Write With Your Voice, Not Someone Else’s

Too often authors write what they think people want to read. Or they try to conform to the established expectations of a genre. The problem with these things are that the writer isn’t being true to themselves. Their writing suffers in the process. Author Morgan Busse writes in “Surprised by My Own Voice:”

I write fantasy. When most people think of fantasy, they think of J.R.R. Tolkien. His voice is eloquent, lengthy, lyrical, and full of description. Many fantasy writers share a similar kind of voice…

However, my voice is different. I discovered my voice after writing Daughter of Light, the first book in my epic fantasy series. My writing voice is blunt, short, and to the point. I tell the story in a strong, quick tempo, moving along at a clip pace. Not the style usually employed by the average fantasy writer.

A couple reviews reflected the fact that some readers did not like my voice. They wanted the poetic sound usually found in fantasy.

I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to try and change my voice. I believed I needed to write in a certain way in order to be a fantasy writer. It was like trying to write a square word into a round story. It didn’t work. In fact, those scenes stuck out so bad that my editor called me on it. He gave me the freedom to be me, and to write like me.

Don’t let others define you. Find your voice and let it be heard.

Or read.