According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 131,200 employed writers in 2019. With so many writers getting their work published each day, how will you make yours stand out?

It’s important to have a strong writing voice to draw a bigger audience to your work. If you’re not sure how to find your voice, you’ll find some helpful tips in this guide. Keep reading to learn what they are.

Find Your Point of View

Before you begin writing, it’s important to ask yourself a few questions. You should have a clear understanding of what you want to write and why. You should have an idea or theme you want to focus on in each specific piece of writing.

Narrowing down that point of view is the best way to develop a strong voice unique to you. You can figure out the exact story you want to write about by starting with a rough draft. Jot down a few ideas, to begin with, and work from there.

Don’t Try to Sound Like Another Writer

When trying to develop your own voice in writing, it’s important to know some things you shouldn’t do as well. While it’s great to get inspiration from other successful writers, you should never try to emulate their writing.

This is a disservice to yourself because you aren’t allowing yourself to share your own story. The thing that attracts readers to a specific piece of writing is its authenticity.

Staying true to who you are is the best way to develop a strong voice. You can’t do this if you’re trying to mimic someone else’s writing.

Practice Writing

You’ll never develop a literary voice if you don’t write. Write as much as you can each day, whether it’s a few paragraphs or pages.

The more you write, the easier it gets. As you let the words flow onto paper, you’ll become more confident in your writing. This will allow your voice to shine through.

Start with what feels comfortable, whether that’s short stories or essays. Experiment with different styles and genres of writing. When you practice writing outside of your comfort zone, you’ll become a better storyteller.

Pick One Narrative Voice

As you begin writing, it’s important to remain consistent. Consistency and structure will give you the foundation you need to build a strong writing voice.

This means that you should choose to write in one narrative voice, whether that’s first or third person. Some experienced writers like to switch between the two, but you should start with one narrative voice as you learn to develop your own.

Don’t Worry About Sounding Smart

Another thing that can hold you back when it comes to writing and developing your own voice is trying too hard to sound like an intellectual. Writing with a thesaurus next to you is the wrong way to go.

Don’t worry about finding fancy words to use, write as you would naturally speak. When you try to sound like you know more than the reader, this can come off as elitist.

Don’t worry about how something will sound, just write what comes to mind. This will give you a relatable voice.

Find a New Perspective

There are many kinds of writing exercises to help you build your voice and develop your personal style. One thing you can do is try writing one story from multiple perspectives.

If you’ve written a short story and aren’t quite sure how to make it better, write it from the perspective of another character. You can also take stories from other authors, if you’re having trouble writing your own, and rewrite them from the point of view of a secondary character.

Determine the Structure

Thinking about the sentence structure and word choice of a specific piece of writing can help you hone in on your writing voice. Consider whether you want to use short or long sentences.

Will your characters speak in certain colloquialisms? Will they curse? Will they have inner monologues?

These choices will help give your characters their own unique voice while also helping you develop yours.

Don’t Worry About the Grammar

In the same way that you shouldn’t focus on trying to sound smart, don’t give too much attention to grammar. It might sound strange to hear that it’s ok for your writing to be grammatically incorrect but it really is, in some instances.

When writing your first draft of something, the grammar shouldn’t be given any importance. Write the way you would speak, this is the clearest way to find your writing voice.

You can then go back and edit for major spelling and punctuation errors without eliminating what makes your writing unique.

Read as Much as You Can

An experienced reader will always be a better writer. Read as often as you can. Reading different kinds of writing will show you how other authors express their voice within their work.

Pay attention to how they tell their stories. This will help you find writing techniques that can help you develop your own voice.

Hire a Ghostwriter

If you know exactly what you want to say but struggle to put words to paper, you can always consider hiring a ghostwriter. When you hire a ghostwriter, you’ll receive work that’s researched and revised thoroughly.

A professional writer can help reflect your voice in the best way.

Develop a Strong Writing Voice With These Tips

If you want to develop a strong writing voice, there are certain steps to take. It’s important to find your point of view and practice as much as you can. You can also consider hiring a ghostwriter.

Did you find helpful tips in this article? If you did, check out some of the other blogs on our site.