Discovering Voice: How to discover your own unique voice as a writer – Research Paper

Introduction

In each class of writing, voice is recognized as fundamental quality for writers to possess. This is because, through voice, a writer can connect with an audience.  According to Thomas (2017), advice on voice has always centered on the need to develop a unique one, but such advice in most cases lacks practical ways through which aspiring writers can develop their voice. Such is the importance of voice in writing, that Thomas (2017) calls it a myth that can, unfortunately, act as a limitation for writers. This is because voice has some attached misconceptions such as “it is a divined gift, talent or genetic trait” (Thomas, 2017, p.128). It is such misconceptions that stop writers dead in their tracks in a world chocked by information excesses. Writers struggle to find their essence in a world that produces information that becomes irrelevant in seconds.  The information overload has been in part due to the remarkable role digital media is playing in this millennium.

Digital media has given people the platform and freedom to present their ideas, motivations, fears, hopes, and dreams. Various formal and informal writing devices and strategies have been used to strike a chord with audiences. This has resulted in writing becoming a critical and valued skill as attention spans decrease with an increase in technology use (Insights, 2015). Furthermore, digital media use has increased while the use of legacy media such as books and newspapers has reduced considerably (Twenge, Martin & Spitzberg, 2019). Digital media platforms have become very important to careers, social life, business promotions, and generally human connection. Everyone has an equal opportunity to craft a message and develop an audience.  Writing is the tool to achieve these aims. The tool is not only important in digital media but also within traditional writing fields such as learning, journalism, speech writing, and publishing. Crafting a voice is essential in today’s world that spends most of its time glued to screens reading. Therefore, this research will seek to answer the question of, “how is a unique voice found?”

Writing with the audience in mind by considering how the writer’s perspectives align with their ideas, needs, and level of understanding. According to Moxley(2021), the needs and interests of prospective readers should be a big factor when composing a text. A successful writer can connect with readers by providing text that is relevant or within their sphere of needs and interests. The short-time-spans of individuals require written text to provide immediate significance else attention will wander elsewhere. For instance, when writing a blog post if the title does not offer immediate significance a person is likely to switch to more interesting content.  Thomas (2017) posits that readers use various ideas or place emphasis on some literary devices in an attempt to infer the basis for the work. The writing process should therefore consider who will likely read the material and if the text relates to the values, ideas, and needs of the prospective reader.

Developing a sense of agency is an important step in the development of one’s voice. Berlatsky(2014) notes that writers will write following some externally imposed rules but creating an avenue from which some form of agency can be attained is also important. Writing is subjectively driven by an individual’s need to be heard or to share something they attach some importance to. The will to write on one’s interests and intentions is ultimately the driving force for most writers.  Berlatsky(2014) argues that individual expression is partly a reason for writing and expression is a product of agency. Developing a sense of agency results in an ability to be a non-passive player in society which according to Dyson(2020,p.120) “is central to becoming an active, adaptive participant across the life span”. Ultimately, an effort that is motivated by an individual’s intention to act on their interests, opens up an opportunity for finding what is most relevant. This further opens up the opportunity to discover how voice will fit in with these intentions. 

In any human endeavor, beliefs are a powerful driving force and writers need to develop self-efficacy beliefs to succeed in discovering their voice. Genrich and Dison(2018) posit that self-efficacy is vital towards attaining the confidence needed to master a craft like writing. Self-efficacy provides writers with affirmation that their understanding is enough to take the next step. This is especially important in contexts that writers face frustration in not matching up to the required demands. A belief rooted in self-efficacy presents an opportunity for the enhancement of the required skills. According to Bandura (1997), self-efficacy presents an individual with tools related that can manipulate factors such as motivation, the environment, and behavior.  Therefore, even in the instance of great challenges, a writer can stick to the challenge until they develop a voice they can identify with. The belief system of an individual will impact their ability to find answers in the face of great difficulty. Discovering one’s voice is not an easy endeavor and having a strong belief in self-efficacy makes it much simpler.

Meaning is an important part of writing and finding topics that have relevance or some importance is a step towards finding a voice. According to Schulten(2019), a writer’s voice is prominent when they write about a topic that is important to them. A topic that is interesting to a writer has more opportunity for a richer result since personality and perspective will be injected.  Renninger and Hidi(2021) note that individuals that have greater self-triggered interest in an issue are more likely to have greater engagement with the issue. Thus, it is more likely that by having an interest in a topic, a writer would be more engaged, taking the time to research and develop the topic. Therefore, writers need to take the time to find a personal connection during the writing process as it will lead to a better understanding of their voice. It is important to note that even in cases when a writer fails to connect to a topic, such as when writing for pay, a connection can arise in developing a form of mastery of the process itself. This leads to the attachment of meaning and an opportunity to discover more about voice.

