How To Sound More Like Yourself When You Write
By: Cynthia Marinakos
Tags: Creativity, Self Improvement, Marketing, Writing, Writing Tips

How To Sound More Like Yourself When You Write

Use experiences, tone, interests, and expressions to let your authentic voice shine through

Illustration by Cynthia Marinakos.

“Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I first started writing on Medium, I struggled to find my writing voice.

You see, when I write copy for clients, I write with their voice. Not mine.

I use different tones for corporations, universities, not-for-profits, and professional membership organizations. These could be pre-determined by style guides, content format, or simply according to the whim of the department manager.

So when I started sharing my writing under my name, I wrote in a professional, friendly, yet impersonal tone.

But I felt unsatisfied. And as I kept reading the work of other writers, I found a crapload of generic writing out there. Writing that doesn’t sound like anyone. Writing that sounds robotic.

This type of writing doesn’t make me feel. And I want to feel. I want to feel something: happy, inspired, amused, determined… anything. I want to connect to the ideas. To the stories. To the writer. To be understood. To feel less alone.

I realized my writing did help people feel. But not enough. And it was missing something important:

Me.

I was hiding behind my words.

Finding our authentic voice in writing helps us connect with our readers — just as we connect to the people in our daily lives.

You see, it’s easy to blabber out a list of ways to do this or that. Or quote this person or that person with bits of factual, bland fillers in between. It’s easy to write copy-cat inspirational yada yadas.

But it wasn’t as easy to show myself in my words.

What a strange problem, I thought.

I was surprised and confused. I had no idea how hard it was to write with my own voice. I realized it mattered when I was helping small businesses write copy and put themselves out there.

But it never seemed as hard as doing that myself.

I swayed, fumbled, and spewed out crap that left a bad taste in my mouth. Like the morning after a big night out.

It made me think:

What makes the difference between blah and brilliant writing?

What attracts us to one writer more than another?

It’s more than whether they have a journalism degree.

It’s more than whether they’ve written a bestselling book.

It’s more than how well they stick to grammar rules.

I reckon it comes down to this:

Who do you like and trust?

Think about the people you like — why do you like them?

Is it because of what they know and what qualifications they have?

It is because of what job they had last?

Is it because they’ve achieved what we want?

How much money they have?

Or because we envy their masses of followers?

Sometimes it’s confusing. We think we should like someone. But when we dig deep down, we realize we actually don’t like them at all. And the people we do like, why do we like them?

Perhaps they give rather than take constantly.

They‘re on your wavelength.

They empathize with your day.

They make you smile.

They challenge you.

They care about you and inspire you.

They are honest, with no ulterior motives.

They say it as it is.

They follow through.

No irritating “oh look at me, my life is perfect all the time” crap. No preachy “you must”, “you should”, “you have to”.

Just a real person, with the same ups and downs we all have in life. We tend to trust people we can relate to, don’t we?

Well, it’s the same with writing.

That’s why it’s so important that you identify your voice — and write strongly, and consistently in that voice. So readers hear the real you.

If they decide they like and trust you, they’ll be more receptive to your message.