Silencing Your Own Voice in Writing

“I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.”

— Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani education activist

Writers are encouraged to find their voice — or not, if you’re asking Noah Berlatsky, who wrote 'Voice' Isn't the Point of Writing published in The Atlantic. He claimed that writers get paid to write ‘flat and factual’. This seems to be true, except when they are publishing their own books or an article in The Atlantic. Though Berlatsky says a writer’s voice is not valued, the article he wrote is a clear display of his voice. Maybe he wasn’t paid well for that article.

But what is your voice? 

I thought I knew what voice meant, but then I looked on the internet. Now it seems more ethereal than ever. 

1: who you are and what you believe

2: style of writing, including diction, syntax, rhythm, imagery, and tone

3: writer’s personality, perspective, or experiences coming through the writing

4: what makes the writing unique or stand out

The author’s voice reflects the deeper purposes they have for writing. Although each piece of work will be influenced by the genre, topic or the characters own perspectives, the author’s can still be heard.

This deep, inner voice is seen in the style of writing. It can be seen in the mood, the rhetorical devices, sentence length and word choices. It also is shown in the subjects and themes. Some authors are recognized by a single sentence because of their voice.

How do you develop your voice?

You would think that developing your voice would be as simple as just writing — it’s your voice after all. Why would you have to change? The thing is, people don’t write how they speak. And they don’t speak how they actually feel. Finding the courage to write what matters most is the key to finding your voice.

Advice on developing your voice feels like walking into a room filled with therapists. Describe yourself. Ask others to describe you. What kind of author you would like to be? Is this how you talk? How do you feel writing it? Is it something you would want to read? Be yourself. Find your values. Understand your culture. Use rituals. Meditate. Don’t worry about it. Mimic authors. Don’t emulate anyone. Pick a consistent point of view. Pick a balance of dialogue and description. Pick policies regarding syntax. Don’t edit. Don’t grammar. Don’t try to sound smart.

There were only two consistent pieces of advice that I found. One was to read what inspires you. The other is to just write. Write as much as possible and your voice will find you. Maybe it’s that simple.

Disney’s Little Mermaid

Should your voice be silenced?

If you want to make money writing the ‘flat and factual’, you may want to stifle your voice in some ways. Don’t be sassy, unless the article requires sass. Don’t be witty, unless the article requires wit. Convey the facts in a pleasantly mundane manner. 

Even still, there are ways of broadcasting your voice even while using the even-tempered syntax and diction of a fact-based essay. You can choose who you write for. You can choose what you write. If your writing career has landed you in a place where you are writing for a cause you don’t believe in, get out (although that’s easier said than done).

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.”