To discover voice, a writer needs to practice consistently to find out what works and what does not work. According to Yuliana and Gandana(2018), practice is essential for students to craft a voice that increases their ability to achieve engagement. Practice refers to the repetition of an activity or exercise that leads to great proficiency and skill. Voice is also cultivated by consistent writing. Writers, therefore, have to be open to writing a considerable amount of literature to discover what makes their offerings unique. According to Brits (2020), instances of personality, tone, and rhythm are discovered when writers take the time to write a lot and test new methods and techniques. For instance, some writers begin powerfully but end their pieces weakly. This is because personal writing projects have no deadline and most writers will begin the process but rarely finish. Thus, having less practice leads to gaps in skills. To discover your voice, therefore, requires taking the time to experiment, make mistakes and learn from mistakes.

Reading the works of other writers offers an opportunity through which individual voices can be developed. NY Book Editors (2019) advise that to develop a voice, a writer needs to develop the habit of reading a variety of literary works. McCarthy (2017) agrees that analysis of various texts offers learners an opportunity to develop an eye for understanding the voice of these authors. A large part of learning takes place through copying which is essentially how learned behaviors arise. Similarly, the writing done by successful authors can be emulated as a means of learning the mechanics or qualities of voice. This can be done through reading or writing down passages by authors that have struck a strong chord. Such forms of emulation offer writers the chance to experiment and to modify texts they find some relevance or importance. Thus, taking the time to read the work of successful /favorite authors provides a basis on which voice can be recognized. Having an idea of a concept provides a greater chance of the replication of the concept.

Voice is found in written text and through feedback, a writer will have the means to improve and discover their voice. Thomas (2017 p. 128) notes that voice is “contingent” on how a reader perceives the text. For instance, in an essay, the voice of the text will hinge on what the instructor perceives to be important in terms of instructions and how well the essay meets the requirements. On the other hand, such an essay in the hands of another student will have a different voice from the instructors. However, feedback from the instructor will be more valuable and objective due to experience and expertise while the feedback of the fellow student might be more subjective to affirm the voice more positively. It is therefore crucial for writers seeking to discover voice to share their work as much as possible. Feedback from both perspectives enables a writer to form a well-rounded approach to criticism and praise as well as offer an opportunity to work on weaknesses. Discovery of voice thus requires the expression to be critiqued. Therefore; writers get to discover whether their idea of voice in their writing correlates to the voice reader’s encounter. Thus, writers are given an opportunity for feedback which is key for improvement.

Conclusion

Voice is an essential quality for writers and it is the unique value that a piece of text offers to readers. The world’s reliance on digital media has seen people’s attention spans significantly reduce requiring writers to be unique in their craft to capture audiences. However, discovering a unique voice is not easy but it can be done by careful application of various strategies. Writing should be done with the audience in mind and how they relate to a writer’s perspectives and ideas. A writer has to develop a sense of agency which will provide a sense of ownership of the work. Furthermore, developing self-efficacy will aid a writer to persist in developing a voice. Writing on topics with personal connection or meaning will lead to more engagement with the test and open up opportunities to develop a voice.  Practice makes perfect and consistent practice will lead to a greater chance to make mistakes and learn. Reading the voice of favorite authors provides an opportunity to emulate and replicate by imitation opening up the chance for self-discovery. Feedback is also important for the discovery of voice since it offers a chance to learn from constructive criticism. Voice is not an easy quality to cultivate, but by application of these strategies, a writer can be on the right path to discover theirs.

Bibliography

Dyson, A. H. (2020). “This isn’t my real writing”: The fate of children’s agency in too-tight curricula. Theory Into Practice, 59(2), 119-127.

Gennrich, T., & Dison, L. (2018). Voice matters: Students’ struggle to find voice. Reading & Writing-Journal of the Reading Association of South Africa, 9(1), 1-8.

Moxley, J. (2021, June 20). Audience. Writing Commons. https://writingcommons.org/section/rhetoric/rhetorical-situation/audience/

NY Book Editors. (2019, August 30). Finding Your Writer’s Voice. https://nybookeditors.com/2017/06/find-writers-voice/

Berlatsky, N. (2014, December 1). ‘Voice’ Isn’t the Point of Writing. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/finding-your-voice-as-a-writer-overrated/382946/

Brits, L. (2020, November 28). Writer’s Voice: What Is It and How to Find Yours. – The Writing Cooperative. Medium. https://writingcooperative.com/the-writers-voice-what-is-and-how-to-find-yours-ed82f1884984

Renninger, K. A., & Hidi, S. E. (2021). Interest development, self-related information processing, and practice. Theory Into Practice, 1-12.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman.

McCarthy, J. (2017, August 21). The Mechanics of Developing a Writer’s Voice. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/mechanics-developing-writers-voice

Yuliana, D., & Gandana, I. S. S. (2018). Writers’ voice and engagement strategies in students’ analytical exposition texts. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(3), 613-620.

Insights, C. (2015). Attention spans. http://pausethinkconsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/microsoft-attention-spans-research-report.pdf

Schulten, K. (2020, October 7). Writer’s Voice: ‘Intolerance and Love in Jamaica.’ The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/12/learning/writers-voice.html

Twenge, J. M., Martin, G. N., & Spitzberg, B. H. (2019). Trends in US Adolescents’ media use, 1976–2016: The rise of digital media, the decline of TV, and the (near) demise of print. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(4), 329.

Thomas, P.(2017). Writers must develop a strong, original voice. Bad Ideas, 126.