5 Tips to Find Your True Writing Voice

Many people don’t think about their writing voice and those who do consider it, often over think it. Your writing voice can be equated with your speaking voice, it’s how you sound and it is unique to you. Whether you’re trying too hard or not trying hard enough, writing voice can be one of those things that causes your content to fall flat. Try too hard and your voice sounds forced and inconsistent, don’t try hard enough and your voice sounds lifeless and again, often inconsistent.

Voice is important, particularly if you’re a small business owner, because it helps your prospects and customers relate to you. It helps brand your company and it lends to your identity. Give people your voice, your identity, and you’re well on your way to establishing a following who enjoy reading your content, consider you an authority on your chosen subject and will gladly come back to your site again and again.

Here are 5 tips to help you find your true writing voice:

#1 Understand what voice is. Read blog posts and content from writer’s you enjoy. Compare at least 5 different writers. How is their voice different? Do you see how they have a writing style that’s unique to them? This is voice.

#2 Write conversationally. Even the most difficult of topics can be discussed in a conversational manner. That is, to write like you speak. The difference being that your writing won’t have those ums, uhs, and other speech habits we all possess. And when you write like you speak, your voice will naturally come forward.

#3 Don’t edit yourself, at least not until the entire project has been written. And I’m not just talking about not editing the spelling and grammar portion of your content. I’m talking about editing your word choice and sentence structure.

For example, I find that quite often I will use some sort of goofy metaphor when I’m writing. Rather than spend 20 minutes pondering a better metaphor, one that might make me look a little more intelligent or creative or even just a little more interesting, I just leave the metaphor in its place and continue writing. When I go back through the article to clean it up, if a better metaphor comes to mind then great, otherwise I stick with what I wrote originally because it is true to my personal voice and it’s often one that everyone can relate to.

#4 Write your copy as if you’re writing a letter or more likely as if you’re writing an email. This format, which motivates you to let go of any pressure to sound overly structured, authoritative or formal, also lends itself to more conversational and genuine wording and structure. Your personality and voice will shine through.

#5 Finally, forget about your audience. Easier said than done, right? Not really, when you’re excited about your topic, it can be easy to push aside any concerns you have over how you’re presenting yourself and simply write on your chosen topic one you’re hopefully pretty excited about.
Nevertheless, even if you’re not passionate about your topic, in the end your content will sound better if you write it without worrying what other people will think of you. You cannot please everyone anyway and it’s always better to let your voice be heard. You’ll draw more attention, forge a stronger bond with your audience and ultimately build a better and stronger business.

Let go of your inner critic and be yourself when you write. You’ll build a stronger brand and writing will be a more enjoyable business building task.

How to Write When Your Muse is on Vacation

It’s easy to believe writing is easy but if you’ve ever tried to create content on a consistent basis, you know sometimes that’s just not the case. Sometimes the words just don’t flow.

However, there’s a fairly easy way to get over just about any writing hurdle. Of course, you may not like it. The trick?

Outline.

Okay, so writing an outline isn’t the ideal for many people who feel the structure interrupts their creative flow but we??re talking about those times when the writing muse is on hiatus and she or he just isn’t helping. This is when an outline can be a writer’s favorite tool.

Now we’re not talking about a detailed or formal outline. We’re talking about a simple list of points or sentences you want to cover in your piece the goal is to find a point to your article and a direction for it to take.

For example, if you’re writing a report about how to host a successful garage sale and you just don’t know where to start, begin by listing the things you want to cover in your report. You may find you’ve come up with 19 tips and strategies. Now all of a sudden you have the title for your report. All you need to do is elaborate on each of the 19 points and create an introduction and conclusion and voila you’re on your way to a completed report.

So an outline does more than provide a workable structure for your content, it can actually step in and be your muse. It can inspire creativity and help you bust through those little bouts of writer’s block.

An outline also helps you stay on track. This is particularly important when you’re writing a longer piece. Articles and blog posts are generally concise and it’s fairly easy to stay on point. However when you’re writing a report or ebook maintaining your focus can be a trick. An outline will help you stay 100% on track. You can list each chapter topic and then list the points you want to cover under each topic and you’re good to go. Trying to write a larger content piece without one often means a lot of editing and restructuring.

Speaking of editing and restructuring, an outline saves you time and if you’re as busy as most internet marketers, your time is valuable. While writing a good outline may take ten to fifteen minutes but it will be time well-spent. By having a plan of attack, you’ll be able to whip through your content project quickly and easily and you won’t have to go back and do as much editing and restructuring.

Finally, having an outline will help you wrap it all up. Often beginning or ending a piece, whether it’s an article, report or book, are the most difficult portions to write. Your outline can help you easily summarize what you’ve covered in your material to form a comprehensive conclusion. Likewise it can help you, with a quick glance, identify the contents for your introduction.

While an outline may sound too structured or like redundant work, it is actually a very efficient and effective writing tool. Still not a believer? Next time you have a piece to write and your muse is in the Bahamas soaking up the sun without you, or even if she’s sitting on your shoulder, try creating a quick outline. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

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