Editorial Op-Ed | Of Reading and Writing
Illuminating the Way to Find Your (Real) Voice
Writing is a tricky business. To write is not just about writing. It is to write what we think, how we feel, and how we perceive ourselves. It takes time to find your voice.
We have a voice. If we don’t, we have to find it. Now, that begets a question. What exactly is our voice? What does it mean, and what does it do?
There are 2 attributes to our voice, in my opinion:
- How we think about things.
- How we say it.
You know the straightforward dudes in your household? They have a voice. They spit the truth, nothing but the truth, and hate those who hide or shave the truth.
They bury you alive if you engage them with the counter-factual.
And then, there is an added element of style. Let me start my article from there.
Your Style is an Extension of You
My fellow editors’ styles are recognizable. How they write precedes them.
Agnes Laurens communicates with the Treble-clef and Bass-clef. Her baseline is the Middle-C. Her choice of weapon is the violin, and she fires musical bombs with fellow musicians in an orchestra.
Claire Kelly is a poet. She poems. I have never seen her write a single proper sentence. But, you know, maybe that is the secret to a beautiful smile.
Liam Ireland grouses. Haha. He is a family guy. He credits his writing success to the important women in his life, such as his ex-mother-in-laws. Weird, works.
Maria Rattray is like my pre-school teacher hitting my palm when I scratch the surface of the Styrofoam lunchbox. Gaia is sick, little arsehole! The next thing you know, I will be holding a chair with my arms straight up, standing at the back of the class.
You see, every one of us has a different vibe. To find your writing style, you need to be you.
There are 3 fundamental pillars to find our real voice:
- Self-awareness.
- Grit.
- Getting over failure.
Self-Awareness
Jennette covered everything related to self-awareness.
“Stop Worrying About What Everyone Else Thinks. (Yes, it’s easier said than done.) Worrying is an excuse for you to hide out and justify why you’re not sharing your ideas and experiences. When you recognize this, stop. Ask yourself, “What is my true commitment to this project and team?’ Now act authentically.”
Jeannette Seibly | Want to Become Authentic? It Starts with Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is the first step. We need to find our own way and stick to it. That takes grit.
Grit, Persistence, Figuring It All Out
In the words of Jordan Peterson, we have to choose our sacrifice.
“Ultimately, we decide how much we suffer. If you’re not going to quit, you might as well succeed. If you’re never going to back down, even when you lie and say that you’re going to quit, then don’t let your grit be a waste.”
Finding our voice is a lifelong journey. It is like acquiring knowledge. This road has no end.
We will only get better with time.
Look Over the Fear of Failure. Breathe.
Fear does hold us back from projecting our authentic voice.
“Someone once asked me what my biggest fear is. I said snakes and centipedes (yes I’m afraid of them, what do we do now?). But I also had rational fears, such as dying or losing someone close to me. I believe that being afraid of death or snakes is more or less the same thing and in the end, they both end up the same way. Rationally speaking, I am not afraid of many things. I can speak in public, meet new people and even lead entire groups.”
If you have something to say, say it. If it needs to be expressed in written form, write it. No single person will write the way you do, because we don’t think as you do.
Projecting your voice means being comfortable living in your skin. Have no fear.
The more we practice, the better we become.
Summary
At first, we copy.
We parrot how our parents talk. Then, we copy how successful people use words to express themselves.
All that is good if we want to be another beautiful parrot.
But we are not. We are humans with our own voices. To find and project our own voice, we need to consistently work on ourselves. Self-awareness, grit, and overlooking failure are lifelong lessons.
Have the gumption to be you.
Because doing so allows you to speak your mind and project your genuine thoughts to the world.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz Liam Ireland Maria Rattray Carol Price Tree Langdon Karen Madej Britni Pepper Agnes Laurens Claire Kelly Dr. Preeti Singh Josh Balerite Acol JS Adam John Cunningham Dew Langrial Noorain Hassan, BMS Geetika Sethi Zen Chan Lawson Wallace Regi Esther George Kyomi O'Connor The Wordsmith™🏳️🌈🇺🇸
Resources from Previous Editorial Op-Eds:
If you find this editorial op-ed helpful to your writing journey, you may uncover more gems in the previous op-eds written for the benefit of ILLUMINATION’s contributors and readers.
- Illuminating the Editor’s Dilemma: What We (Really) Do and How We Can Do Better
- Illuminating the Way to Overcome the Writer’s Silent Disappointment
- Illuminating A Potential Structure for an Effective Writing Week
- Illuminating the Need for a Writing Downtime
- Inside the Minds of Editors: What We Look Forward to and Look Out for
- The Future of Reading is in Writing
- Illuminating How We Can Find Ourselves (Again) When We are Lost
- To Write is to Build a Skillset You Will Never Regret
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.