Sometimes you find your voice by trying to write like people, and sometimes you find it by trying to write unlike people.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It's usually easier for me to begin writing in a character's voice if that person is different from me in some significant way.
When you write, you hear the characters speaking to you as you take dictation from what they say. And obviously, they had particular personalities when you hear them.
Every writer must find a way of writing that tells the reader: This is me and no one else. The Voice can be idiosyncratic, but it cannot be obscure. It is a blend of style and content and intent and rhythm and pure personality.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that writing is mysterious; you don't ever truly know where it is coming from, so don't edit yourself line by line. Don't get in your own way. Whatever is truly there at the core, that is your voice.
I don't know what makes a writer's voice. It's dozens of things. There are people who write who don't have it. They're tone-deaf, even though they're very fluent. It's an ability, like anything else, being a doctor or a veterinarian, or a musician.
Your voice is your tool and represents you. It's very important to have a good voice where you can be understood.
All writers start out mimicking other writers. I've never relinquished that. I have a good ear for speech and writing patterns.
I thought I was clever enough to write as well as these people and I didn't realize that there is something called originality and your own voice.
It's very hard to come across as a passionate human being in print. People can't hear the inflections in your voice.
You see people you identify with, and you take pieces of people you like and shape who you are. Like, I sound just like my dad. But that's literally my vocal chords. I can't sound like anything else... I sound like him, but I act like myself.