During the course of your blogging, have you ever noticed a gradual change in the way you write your articles? Have you become more comfortable with expressing your ideas the way you want to? If not, then maybe you haven’t begun to find your blogging voice yet.
You, only on paper.
In essence, your blogging voice is the real you in print form. You can dispense valuable chunks of information and advice to your readers, but your authenticity is what makes all that information unique and unforgettable.
Perhaps it’s in the way you compose your sentences, the figures of speech that you use, or even in the way you punctuate your statements. The more comfy you become with your writing, the more you show your personality and the closer you are to revealing your real voice.
Understanding what you are and what you aren’t as a writer, and who you’re writing for can give you valuable insight. Jot these down, and get cracking!
So what should you do?
There are plenty of exercises that can help develop your writing skills, but the one thing that you must do to discover your voice is this: write everyday. That’s it. If you do this preferably on a schedule, writing will become easier and your words will eventually come alive. Your blog posts will sound as if you are talking personally to your readers. And trust me, they’ll love it.
There are a few keys to doing this successfully, though. You need to:
1. Commit yourself to the task.
2. Figure out when to switch off your mental filter.
3. Allow yourself to accept all sorts of feedback.
4. Learn to ask for help from trusted sources.
5. Figure out what kind of reader relationship you want to attract.
It’s just like polishing your conversational skills on a face-to-face basis – sometimes you meet people who disagree with you, and handled constructively, this helps refine your social skills. You quickly realize what kind of people you want to talk to, and because of this, you begin to develop creative ways of expressing your ideas to attract those people. With continued practice, you become better and more at ease with communicating exactly what’s on your mind. In the end, you get to build the kind of audience that you want.
One caveat, however: You cannot find your voice when you keep looking for it. You need to relax and focus on your blogging. Only then will it eventually surface.
There is only one key ingredient that gives your blog that special flavor, that unique kick that separates it from the other blogs: YOU.
This exercise is a continuous and lifetime process. It’s an expression of you discovering yourself, only through your blog. It takes plenty of time, practice, and patience, but when you notice your readers increasing and becoming more engaged with you, then that means they’re seeing the real person behind the blog posts – and they like what they see. That’s your voice.
Photo credits: thinktraffic.net, scientificamerican.com
Carmela Maraan has written on various topics ranging from marketing, advertising, blogging, and creative writing to adult material. She is enthusiastic about expanding her repertoire as she views the world as one huge library. During her free time she is also a voracious reader, an irrepressible singer, and a mom who hardly sleeps.
The Discussion
Leave a Comment Read Again?I have always believed in writing in my own style. Although I know that the way I write never satisfies the SEO norms nor attract the search engine spiders, but this is how I can write. In blogging, it is important to be what you are. Faking is fatal for bloggers
“Faking is fatal for bloggers.”
That’s an excellent way of putting it, Tushar. Sooner or later a blogger’s real personality and character will come through his posts, so it’s always better to come from an authentic standpoint than to adopt a glossed-up persona.
Besides, if you express your ideas in your own style, you are more likely to attract like-minded people who will appreciate not just your thoughts, but you as a blogger.
Hi Carmela, I found your article very interesting and very informative specially for a new blogger like me. One thing that I noticed was I kept on using the same “waves” of written structure all the time (ex. Opening,Story,the word “that being said” etc). I found your 5 tips interesting and would love to use it as a reference to change how I “see” my writing. Any thoughts on this would be highly appreciated! Thanks again!
Hi William,
There is nothing wrong in following a structure, especially if you’ve noticed that it’s one of your trademarks as a writer. However, if you’re interested in exploring other structural styles, you may want to check out other experimental writing tones. For instance, you can try writing about the same topic as if you’re talking to a) a college class, b) high school kids, c) grade school children, d) a table full of your ex-girlfriends, or e) your ideal boss. But whatever style you decide to experiment with, you have to be comfortable with it. Otherwise, that awkwardness will quickly translate on paper.
Good luck, and I hope this helps! Let me know how it turns out soon, okay?
Hi
the information u give is very useful and However, if you’re interested in exploring other structural styles, you may want to check out other experimental writing tones.
Great post for people new to blogging. I recently started a personal blog and found myself writing as if I was trying to win some written English contest. As a professional copy writer I guess I got into the habit of trying to write the most impressive content from a literary standpoint.
However given that my personality tends to endear me to many many people anyway I guess I should just start expressing the real me with everything I write. I had let my personal blog fall by the wayside and hadn’t updated since November, however after reading your article I feel the motivation to get back into it again with a new way of writing.
Cheers Carmela!
Your writing style is strong! Definitely made an impact on me
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