Voice: A very important part of writing success
Written by Robert Bacal | 
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| Writer's Cramp - General |
The concept of voice in writing is actually fairly simple. Do you express yourself in a way that readers can distinguish your writing from that of the writing of other people. Your voice(s) are what set you apart from everyone else, and developing that voice is one of the toughest things. You can't do it by copying others, but only by writing, writing and writing some more, AND following both your guts and your brain.
Voice is easiest to understand and experience in fiction. For example, I just finished a book by James Lee Burke, who writes in such a unique and identifiable way that I would probably recognize his work on as little as a paragraph or two. Kurt Vonnegut has a voice, which went beyond just writing style, and once again, you could identify his work quickly.
You probably can think of writers who have that distinct voice, particularly in fiction. Try thinking about non-fiction writers that have strong voices?
Just a short piece here, but there are many reasons why people will return to read what you write, whether it's on a blog, in a magazine, or in a book, and that is that you stand out somehow. Sure you can stand out by being particularly knowledgable, or impressive but the thing that operates below the surface is whether your readers can "hear" your voice and connect, and identify with it.
If they do, they'll be back. If not, not so much.
So, what are you hanging around here for. Go write something and practice your voice! Or leave a comment. That's writing too.
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