Authorial voice

 A new blog post so soon?! I have the time and something on my mind -- and that is, the importance of finding your own voice as an author, whether of fiction or non-fiction. By that, I don't mean stubbornly clinging to what you have written, regardless of the feedback of others. I mean learning to distinguish between useful, valid criticism which will improve your story and criticism which is basically "I would have written it this way." My response to that is, "Please feel free." 

Every successful author develops an individual voice -- Dickens didn't write like Austen or even like Trollope; Stephen King doesn't write like J.K. Rowling; Hemingway didn't write like Faulkner. That voice attracts their readers and holds them. It gives the author's works their individual flavor and also adds a level of authenticity to them. The writing flows naturally and the characters and actions are authentic to the setting and theme, as the author is writing authentically and naturally. It's painfully obvious when someone is trying to write in the style of another (other than parody, of course) or to a checklist or template. 

This is the reason that I tend to avoid writer's workshops taught by other authors. Too many of them simply teach authors to write to a formula, to obscure rather than develop their own voice. I'm sure that they honestly believe what they are promoting, as it is what has worked for them. What they don't seem to understand is that it is not suitable to every genre, every audience, or every author.

The same can be said of literary agents. My limited experience with them was that they want authors whose works imitate whatever is topping the best seller lists today. It never seems to occur to them that those best selling authors, regardless of genre, are there because of their individual voice, not in spite of it. 

When I taught storytelling, I emphasized the importance of developing your own voice and style. I was always thrilled when the final performance rolled around and every student had developed an individual style that suited their personality. They also had learned to select stories that built on their individual strengths as storytellers. And every single student was effective, whether holding us rapt with a slowly building tension or making us laugh through humorous antics. They were all confident in their own voice. 

So, how do you develop your own voice as an author? First and foremost, you read -- you read deeply and widely. Partly to study the voices of others, but also to find which "voices" resonate with you and which voices you admire and want to emulate. If you only ever hear one voice, that's the voice you'll measure yourself against and it may be the wrong one. And you can study others' techniques that you might want to employ. 

Second, practice writing. Write in different styles and different formats. Write for different audiences. Experiment with different voices. Utilize those techniques you saw in the works of others. You may find that you have one voice for short stories and another for novels and yet another for blog posts. You'll likely find that some forms of poetry feel natural while others are totally alien. 

Third, seek feedback from other readers and other writers -- but only after you feel confident that you know your voice and your audience. Others can identify weaknesses that you want to resolve and they can also identify certain strengths that you want to build on. Use this feedback to improve and hone your voice, not to change it. 

And, yes, you might even attend writers' workshops taught by other authors. At this point, when you have confidence in your own voice, you'll be able to sift through the advice and keep the kernels while discarding the chaff.