Finding Your Voice

Voice is the very essence of your writing and your stories. Voice is the soul and spirit of your prose. Everything you’ve ever touched, smelled, heard, and tasted; everything you’ve experienced in your life, studied in school, seen on television; the movies you’ve watched, the books you’ve read, the people you’ve met, your family and friends, the people you’ve loved and hated—everything contributes to making you the unique person you are.

As a result, every word you write will come from deep within your psyche, from your heart, and from your soul.
The words you choose, the paragraphs you write, how you structure your sentences, the white space on the page, even the way you punctuate will be distinctively yours. The underlying themes that emerge, the pace and flow of the prose, the nuances, similes and metaphors—all of these things make up your voice without you even trying.

Voice is the personality of your writing. Some authors’ voices are in your face, so strong that readers either love it or hate it. Other authors’ voices are subtle, so smooth that it’s almost not there. Don’t be fooled; it is.

Your voice is how the writing sounds not only in your head and the reader’s head, but it’s how it sounds coming off the page and read aloud. There’s a rhythm, a cadence to the prose. Voice can literally be music to your ears. And just as you may prefer rock and roll over opera, that doesn’t mean opera is bad; it simply means that it doesn’t appeal to you or resonate from within—so too with books.

How do you find your voice? First, learn the rules of grammar, study writing techniques, and hone your craft. After which, you must stifle your inner critic and internal editor, and write from the heart and from the gut. When it’s time to revise, listen to that voice in your head and don’t edit it out of your work, because that voice is what makes your writing yours and yours alone.

About AnneMarie

I enjoy writing old-fashioned romance with a whole lot of sizzle ~~~ Favorite Books: All of Georgette Heyer's wonderful Regency Romances; Gone With the Wind; The Little House Books; Harry Potter; Anne of Green Gables; This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips ~~~ Favorite Movies: Return to Me; An Affair to Remember; Sebrina (newer version); Sarah Plain and Tall; Roman Holiday; Pretty Woman ~~~ Favorite Music: Moody Blues, Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Jim Croce, Elton John, Seals & Crofts, Chicago, John Denver ~~~ Favorite Quotation: "Love Conquers All" ~~~~ AnneMarie Trivia: I love hummingbirds :) ~~~~ ABOUT MY LONE STAR ROMANCES: When people think of Texas, they usually think about cowboys, ranches and horses. But Texas is more than that. It’s not just a place; it’s an attitude, a state of mind. Everything is bigger and better in Texas, or so it seems to those of us living here. My favorite kind of hero is tall, dark and Texan. Whether a rugged sexy cowboy or a single-dad teaching at the local high school, these heroes are strong men waiting for strong women to call their own—no matter how hard they fight it, no matter how loudly they deny it. I hope you enjoy reading about my Lone Star Heroes and the women they fall in love with. There are those who say life’s too short not to live it as a Texan. I say LIFE'S TOO SHORT NOT TO LOVE A TEXAN!!! Happy Reading!!!
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