Guest Post: Finding Your Voice

By AK Nevermore

Find your voice.

I can’t tell you how many workshops I’ve been to where this phrase is uttered, and it’s like everyone expects a beam of light to burst from the heavens, surrounding the speaker whilst a chorus of angels strikes a note.

Okay, maybe not literally, but it sure felt like that when I was just starting out and hanging on every “experts” overpriced word.

Yeah, nuts to that.

“A bit jaded, are we, AK?” you might ask, and meh, you’re not wrong, but hear me out.

What makes me so bonkers about that directive is that it’s misleading at best, and a whole bunch of other “ings” I’m not gonna get into at its worst.

For real, because check it out—starting out or a veteran in the trenches, you have a voice, and every time you put something down, you’re flexing it. It’s not a matter of finding anything. I mean, it’s not like you drove off with it on the roof of your car, and it didn’t go home with someone else after having a few too many at the bar.

It’s something you were born with…although admittedly, it could be under a thick layer of fluff, kind of like my abs. The key, then, isn’t to find it—it’s to exercise it until it becomes defined.

This, much like sit-ups, isn’t necessarily easy, though the concept is straightforward.

You gotta work it.

How? Whelp, by writing anything and everything you can. This is where reframing things comes in. That newsletter you keep putting off writing? The blog post you’re just slapping up to get done? Oh, hey, how about that query that totally doesn’t resonate?

All of it is an opportunity to hone who you are on the page.

And here’s a fun fact, that translates across projects. It’s also a huge factor in building your brand. Who are you as a writer?

It’s not a question anyone can answer for you, but my advice? Lean into your strengths. What makes you you. Be brave. Put yourself on the page unfiltered. Leave it for a day and then come back. Can you hear your authenticity in your prose? A bit here, a bit there, pick it out and polish it, then gather it close like Gollum.

But do listen. Because your voice is there. Sometimes it just takes a while to hear it.

AK Nevermore writes sci-fi & dark romantasy. She enjoys operating heavy machinery, freebases coffee, and gives up sarcasm for Lent every year. Unable to ignore the voices in her head, and unwilling to become medicated, she writes full time. Her books explore dark worlds, perversely irreverent and profound, and always entertaining.

Interested in writing for the FF&P blog? We are always looking for guest posts from FF&P members on everything from their inspiration to their favorite place to write. As long as the post follows the FF&P values and is about the writing craft, we’ll take it! Email blog@ffprwa.com for more info!

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