How did you find your own personal voice in writing?
And how do you distinguish it from the ringing of everyone else’s?
Can someone who has read you recognize you without you signing your name underneath?
I notice that almost everywhere my characters seem to be great idealists and a little naive. This is characteristic of me and I carry it everywhere in my stories – it’s like people who don’t adapt well because they constantly yearn for a favorite place, and it’s not the one they live in. ❤
I think that’s a fascinating question, Plamen, and I’d love to hear lots of opinions on it.
At The Company, I recently did a game with my apprentices in which they had to write three different flash vignettes, and try to achieve as different of voices for each as possible. When we were done, everyone read one another’s work and tried to guess who had written which one.
My opinion is that it’s a mark of a strong writer to be able to adopt a voice other than your own. It’s a worthwhile exercise just to stretch yourself as a writer.
However, strong writers often have a strong and distinct voice of their own. Even though they CAN write in another voice, there’s a lot of power in developing a specific and distinctive voice, and our personality and values will shine through it.
