finding my voice

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

To be a writer, it's essential to find your voice. Anyone can write. It's how you write it and your voice behind it which makes it stand out and makes people notice. I've always been soft spoken and I've read many different styles of writing. Some are so out there, blasphemous, cursing, energetic, explosive, bam! BAM! BAM!!! And you've got those who write with such sophistication you can't help but wish you could write the same eloquence and grace as they do. It's easy to try and copy their style, but what you end up with is just a remake of what belongs to someone else...and putting your own content into it doesn't exactly equal your voice. So what am I supposed to write to show people my voice? What is my voice? Is it the issues that I write about? Is it how I express my feelings and try to put them into words to mark those magic moments? Am I supposed to be outrageous? Funny? Tear jerking? How can I do all that? I just want to write what is really a part of my thoughts, my feelings. Whatever I write shouldn't be a rehash of someone else's beliefs. What is my voice? And what am I good at writing about or for? What are my opinions? What do I believe in? What is it about me that will make people stop?