Today Dan Smith, General Manager and staff writer for Know More Media examines how writers discover their voices and the power those voices have.
If there is any one thing that sets writers apart from each other, it is each writer’s individual unique voice, as Easton and Kimberlee have talked about this week. To me, a brief definition of voice is how the writer writes.
What is your voice like? Is it unique? Is it desirable? Is it delicious? Is it memorable? Is it addicting? In order to attract a steady readership in blogging, it must be such things. Blogging is not traditional voiceless journalism. Yes, it can have journalistic elements, but old-school journalism tends to be more factual, newsy, and dry, whereas blogging must be alive, colorful, and titillating.
Blogging must be laden with voice. Bloggers must find and speak in their own unique, original voices; if they don’t have such a voice, they are not fit for blogging. If people want to read an encyclopedia or straight news, they can go to Wikipedia or CNN. The content on our network is different because it is commentary; it digs deeper; it gives a fresh viewpoint, an original take. To properly reflect that uniqueness, our voices must be unique.
As an exercise in communicating my voice, I find it helpful to write without pausing or thinking much at all; that is, before I start writing, I’ll do my homework, get the points I want to cover aligned in my head, think of an example or story, get the loose framework of the article built in my mind, and then when I start writing, I just go. Go go go. Boom. Let it surge straight from my brain through my fingers to the written page, not slowing down to make sure I get it “proper” or “correct.” Of course, afterwards I’ll edit typos and such, but my natural voice will have come through more clearly.
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