In my last post of 2017 I mentioned one of my resolutions as being to help authors find their voice. For the first writing tip of 2018 I want to start doing just that. So… what does that mean?

It’s a broad question and a hefty challenge and the obvious answer to finding a writers voice is to do just that… write. Write your heart out and put it into every word you write wether it be horror, comedy, sci-fi, or romance.

Let’s start by analyzing what it is to be a writer. I recently shared a meme that a writer is someone “capable of transforming caffeine into books.” Google’s definition of a writer is “a person who writes books, stories, or articles as a job or regular occupation.”

So what is your definition? Think about what does being a writer mean to you? Are your writing because your under the illusion that you’ll be rich and famous? You should know that the modern writers average gross income is less than what it would cost to by a used car.

Writer’s write. That should always come second. To be a great writer, you must first start by reading. Read and read a lot. Don’t steal, but writers write with various voices and even the same writers’s voice will change depending on what you are writing or reading.

I reference Stephen King a lot in my advice, but that largely is because I write mainly horror and he writes a lot of it. His voice influences a lot of my work. King has said, “stylistic copying recurs, always when the writer encounters some new and wonderful mode of expression that shows him a new way of seeing and saying.” He refers to how often it can happen especially in a new writers development and helps as they find their own.

I refer to this so that as you write and develop your own voice, you also take time and experiment, experience and play with your stories…

Getting back to the point, and to bring in this new year, I want you to think about writing as a writer. Write and enjoy. Let the words flow and get the story out. Give birth to those ideas spinning around in your head and send them out into the world.