What do you mean "Find Your Voice?"

Fiction writers are told to find their voice. Well, what is voice, and for that matter, how do you find it?

I mastered the mechanics of good writing by learning and following the guidelines or ... stay with me here ... the rules. Then, I began to understand when and how to break them to turn my manuscript into a symphony or a dance of words.

About that same time, I started a new series, and when I sent my critique partners the first chapter, they told me I'd found my voice. Cool. I didn't know I'd lost it. I mean, I didn't have laryngitis or even a sore throat.

Okay, I'm being silly and probably not that funny, so you can stop rolling your eyes. In truth, I'd been working on voice. I read Les Edgerton's book Finding Your Voice. I highly recommend it if you're still looking for yours.

In Edgerton's book, he said go back and look at letters you'd written when you were young or at least before you began to write. There was your voice.

As I thought about that, I remembered how our friends always told me they loved my Christmas letters. Mine were the ones they actually read and looked forward to. When I was late with it one year, I received a few "Where is it?" emails.

Instead of a travelogue or a report on the kiddos' doings, I made up stories about the major events of the past year, poking fun at us and liberally adding embellishments.

I pulled out those past Christmas letters and studied them. I noticed the cadence, the style, and the sound of them. That's what I wanted to get in my fiction.

I then tried a new game of "Name that Author."

First, I went to a multi-author blog—it doesn't work on any other type. (NOTE: This needs to be a blog of authors well known to you.) I chose Girls Write Out. Before I looked at the signature or by-line, I tried to guess who wrote it. 

Between the post and their fiction, I could see the similarity in the "voice." It was natural and organic to the author. While some may have similarities, especially if they write in the same genre, each author does have a unique voice.

If you're still developing your voice, read ... a lot. Don't copy another writer, but rather study what they do and how they do it. Then look at something you wrote before you started perusing a writing career. Forget the mechanics for a moment. What did the writing sound like? That's most likely your voice.

Try it for a while and see what happens.