Writing is social. For it to work, there needs to be some personality on display:

Voice Matters

It’s normal for writing to come out a bit flat in the early drafting stage. At that stage, it’s often hard enough just to get ideas down!

This is probably especially true for academic writing and projects we don’t choose for ourselves.

The idea matters.

Yet the eyes glaze over. There’s no colour, emotion, or spark.

It’s a bit like the writer is sitting expressionless at a party. We don’t know who they are, and we’re going to lose interest fast.

Without voice, writing can’t be social—or interesting!

When revising, transform a flat-sounding draft into something with character.

Context Matters

The fact that good writing has a voice doesn’t mean all your writing has to be full of huge gestures and humour.

A thoughtful, eloquent voice may suit who you are or may fit the situation, as in this meditation on the act of writing by author Jhumpa Lahiri:

Maybe your purpose and subject matter demand a factual, serious, scholarly tone:

In short, writing situations limit and define the possibilities of voice.

Who are you writing for? Why? Where are you sharing or publishing?

American comedian and actor Mindy Kaling can post a tweet like this:

That tone would be disastrous in a bank’s annual report, which has to sound like the voice of corporate marketing:

Context shapes voice.

Be aware of who you’re writing to, and why.

Voice Is Attitude and Connection

Think of voice as attitude. Besides context, attitude depends on lots of things, such as:

• Your feelings
• Your personality
• The subject

In sum, voice is personality, the sense of an authentic person behind the written or spoken word.

With those points in mind, how can we cultivate voice?

We’ll look at three key strategies:

• Perspective
• Tone
• Style

Tip

Craft a voice that connects you to the people you want to reach, that shows them who you are and what you value, and that suits what you’re writing about.

Have a Perspective

Commitment to your topic or subject matter shows.

Some writing tasks are given to us. We don’t ask for them.

In those cases, find something about the topic that interests you. A fresh angle. A new idea to offer. Something all yours and just for your readers.

If the topic doesn’t interest you, maybe your own process of analysis does.

For instance, if you’re writing a critique essay or report, your focus may be your own evaluation of the source, event, or whatever you are analyzing.

Let’s say you’re asked to write a critique of Bill Keller’s “The Twitter Trap,” where he argues that social media is dumbing us down.

In your argument, you will engage with the subject of social media and its effect on us. But whether or not that subject matter interests you, your real focus is the way Keller builds his claims.

In this case, you’ll have a viewpoint on Keller’s own rhetoric and method of argumentation, not just the topic of social media.

Let the process of exploring Keller’s method of argumentation be what interests you.

There’s a lesson in Keller’s work itself. Bill Keller is passionate about his viewpoint, which comes through in many places in his essay through his original language and clear, ethically committed position:

A critique of Keller can be just as committed, just as rooted in a perspective.

Let’s demonstrate this idea through a comparison. Here are two examples of a critique, both of them less committed than they could be. One supports Keller, one disagrees with him. Both are definitely starting to stake a position. But both could do more to create an authentic voice:

Notice that while these critiques sound more committed, they are also more rounded and qualified. Both statements hedge a little bit and point to other viewpoints than their own.

Committed does not mean uncompromising. It means conveying passion for, and interest in, your own argument or purpose, within the boundaries of your writing context.

If the writer’s not visibly invested, why should anyone else be?

Communicate with Tone

Tone is the mood of your writing.

It’s a powerful, efficient way of communicating. It indirectly yet relentlessly shows readers the author’s view of the subject.

In any given project, the mood of your writing might be funny, sad, serious, measured…. Anything is possible.

As always, it depends on your purpose and the situation. Are you writing an opinion piece? An academic paper? A business or technical report? A post? A speech? Are you writing out of anger? Joy? Curiosity?

But even within related contexts, there are many possibilities of tone.

These three examples all come from articles written in response to the early part of the COVID-19 crisis, specifically around April–May 2020. The first is Canadian, the second American, the third Indian.

For example, the following three passages all relate to the same topic (vulnerable populations affected by the COVID-19 crisis) and appear as articles for a general readership in newspapers and magazines. Similar contexts. Similar topics. Different tones.

In the first, the personality of the writing is casual and clever, even though the topic is serious:

Considering the topic—chronic illness—another fitting voice might be compassionate:

The writer never says, “I have compassion for the plight of the chronically ill.” In fact, a direct statement like this would probably sound insincere. The writer’s tone communicates her compassion.

The voice could also be formal and serious:

Even short extracts from each piece are enough to see the distinct tones and personalities in the writing.

Write with Style

Like tone, style is about the way you communicate something, as opposed to the literal content. But where tone is synonymous with mood, style is more about the arrangement and patterns of words and sentences.

For our purposes, style is the shapes and sounds of your sentences, and the special, original choices you make (such as using fresh figures of speech).

Consider these three passages, and notice how characteristics of style do a lot to shape the voice that comes through:

Don’t feel you have to learn a lot of grammar and prosody to write with style! It’s not about the rules and the labels. It’s about listening to your own style, experimenting with it, and actively shaping your sentences.

That said, here are a couple of quick sentence patterns and other tools it’s good to be aware of:

1. Vary Sentence Length

2. Place Your Main Clause Deliberately

Do you know where your main clause is?

Ok, that is one piece of grammar terminology you should make sure you know.

Understand the difference between an independent clause (often called main clause when it’s the only independent type in the sentence) and subordinate clause.

• An independent clause has a subject and verb and can stand alone as grammatically complete, although it’s often embedded in longer sentences.
• A dependent clause also has a subject and verb but cannot stand alone, except as a fragment. It is grammatically dependent on some other part of the sentence. It’s marked by something called a subordinating conjunction (as long as, because, since, though, which, etc.):
  • subordinating because it marks the clause as dependent; and
  • conjunction because it joins the clause to some other part of the sentence.

Let’s look at some examples. Pay attention to where the main or independent clauses are (underlined in each example):

For more information, see this resource.

And while we’re at it:

Want to solidify your knowledge of this pattern? Look up participial phrase here.

3. Use Figures of Speech

Common figures of speech include simile and metaphor, which are both types of comparison.

A simile compares two things with “like” or “as”:

A metaphor compares two things as if they are identical, as if one thing is not merely like another but is that thing:

Voice Changes

Nobody has one single “writing voice” or “speaking voice.” Our sound—our personality—changes according to context. There may be a common thread or a dominant voice in your output, but it’s ok if your voice changes.

As you go forward, think about how you can do more to bring your communications to life by cultivating different voices for your different writing situations.

Each time, use the power of voice to connect with others!

Your Right to a Voice

A parting thought: When you craft voices to connect with others, you also create space for your voice(s) to be heard. If your culture has historically silenced people from the groups you identify with, this act may be especially significant.

As Rebecca Solnit says, “Having the right to show up and speak are basic to survival, to dignity, and to liberty. I’m grateful that, after an early life of being silenced, sometimes violently, I grew up to have a voice, circumstances that will always bind me to the rights of the voiceless” (2012).

https://www.guernicamag.com/rebecca-solnit-men-explain-things-to-me/

At one level, developing “voice” is technical. At another, it becomes the same as striving to “show up and speak” and “have a voice,” sometimes in the name of those who remain voiceless.

Instructions:

Click on the H5P activity below for some writing prompts that help you practise crafting different voices.

Try the exercises in your favourite software. Feel free to use the text fields provided inside the H5P activity where you can generate a document and export your notes to a Word Document. Remember that your responses will not be saved if you don’t export your notes from the H5P activity.