How to Find What You Don't Know How to Look For- Your Voice

 by Charlotte Bennardo

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-paper-51159/

Finding your voice. For authors, this is can be a tough concept. Editors and agents will say 'find your voice' which means that we haven't gotten our narrative style down just right. Masterclass (find at: https://www.masterclass.com/articles) offers eleven points to help develop your voice:

1. Determine your point of view. This means First, third, or omniscient person, and determine which tense works best; past or present.

2. Be consistent with the narrator's voice. If the narrator is thoughtful, don't suddenly make them snarky.

3. Be aware of sentence structure and word choices. Think deliberately and choose words that fit the writing without pretension or verbosity. Don't talk up or down to your intended readers. 

4. Keep a balance between description and dialogue. Too much of either slows down the pace.

5. Write! Even if it's only a few sentences a day, writing consistently is key to finishing projects, developing your skills, and establishing writing as a priority.

6. Imitate artists you enjoy. Learn how to pace, write dialogue, describe, etc. by reading and imitating their style, but leave room for your style.

7. Mine your personal experiences. You've learned life lessons and experienced much, so use that to enrich your writing. Nothing speaks truer than personal knowledge of pain, joy, loss, etc.

8. Be self-aware; know yourself. If you don't enjoy romances, don't try to write one. It will sound forced and lackluster, and you will hate writing it.

9. Observing people can not only generate ideas, but will give you insights on how people think, react, and feel. This will give your characters authenticity.

10. Let others critique your work, but remember that it's your story so go with what your instincts tell you. You should know your characters well enough to know when a suggestion doesn't fit.

11. Your voice changes; as you write and gain experience, sharpen your skills, and venture into different artistic endeavors, your voice evolves. 

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels and short stories in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, horror, paranormal and romance genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy: Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has several short stories in anthologies and online, along with newspaper and magazine articles. Having finished her MFA, she's applying what she learned, and is working on several children's and adult novels and short stories. She lives in NJ but dreams of a Caribbean beach house.