On Finding Your Voice…

Ah, well…I don’t know whether I am the right person to write about this. Yet, I think I have explored enough writing shits and experienced enough writing horrors to know what writing voice is.

How to find yours? I guess, that we will find out, soon, even if not here, in this post, but, somewhere in the near future, we surely will find the voice which touches souls and forces people to continue reading. That’s a 36-word sentence guys. Nope I am not proud of writing it. It’s not me. I am all for short sentences and go-with-it-or-go-without (whatever does that mean) sort of a writer. I write like I speak. And speaking is a necessity which I cannot survive without.

Anyways, let’s not go where we are not supposed to go. If I start talking about ‘Talking’, I will be talking for the next two centuries. So, please let me have the honor of delighting you with the knowledge that I have gathered while writing wits challenging contents that make no sense to me and I am sure the readers will agree at some point.

What is voice by the way?

The tool with which we communicate with others, right? Of course. Silly me. Even the dumbest person walking on earth knows that. Therefore, let me rephrase the question.

What is writing voice?

You ever tried to Google it? No? Do it today. You will find a flood of results. Wiki says it’s the writing style of an author. It’s the way the author uses words and forms sentences. Well, the definition might differ a bit from the way Wikipedia has expressed. But, the bottom line is the same.

Yes, it is the writing style of an author. It is the way we use words, form sentences and the way we use punctuation. Yet, voice is lot more than that. Your writing voice is you. It is how you see the world. It is how you see yourself. It is what you believe. It is you and your life.

When you express yourself, your truest self down on paper, you find your voice. Easier said than done, right? I know. They all offer advice and none works well when implemented. It’s so like law of attraction. You give all your effort and keep trying every day. You make sure you follow all the rules that you could find. You turn practicing the tips into a habit. And nothing happens. You find no result. Your desire does not manifest. Defeated you let go. You forget all about the tips and you go on with your life like those few months never happened.

And then you see your life transforming. You realize hopefully not too late that you manifest what you are, not what you want.

It’s the similar thing with your writing voice or so I have found out. You write yourself, not what you want to write.

I want to write like Oscar Wilde. But, I am not him. I cannot write like him. The only person I can write like is Anasua Ghosh. That’s me.

Years, I have spent before I could understand what my voice is. Years, I have spent trying. Years, I went through misguiding myself. I thought I have a poetic voice which can hypnotize the readers. In reality, I wanted to write in that voice. But, I am not a poetic person. Nope. I am a marathon talker who can talk her way out of anything. Thus, I failed to produce anything readable in that voice.

How I found this amused voice dripping with sarcasm? Well, I did not find it. The voice was there within me, pleading me to bring it out. You can too, find your voice. You just have to try.

Read. Read everything you can find, from classics to chick-lit everything. And write. Write journal. Write jokes. Write short stories. It does not matter what you write as long as you keep your pen moving or rather keep beating your finger tips on the keyboard.

Make reading a part of your daily life. Have no excuse for not reading. The more writers you explore, the better it is for you. Not only the quality of your writing will enhance, you will get to understand what works for you and what does not as well.

Another great way to find your true voice is imitating. Nope, I am not talking about copy pasting. Try to copy the voice that appeals to you. Practice writing in this voice for a while then switch to another voice. By doing so, you will finally stumble upon the voice which is your own. You will know it when you will find it.

But, there is one advice – don’t try to rush it. This is a slow progression. Enjoy the journey while it lasts.

Read or Please Don’t Write

Ah…me and my bantering, both are back. But, guys please read this one post not for your own sake but for the sake of people you will torture to death otherwise.

Read. Not only this post. Read means, read in a serious term. Read everything, books, blog posts, graphic novels and I mean everything.

Or please be an accountant.

No, don’t get me wrong. I find accountants pretty interesting. They know a lot about numbers. They spend their days staring at excel sheets. Their jobs are so mentally stimulating that I am sure they experience creative orgasms every day. Pretty lucky for them. But, we the writers are not that lucky you see.

We put our asses on the line of firing squad every day. We rattle down words. We moan. We groan. We write thousands of words every day and then get shits from people who cannot separate adjectives from adverbs, clients I mean to say. Improvement we must chase or die trying. Pretty Rocky IV like situation, right? Well, that’s our lives. But, we accept it.  We are after all the prisoners of our own desire. Happily we take the pain and move forward.

Until the day, there comes a writer in the team who does not read.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I leave you to decide, I lead a team of writers. They are all hand-picked, freshers with passion to become writers. Eighty five percent of the times, I make the right decision. The rest fifteen percent makes me wish that I had been an accountant and not a writer.

These people, the aspiring writers with attitudes and ego to tower Himalaya Mountain itself. They look down upon everyone and hold themselves high, the self-proclaimed kings or queens of their imaginary kingdom.

The truth sadly always comes out, with all its ugliness. They sit to write. They hammer the words down on paper. They submit the project. And bam. Explodes the bomb. As a result the entire team gets affected. Why?

Because now it’s the team duty to sweep the shit off the floor and make it shinny again.

Sad. Yet, I have witnessed this scene to unfold so many times that I have lost my faith in the ability of the writers. Here is the advice guys. Please pay attention.

If you want to write, you gotta read. You gotta read a lot. Without books, your vocab will suffer. You will not know the difference between Rewards and Revert. You will write Elegant Fabric instead of Comfortable Fabric. You will make everyone in your team affected by your lack of knowledge.

Want to make a career in writing?

Well enough. Start reading.

Want to make a career in anything?

Very well, invest time on self-improvement. It is more important than meeting your love interest every day. Romance might not last. But, your career certainly will.

Go home today and ask yourself what you have learnt. Was your day productive? Have you really earned something? If you are making a mess out of everything, you are falling behind. If you are not trying to improve yourself, you are wasting yours and others’ time. Make sure to make a difference in a way which counts. If your difference is making everyone shriek in horror, you gotta do some soul searching.   

Read, read a lot or please don’t torture others with your writing. Invest time in self-improvement or please forget about making a career. Harsh but true. Speaking from own experience. That’s all…