7 Ways to Cultivate Your Unique Voice as a Writer

EPISODE DESCRIPTION – Your narrative voice is something unique to you, that sets you apart from others. People can tell it's your voice before they even know you wrote it. So, how do you make that happen? How do you cultivate it? How do you find your author voice? Your writer voice? Watch this episode to find out just that.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Today what I want to talk to you about is developing your unique narrative voice. Now we hear this kind of thing all the time, we all know it's important, everybody talks about your voice, your voice, what is your voice, do you have your own voice as a storyteller?

[00:00:27] But the problem is, is that nobody really talks about how to cultivate that or how you're supposed to get it. We know we need it, but how do we get it? And I want to make it practical for you insofar as it's possible to be a practical thing. Because there are some tricky nuances here. 

[00:00:45] however, the first place to start is by looking at the definition of voice. What What is the voice of a writer?

[00:00:52] What does that even mean? 

[00:00:55] The writer's voice is like a fingerprint. It's something that is unique to them. It is something that sets them apart. It is something that is identifiable and attributable. Only to them. It's a style of writing that only you have like a Picasso painting, or a Rembrandt or a Dolly painting.

[00:01:20] Those are unique And both artists and observers of art can identify who a painting belongs to by the style, by the strokes, by the various nuances that have gone into that painting. And the same is true for a writer. It is the way you turn a phrase. It's your brush strokes in writing, if you will.

[00:01:45] And other people can tell it's yours. You did that. Now I'm going to be honest with you here. I didn't think I had a voice. I didn't know I had a voice until people started reaching out to me and saying, Oh, I just read an article that you'd written. I knew it was yours before I even saw your name 

[00:02:04] or, hey, I just read this short story and I was like, that sounds like Xena. And then lo and behold, at the end, it was you that wrote it. I didn't even know it. I did not know that I had a unique voice that allowed people to identify the things that I was writing or the things that I was saying, 

[00:02:22] With this podcast, for example.

[00:02:25] And I was surprised by this. Because I really didn't think I had much of a unique voice. I'm no Hemingway. I'm no E. E. Cummings. I'm no Mark Twain or Tony Morrison or Charles Dickens. To me, those are the people that have a unique voice. You can tell a Charles Dickens novel almost anywhere by the way that he writes it.

[00:02:48] however other people have been identifying work that I have done and identifying a unique voice. So that got me thinking, well, how did I do that? What did I do? And how do other writers do it? Well, how did I do that? What did I do exactly? And how do other writers do it? Because we all know we need to do it.

[00:03:11] It was a very pleasant thing to hear that I had a voice, especially since I hadn't been cultivating it because I didn't think I had much of a unique voice. All right. So again, the definition of a voice is that it's something distinctive and individualistic. It is something distinctive and individualistic in the way in which a writer expresses themselves in words through their writing.

[00:03:37] and here's the thing, it encompasses things like word choices, sentence structure, tone, rhythm, stylistic elements, devices, themes, worldview, character development, and Focuses in terms of what you focus on in your characters, and the writer's overall approach to storytelling.

[00:04:02] it encompasses all those things, but none of those things are it exactly. So what is it? What is it? 

[00:04:08] and what we all know, is that if we hope to be a good writer, then we have to cultivate a voice. The problem is, is that what I've encountered is that most writers who try to have a voice, who artificially try to establish their voice

[00:04:25] usually fail to do so or they just come across as weird. So this begs the question then, how do you do it? How do you develop your unique voice as a writer?

[00:04:38] the truth of the matter is, it's a mystery. I hate to say it, but it's a mystery. 

[00:04:45] However, there are a few insights that I want to share with you today that I hope will be helpful to you, because they're things that you do have power over. See, a lot of times, the reason it's a mystery is because there's so much you don't have power over. You can't arbitrarily construct a voice. It just is something that happens.

[00:05:04] However, there are some things that you can do that will help you to get there. And that's what I'm going to share with you today. So number one. Don't try so hard. Now this may sound counterproductive, but the truth is, it cannot be artificially forged. It's something that happens over time, through experience, through practice, through repetition.

[00:05:29] It's something that develops naturally and organically as you commit yourself to this craft. So don't try to construct it. Don't set up arbitrary boundaries or force yourself to use certain words or phrases or any of those things. That is the wrong way to establish a voice as a writer or an artist.

[00:05:54] Instead, number two, be authentic. 

[00:05:59] The most important thing you can do to unintentionally cultivate a voice is to simply be authentic. Which means that you commit to telling a story in the best way that you know how. You simply tell a story the best way you know how. Avoid the tricks or the gimmicks, or all those things that you think are going to be great, and you avoid the arbitrary techniques.

