areas of resistance were revealed so I could work on striking them down.
“There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the pen and writes.”
-William Makepeace Thackeray
Start writing in a journal if you haven’t already. Ask yourself questions. Here are a few to get you started:
- What gets you worked up?
- What rubs you the wrong way?
- What inspires you?
- What motivates you?
- What do you want your life to look like?
- What are your dreams?
2. Experience Life
It’s hard to think of things to write when we haven’t gone out and experienced life. Focus on living a full life – not one that has you sitting at home all day. Get out there, spend time with friends, and do fun things on the weekends or in the evenings a couple times a week. No one was meant to sit at home by themselves. Get out there – have a positive impact on people’s lives. If you don’t have any friends, join a small group through your church or join a writers group and make them. If you want friends, you have to be a friend.
In addition to experiencing life, read books. Expand your knowledge. Learn new things. Find topics that interest you. Read business books. This will help define your own opinions and your own writer's voice. And of course, reading a lot will also help improve your writing skills.
3. Write
Lastly (and most importantly), write! Write a lot! I’ll let you take it from here!
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