Week 11 Newswriting

Finding My Voice

Finding my own distinct writing voice has always been difficult for me. In my life outside of writing, I have often found myself conforming in some way to the environment and people around me. As I get older and experience different things in my life, I am slowly evolving into my own individual person and hopefully with work my writing will do the same.

My writing voice that is most frequently used is very formal and boring in my opinion. I often think that my writing is very to the point, and I have a hard time elaborating. This is due to the fact that I really never write for fun or expression. I am always writing for school purposes. I feel that I have no opportunity to make the majority of my writing assignments creative or original to me. Even with creative assignments, there is always guidelines and rubrics to follow. In my head, there is a voice that must be used for school which is very professional and to the point, and if I were to go outside those guidelines I would receive less points. 

I am also a horrible procrastinator if I don’t find any motivation to fight that trait of mine. This is another way that writing for school limits my writing voice. Often times I find myself rushing last minute to push out an essay that I probably should have started a day or two before. I have always gotten away with this because English has always been as easy subject for me. I understand the guidelines of research papers, I know how to create clear sentences… therefore, procrastinating has always worked out for me. Now I am realizing this may have effected a voice trying to make its way into my writing. Procrastinating has also taken all the possible enjoyment out of writing because I am just trying to push out a paper that needs to be done as soon as possible. It makes writing such a stressful situation, and I think that’s why a lot of other people look at writing as such a dreadful experience as well. 

I’m hoping as time goes on I will make time to write in the genre that I desire which would be lifestyle and beauty blogging. So, speaking on my voice that is trying to come out… I want to be more casual and opinionated. I still enjoy giving information, but I don’t want it to be boring or burdensome. Although, I know what kind of writer I am and I know that my writing won’t be comical or witty. My goal is to be sincere and helpful while still keeping my audience entertained. I believe that my voice should come out and flow easily, otherwise it is the wrong voice. One writer that I strive to be like is a lifestyle blogger Lauren Garcia who writes on her own blog “What Lola Likes”. She has built such a faithful relationship with her readers that I can’t help but envy. Another blogger I admire is Tati Westbrook, a YouTube beauty blogger who focuses on honest reviews. My goal is to create my own voice that is a mix between these two. I want to be honest and informational while still being welcoming, comforting, and sincere. If I want to attract my target audience who is young and creative, I will need to learn to let go and welcome my personality into my writing. 

In order to get this voice out I will have to make time for it. I believe that writing with your voice should be fun and somewhat easy. I think finding creative writing prompts will really help me let go. I also believe that just knowing you won’t be graded on your work helps you bring down those walls and really pour in your personality to your writing. I think if I write a few blog posts and not even post them publicly I will grow as a writer. 

I believe finding your voice is important even if you aren’t planning on having a career in writing. I know I don’t want to be a journalist, but knowing how to capture an audience plays a huge part in the genre of work I would like to go into. Making yourself stand out can land you a job, get you promoted, or you might just receive some acknowledgement. It is also a great way to creatively express yourself, and put your feelings into words. Finding my voice has been and will be a very challenging process, but I have a good idea of what the end goal is.