[00:06:23] Instead, you simply love your story, love your characters, and then get excited and passionate about telling that story in the most clear way that you know how. You'll be surprised how far that will take you in terms of establishing an authentic voice. one of the things I learned about myself is that a lot of my voice has been established because of my need to articulate abstract ideas in a practical and concrete way.

[00:06:56] My desire is to communicate these things clearly, And therefore I don't use a lot of flowery language. I try to boil it down to the essential core stuff, which, as it turns out, has become part of my voice.

[00:07:11] But that wasn't because I was arbitrarily trying to do that, it's just because that was where my passion was. I was just being authentic to where my passion was, and that allowed a voice to develop. Okay, number three. Write.

[00:07:32] in order for your voice to emerge, you simply must write. That's all there is to it. You have to establish regular practices for writing. You have to be engaged in this regularly. You must be consistent. you can't get good at anything without practice. You can't master anything without practice.

[00:07:55] You certainly can't develop your own style without practice, so you must write it is an absolute essential for you to simply write.

[00:08:05] But in addition to that, number four, you must read and not just read, but reading the work of other writers and particularly great writers. Now, this may sound counterproductive because if you're reading a lot of these great writers, doesn't that mean you're going to mimic them in style and doesn't that undermine the whole goal of developing your own unique voice?

[00:08:29] Well, yes, if you are actually mimicking them and trying to recreate what they're doing. But here's what's happening when you. Study the works of the great. It's not that you're going to mimic them. It's not that you're going to parrot them, it's that you are learning more about your craft. You're becoming an expert on your own, right, simply because you know what they've done.

[00:08:52] You are seeing the technique worked out by the masters and anybody worth their salt in any field of discipline does this. If you are a fine artist. You're not studying the art of other artists that are great. You're learning what the masters did. If you're a plumber, you're learning the techniques, the solutions that those plumbers came up with.

[00:09:13] You can't come up with your own unique ones until you know how other people have done it. required of you to study the people that have gone before. If you are an athlete in a certain field, then you must watch the tapes of the great. You must learn what did they do. You must learn their habits. You must understand how they became masters of their craft and then see how they implemented their own version of that mastery.

[00:09:40] Because they all adapt things to their own situation. And once you've become a master by Absorbing and taking in all of the excellence of these other ones. Now you have the right to adapt, to modify, to see things differently. Now you'll even come up with ideas that aren't intentionally trying to break the rules.

[00:10:03] They just are, but it works for the story because now you're more creative because you have more things in your toolkit to work with. So it is incumbent on you to study the masters, to read great works of literature, to read the greats, so that you yourself become a master and are freed up to explore.

[00:10:26] Now, let me give you a caveat here. As I said, you must study the great writers. Because the truth is There's a principle and we become like those that we hang around That's true in life, and it's true in terms of our craft if we read Average writers we will be average if we hang around people with loose morals.

[00:10:52] We will have loose morals It doesn't matter. We become like those that we associate with. I even have some actor friends who refuse to watch Hallmark movies because they are afraid they will become worse actors by association. I also have a lot of writer friends who won't watch these types of films for the same reason.

[00:11:14] I avoid reading bad literature because I'm afraid it's going Because I don't want to become worse at my craft. Instead, I submerge myself in the work of the greats so that I too might be great at my craft because I know it's going to rub off on me. Now, this means that people who only read certain kinds of fiction are limited in what they can do.

[00:11:48] It also means that people who refuse to, say, watch R rated films and they're screenwriters simply will not be equipped to write material suited for adults. We need to expand our exposure to the greats and not be afraid of some of those things. So, we need to be reading the works of great writers who have gone before us, and that will make us great.

[00:12:17] By the way, if you're a screenwriter, I cannot tell you the number of people who have said to me, I want to be a screenwriter, and I'll say, okay, well how many scripts have you read? None? Really? But you want to be a screenwriter? Probably one of the best ways for you to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read great screenplays.

[00:12:38] Simply read great screenplays. how on earth are you going to master the craft if you haven't learned what the greats are doing? And that also means you have to know the difference between reading a transcript of a movie and reading the original draft and where to find those things. And if you have questions about that, feel free to reach out to me.

[00:12:57] I would be happy to direct you to the right resources. Okay.

[00:13:01] This leads me to number five. And this is very important because if you really want to establish a voice, what you have to do is you have to figure out what you believe and then you have to have something to say about it. Now whatever it is that you're saying needs to be fresh. It has to be something new.

[00:13:25] It has to be something that only you can see because of your own life experiences. And I'm going to say something controversial here. Generally speaking, not always, because there have been some phenomenal writers who have started at 20, 22 years old, whatever, they've published these amazing works. That happens.

