Wholesome Rage: "Rossisms" and Finding your Voice

Another one I'm actually extremely happy with

So, this one's about why I write the way I do, and what the kind of 'author signature' I feel like I leave on my stories is. But it's also about working out why I do it the way I do, and walking backwards from my preferences in the stories I want to tell to get there.

Working out your own 'voice' is really hard. Like, really hard. So I'm hoping that by breaking mine down like this, you either find some useful ideas for your own writing, or a start on a thought process that leads you to working your own voice out.

There's very little writing advice that actually helps writers improve more than practice, but I feel like this writing is about helping you figure out what you want to practice, and giving you permission to get better at writing the things you enjoy writing.

Comments

[Carabas]

Bonny article, Numbers. Figuring out how your own writing voice manifests and comes across to others is a worthy exercise, and identifying your own recurring cliches can help you notice them as they arise, and play to or downplay them, depending on how much of a strength they are for the story. And it makes it all the more fun to write when you're playing to your voice, like you point out.

This bit's crucial, mind:

So why not ask what my voice sounds like?

This is usually way more obvious to an audience than an author.

Definitely get others to stick their oars in regarding how your voice comes across, if it's something you want to find out - it's much too hard to get a real sense of yourself, especially if, like myself, you've got the introspective skill of a brick. Wad some Power the giftie gie us, and all that.

[Circut Breaker]

I recognize that rewrite of The Mare Who Once Lived On The Moon, don’t lie. I’m still waiting for where I can buy it.

[MrNumbers]

5024657
Just submitted it to Penguin. Waiting to receive a rejection letter.

[Circut Breaker]

5024659
I preemptively reject their rejection.

[nemryn]

Using a rewritten ponyfic for examples, huh? I knew that "Jacqueline Bailey" and "Rowan Oake" seemed familiar.

[MrNumbers]

5024681

You guys aren't the people I'm hiding my power level from

[AppleTank]

I have vaguely settled upon "bleak" and "irreverent" as my possible voice descriptors.

[catinthesocks]

I was impressed enough by the last article, but with this one I'm going to have to earmark these posts as an especially valuable resource for writing advice. As useful as I thought your insights would be, I didn't expect them to be this good!

[Bad Horse]

Another one I'm actually extremely happy with

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[MrNumbers]

5027127
Apparently the site update broke the formatting of all the old URLs. Something I'll have to figure out.

New link for an updated site, see if this works.