Voice
Voice is the writer's personal “stamp” on a piece of writing and the way a reader might “hear” the writer as they read.
You might need to develop your piece's voice if...
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The tone of the piece still feels generic or inauthentic to you as a writer.
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You need support writing for a particular genre, or you haven’t written in this particular form before.
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You don’t think a reader would be able to tell the piece was yours by reading it.
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How do you understand your perspective in relation to others?
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How do you hope your reader will think or feel after reading this passage?
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How would you describe the tone of this piece of writing? What words or phrases create that tone?
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How can we tell from the language that this piece was written by you?
Some questions
to guide you through the process
Strategies
Audience analysis
Understanding your intended audience can help you project a voice that aligns with the genre and purpose of the piece as well as with the audience's expectations for it. Take time to focus on how you are choosing to engage your audience using your piece's language.
TECHNIQUES:
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Identify who you are writing to, why you are writing, and what genre you are writing in; what expectations might your specific audience have with this piece and genre?
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Read over your piece aloud or silently.
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Reflect independently or with someone else (a peer, instructor, coach, friend, etc.) on how your piece aligns or does not align with the expectations you set for it.
Word choice
Analyzing your word choice helps ensure you are writing in your desired tone. By intentionally choosing verbs, adjectives, and other phrases, you most accurately express your ideas to your reader in a way that honors your voice. The figurative language you use should also be original so the reader knows the piece was written by you.
TECHNIQUES:
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Select an excerpt of your piece to read individually or with a coach, instructor, peer, friend, etc.
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Circle the verbs in this section. If there are any "to be" verbs, can you replace them with active verbs? How does this change your tone of the piece?
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Identify one or two sentences in which your voice does not match what you intend. Write down what each verb connotes: what does it make you feel? What imagery does it spark? What are some synonyms? In what ways do these connotations not align with your desired tones?
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Consider using a thesaurus to "try on" different word choices in the sentence, comparing the mood and style of each word. Which words convey the intended meaning of your sentence and your desired tone?
Reader's Theater
Reader’s Theater is a collaborative activity where writers read a piece aloud as if performing it. Hearing your writing performed by other voices can highlight what your writerly voice sounds like, and how even subtle word and style choices can impact the overall tone of your piece
TECHNIQUES:
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Choose a short passage that is dialogue-heavy, emotional, or which you think could benefit from some tone refinement.
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In a group setting, assign different chunks of the text to different readers. If you are working alone, you can record yourself performing each chunk.
Perform the text aloud, taking on your assigned roles, and pay close attention to how it sounds when you read dramatically. Make sure you read expressively, considering the piece’s emotional tone. -
As you listen to the performance, annotate your draft digitally or by hand. What did you notice about the cadence, tone, and emotional impact? Where did you hear your voice as a writer coming through? You might highlight key words or sentences to keep developing.
Read-aloud
Reading a piece aloud can help you hear your own voice within a piece of writing, and it can often be helpful to have a friend, instructor, coach, peer, etc., read your work back to you. Both the writer and then reader can then describe the piece's voice in their own words.
TECHNIQUES:
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Read your whole piece, or a specific excerpt of it, to someone. Offer them a digital or printed copy of your draft to follow along. Ask this person to help you reflect on its tone by considering word choice, type/level of detail, imagery, figurative language, and sentence structure: How does the writing sound? What does it make you feel? What does it compel you to do?
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Name your intended tone to your audience. You may choose to name it before you begin reading so your audience knows what to listen for, or you may name it afterward to get your audience's natural reaction.
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Consider using tools such as Quillbot to offer alternative ways to word sentences so you can experiment with how to convey your desired tone for the piece.
