Writers, raise your voice!

You can't find your voice if you don't use it.

A few valuable posts on author’s voice…

Reclaiming My Writer’s Voice
by Kay Bolden

My favorite lines from the post:

The keyboard and the screen made it far too easy to distance myself from my words. To sink into sales mode or trope mode or campaign mode. When I write by hand, I lead with my body, not my brain.

How I Found My Writing Voice and How You Can Find Yours:
A Metaphor Involving Sandwiches
by Carly Mae

Some favorite lines from this post:

Our writing is not genuine, we don’t feel like ourselves, or it’s stilted and mechanical — feeling more like a “I have to write” versus “I want to write.”

If you feel that way, you might be lacking your voice.

***

The biggest reason your writing feels mechanical and stilted is because it is. It’s not you. So when you read it, it probably sounds fake.

Your audience reads it that way it too.

View at Medium.com

As you near project completion, the voices creep in…

statue of man thinking and worrying

You can’t finish this. Just leave it be. No one’s going to care anyway. You’re not going to be a published author. No one’s going to care.

The above excerpt from a Medium post by Christopher Connors, [Don’t Fear Your Doubts and Insecurities — Let them Drive Your Life] reflects the uncertainty he felt as he was editing the final chapters of his book.

Two additional points from Connors’ post

“Fear and insecurities are given life by the voice inside our heads.”

“Please. Do what you want. Go after what you want with maximum effort and energy.”

Read this valuable piece. If you’ve not experienced these doubts, I sincerely envy you. And if you have, well, welcome to the club!

 

 

Writers Horoscope December 23: Emptying your head…revisited.

From a favored source of inspiration…

Another rejuvenating tip from Joel at Lifehack:

Do an info-dump so your head is clear enough to create instead of worry.

empty your head

I’ve referred to Julia Cameron’s ‘morning pages’ before, but they are well worth revisiting. Quote from Cameron: “There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages*–
they are not high art. They are not even ‘writing.'”

Srini Rao, in his Why I Write 1000 Words Every Day, advocates this approach as well.
Quote from Rao:
“By getting incoherent thoughts out of your head and onto a blank page, you make room for coherent thoughts and better ideas.”

***

Note: Joel at Lifehack also suggests singing in the shower. I held off on sharing that with you, but that was one serious In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida I recently belted out.

Writers Horoscope for October 6: Still unmotivated? Look inside you.

introspection walking toward sun

Following yesterday’s suggestions, you cleaned up your physical workspace.

It only helped a little.

Time to clean up your inner workspace.

Here’s a great start, thanks to Todd Brison’s 195 Words to Keep You Going If You Feel Down.

Highlights:

  • He takes aim at ‘Comfort’ and ‘Safety’.
  • He tells us to listen to our inner ‘don’t give up’ messages.

Give it a shot.

 

Writers Horoscope for October 3: Time to seek out a new skill.

juggler-888901_1280

 

Okay, you embraced that willingness to be an awkward beginner.
Bravo!

Now that the inclination is there, let’s look to something you’ve not tried yet.

Like–don’t take this personally–‘being interesting’.

Check out list item #24 in Shaunta Grimes’ 25 Habits That Will Make You a Writer.

Go be interesting!