[00:13:45] But by and large, It's hard for me to find a young writer that has anything fresh to say, any unique observations, any unique insights about the world, because they simply haven't lived enough and therefore they're regurgitating the things that they're learning right now. One thing I used to say is that experience is the best teacher, but the tuition is too high.

[00:14:12] We have something to say because life has kicked us around a little bit, and now we see things differently. When I was younger, I was so dogmatic, 

[00:14:22] And by dogmatic, I mean I was judgmental, I was a know it all, I was legalistic, I was black and white. The older I've gotten, the more I've had to understand grace on a whole new level because of how much grace has been given to me. And it's changed and altered my perceptions and also the way I behave with other people.

[00:14:45] Because I can't be dogmatic like that anymore. I can't be self righteous like that anymore. So if you're young don't let that discourage you just know that you're practicing and maybe you have enough life Experiences already to bring something unique and fresh to the table and you should keep trying but you should also live One of the ways that you can get perspective in fast order is to travel To see the world to meet people from other cultures if you are living a cloistered existence if you have not If left your state or your town for that matter, if you have not experienced and bumped up against people in other cultures, you probably don't have a very fresh, unique, or wide perspective or foundation from which to write.

[00:15:40] So my encouragement to you, if you're young, travel. Make it a goal. Purpose in your heart. to make yearly trips to foreign countries, not dangerous ones, but anywhere. It doesn't matter where. And then try to get to know the people there. 

[00:15:57] try not to not just sit on the beach drinking pina coladas, but to actually go and see how do these people live, learn about them, learn from them, ask them questions, ask them to tell you stories. It will expand your mind in short order. It will give you life experience quickly.

[00:16:17] Simply because you're learning from those that are around you in these various different cultures. So that's one of the best things you can do. So if you're young, travel. Even if you're old, travel. It's a good way to do that. but know that one of the primary things that you have to have to have a voice is you have to know what you believe And you have to be able to articulate it in a fresh way.

[00:16:43] You have to have something to say. Okay, number six.

[00:16:48] Be vulnerable. You have to be willing to take risks. You have to be willing to make a fool out of yourself. You have to be willing to get it wrong.

[00:17:00] You have to be willing to go against the status quo and to break rules and to break boundaries and to trust yourself as a creative. you have to be willing to dig deep, to expose yourself, to tell the truth about yourself, to admit what you don't know and to seek help when you need it. You have to be willing to be raw.

[00:17:24] The raw honesty of a writer resonates deeply with readers and it leaves a lasting impression. but this leads me to the final principle or idea or suggestion as to how to develop a voice today. Number seven, once you've done all these things, once you've mastered the craft, once you have mastered traveled and figured out what you want to say once you have learned how to be authentic and you're willing to be bold and you're writing regularly and you're reading the works of others and you're not trying so hard to cultivate a voice once you've done all those things.

[00:18:02] The last thing I would encourage you to do is trust the muse. Trust the mystery. Now, this is a little nebulous and vague and I know that, but the truth is, whenever we are artists, we're tapping into something bigger than ourselves. You're tapping into creativity that somehow takes us to places we never knew.

[00:18:25] You have to learn to tap into it and to trust it. In some ways, being an artist is one of the closest things to divinity that I can ever experience. I am creating just like the divine created in me.

[00:18:44] So there is something divine at work in our art and we must learn to embrace it, to trust it, to lean on it, to explore it, to abandon knowledge for a brief time and embrace it. But you can only do that after you have mastered the craft. You can only do that after you become a master. Really, truly.

[00:19:10] And in many ways, this is where the joy of artistry comes in. It's where the excitement is. Because it is where we're blowing past the boundaries that have been created for us. So it's a little more nebulous, but I still think it is a key. thing that helps us then establish voice and notice that the only way for us to really lean into that is by trusting our own Experiences that have come before by having something to say all of those things it plays into this particular point So I hope that these seven points are helpful to you in terms of how to develop your unique voice.

[00:19:50] if you need help learning to develop your own unique narrative voice and story, then I highly recommend that you sign up for my current online course, Hollywood Story Structure Made Easy.

[00:20:02] Now you might be thinking, what does that have to do with cultivating a unique voice? Well, it has to do with telling a good story with excellence. And when you authentically do that, when you are able to master that, your voice will come out. It's one of the best things you can do today to take your writing to the next level, to become a master of your craft, and to develop that unique voice that you've been trying to cultivate probably since you started writing.

[00:20:31] You do not want to miss this course. It is currently on sale. It is in its beta phase. It's the perfect time to join. Don't miss out because it's a limited time only. Click on the link provided and I look forward to seeing you there. 

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