Finding Your Voice as a Writer

In writing, we talk a lot about finding your voice. Finding your voice has a lot to do with figuring out what you want to write about, which depends solely on figuring out what kind of writer you want to be. The way I see it, there are three types of writers. The Cynic. The Romantic. The Seeker. While writing is a journey, I think almost, almost all writers fall into one category. But, writers can change categories as they grow.

Like most creatives, The Cynic sees life through a different lens leading to him to being misunderstood. The Cynic actually has a positive outlook, but is mistaken for his negative comments. Mostly, The Cynic is young and idealistic and believes that he has everything figured out and that his point of view truly means something. It can be difficult for The Cynic to find an audience.

The Romantic is an undeveloped type of writer. He has little experience. The Romantic is romantic about the writing itself, even though he may have nothing to say. His writing may be the weakest, destined to end up on grocery store checkout aisles, next to spearmint gum. But there is hope for The Romantic. With some training and education, there is some solid writing to be found buried beneath the surface.

The Seeker is always looking for the truth. The Seeker is the most developed writer. Although as writers we are all storytellers, The Seeker is the true storyteller. He wants to tell the story at all costs and he won’t rest until he finds the truth. To The Seeker, substance is the most important. The Seeker can be a fiction writer, as long as it’s a well developed, believable, honest story. I place reporters and journalists in this category, because by definition they are always looking for the whole story. For The Seeker, the story is never finished. There’s always more to say, more character development, more adventure, more. But The Seeker has to have enough discipline to know when the story is finished. He has to know more than the other two that more is always better, as long as the story is complete. But I think The Seeker is the trues form of a writer, because writers write because they have to.

You’re probably wondering what kind of writer I am. I said in the beginning that most writers fall into one category, it’s also true that it’s a journey getting there. When I started writing in high school, I wrote poetry, mostly about girls and nature and walks on the beach, the mark of a romantic writer. I finished high school and moved to community college and like most nineteen year old's, I though I knew everything. I was the cool barista” who quietly judged everyone who seemingly knew less than I did. Not so cool actually. I even wrote a piece call The Death of the American Dream. Of course, I had no idea what I was talking about, but I made sure everyone else knew my opinion on the matter. Anyone who would listen of course.

Now, I write for the sake of the story. It’s not just words on a page anymore. There has to be more to it. These days when I sit down to write, fiction or otherwise, I find myself drawn to do the research it only to get ideas for a fiction piece, but also to write well informed article. People are often surprised by how much of recipe development or writing notes for a whiskey tasting is actually doing research and putting in the work. As I’ve become The Seeker, like Seekers the world over, credibility is the most important thing. If we can’t be credible, then the story is shit. Nobody wants to be the shitty writer.