Finding our Writing Voice on Vocal in a World Full of Noise

Writing is something I have always done. Whether it be journaling, schoolwork, or passing notes in school. I talk a lot, so I also write a lot of words when four might get the point across I use four sentences instead.

I went to college at forty and took every English class I could. I love learning the written word whether it be Comp 1 which was writing different types of essays, Comp 2 which was learning symbolism and writing essays about stories, books, or the authors that wrote them. World Literature was longer stories with history thrown in and writing essays and learning deeper symbols within them. More literature classes with more essay writing, book reviews, research, etc. I loved the writing aspect of all of my classes.

Within those classes, I learned writers have voices. I never thought of a voice within our written word. We verbally communicate daily with family, friends, coworkers, store clerks, etc. We have a way we talk, a cadence, a tone, a volume that expresses our wants, desires, feelings, and personalities. Our writing conveys those same messages.

As I learned to write better, I started seeing my voice and my personality and how I show it to people. Where I would write four paragraphs to express a thought or an emotion, I learned four sentences that are thoughtfully written worked much better. As we talk, we can give to much information that isn't relevant to the situation we can do that in writing as well. With this overload of information, we can lose our conversational partner, and our message is lost in translation. This too can happen in our writing.

Our voice can come through loud and clear without us forcing it to be loud. Strong emotion can be conveyed with strength and conviction without us being overbearing. By learning our voice and learning the patterns of how we communicate we can convey big messages that stick with someone long past the reading of our words.

I am not a poetry writer at all, and I am not really into poetry. I read a lot but I am not a fiction writer either. I have a hard time developing characters and setting the stage. I love to learn and teach and in my writing that is conveyed in my voice. I love to research and learn and tell the "story" of what I learned. Research and teaching what I learned are some of my favorite writings. Taking a thought and expanding on it is also a way I learn about myself.

In my journals, my voice is slightly different. I use my journals as a place to dump my insecurities. I get very long-winded and repetitious ruminating a lot on my perceived failings. In those writings, I try to unload what is circulating to clear my head. Those are personal and famous for having four paragraphs for one emotion.

We never show the same personality trait to everyone. We have different ways we convey ourselves to different people. You have the boss "face", the spouse "face", the parent "face", the stranger "face", and even a "face" just for us. Each "face" is different, but the underlining voice is the same. Whether you are journaling, writing a poem, telling a story, or a letter your underlining voice is the same. Every time we see a picture of ourselves no matter what age we see underlying similarities in our eyes, nose, or smile we know that is us. Our writing no matter what has the same underlining similarities as all our other writings.

Developing our voice is harder than you think, and I am still learning and growing in my voice. It comes as we grow in maturity in our writing and our lives. Knowing our voice is different than someone else is a good stepping-off point in the continued growth of our craft and of ourselves.