How to Discover Your Writing Voice: Listen to the Words on the Page
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How to Discover Your Writing Voice: Listen to the Words on the Page

Two years ago, when I was starting my blogging journey on LinkedIn, I fretted about many things.

First, what should I write about? And, related to that, could I think of enough topics to meet my goal of publishing a post each week?

As if those questions weren't the source of enough worry, I had an even bigger concern: what would my writing voice sound like?

And how would I develop it? Would it evolve through brute force practice?  Or would it emerge gradually and organically?

My first few attempts didn't yield much.

But then Mother's Day came, and I decided to write a post about my mother who was, at the time, suffering from a serious illness. Living on the other side of the planet made it difficult for me to fully convey my feelings of gratitude for what she had done for me over the years, so I used my post as a vehicle for doing that.

I sat down at my favorite writing spot—my dinner table—turned on the movie projector in my mind, and transported myself back to when I was just 13 years old. I told the story of how my mother forked over a chunk of her savings to invest in my first computer, an Apple II+. I wrote about how it was a life-changing purchase, a gift that had a lasting impact on me.

As the view count swelled and the post reached one of the top three on Pulse, I pored over the more than 160 comments left by readers who were moved by my story.

That early post changed how I approached my writing on LinkedIn. I learned that if I can tap into a powerful memory or emotion or insight—and then just listen to what the story tells me—the words flow seamlessly.

Listening has become crucial to how I write: I listen to words as I read them back to myself in my head, and then try different versions until I discover ones that fit.

I listen to how words sound next to each other in a sentence. Can I feel the beat? Can I feel the rhythm of the words? Am I varying the tempo, tone, and volume?

Much of the musical effect of my words and sentences I achieve through the use of strategically placed commas, colons, semicolons, dashes, and periods. These unassuming little punctuation marks pack a lot of punch, and I’m in awe of their power to take my words and transform them into musical notes and phrases.

When I feel that I've done enough wrangling with my words at the sentence-by-sentence, paragraph-by-paragraph level, I zoom out and read through the whole piece to see if it flows smoothly.

And how do I know if a piece is ready?

If I read it and hear music, then I know I've got something worth sharing with the world.

How did you discover your writing voice? What advice would you have for writers trying to find theirs? Please let me know in the comments.

For conversations with writers about writing, check out my podcast, Write With Impact, on iTunes here, or on my website here. Please reach out to connect with me on LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @glennleibowitz 

Simon Stanton

Project Manager at Lloyds Banking Group

7y

Glenn, thanks for sharing this, it's one of the most helpful pieces of writing advice I've received in a long time.

Gordon RAY

Lecturer In Management, Technology, Strategy (MTS) at Grenoble Ecole de Management

7y

Very useful article. Down-to-earth, personal approach.

John R. Schafer

Sales Leader | Sales Manager | National Account Manager | Team Builder | Strategic Sales Planning | Janitorial Supplies | Chemicals |

7y

Glenn: Great advice. I just finished the final edit of my self-published book with my oldest daughter. She read it out loud - amazing how many additional edits I made because of that. Read your stuff out loud - you'll discover a lot you want to change.

vbsreddy7@gmail.com Excellent , Very much informative

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