I don't intentionally write in a particular style. But all my readers point out that they like my style of writing. Again as you rightly said Shaelin I just write in my natural style, more in line with how I speak, joke and say stuff.
Reading is soooo important!! It's really the best way to strengthen your intuition for good writing/storytelling, alongside practice with your own writing of course
@@ShaelinWrites The only caveat I can see with this is, some people, such as myself, have this tendency to be empathic to the point of being a "chameleon," or "shapeshifter." We absorb other people's writing like sponges, so our own writing can all too easily -- unconsciously so -- sound like someone else. So I've had to back off of reading someone else's stuff in order to find whatever voice I've got. 😅 I know, it sounds counter-intuitive, but by doing things this way, I've managed to work out that my own style comes out when I'm not reading other's stuff as much. 🤷♀️
@@a.katherinesuetterlin3028 I’m definitely like this too. The art we consume inevitably influences our own. I try to read in my genre, and read from multiple authors. That way it’s just many different fragments of styles merged with your own. It’s pretty cool,
@@Ebony.B One thing I've been led to is annotating books as an aspect of journaling. How I got led to that -- to give you the short-short version -- is a combo of researching various journaling practices (keeping commonplace books), notebook types, pen designs, art journaling (mixed media and ASMR videos where collage journaling with stickers, paper, overall calming aesthetics is prevalent), and so on. The purpose of annotating is to write in one's impressions, immediate reactions, doodles, etc next to bits of text within fiction or non-fiction. Some people have issues with the notion of writing directly in a book, so they use post-its. I decided that I would give annotating a shot, just because I have a huge idea for a Paranormal romance book series that I feel could take off quite well. And I want to make note of how my favorite authors employ particular aspects of their genre -- stuff like "how spicy do they make this scene" or "how does the overall spiciness move the plot along" or "is this 'enemies-to-lovers' or simply "rivals-to-lovers" etc. In other words, I am in a major nerd-out mode, here. 😂😂
@@a.katherinesuetterlin3028 No, I completely get that! I haven’t done much annotating, but I’m VERY familiar with art journaling. I’m also an artist so I have a few different journals. Writing journals, art journals and my anime/book journal 😂 nerd out all you want with me lol And best of luck with your project! It sounds really cool. I’m writing a historical Greek romance right now. Ahh
I think the tricky thing is identifying your own style when to yourself, it just seems like a neutral style. Like, when I read my work to others sometimes they gasp or laugh in places I wouldn't expect, because I wasn't intending to be funny or surprising. So I think getting feedback really helps!
This is very true!! It can be surprising to hear other people's reactions to your work, because sometimes things are working in ways you never expected. I remember learning that a lot of people interpret my work as surreal or magical realist even when I wasn't intending that at all, just because of my writing style, which was a total surprise to me
I think something that really helps in finding your own style is to critically analyze the authors you admire and indentifying what makes their voice unique. "Voice" is something every writer naturally has (even if it's "bad", even if it's trying hard to emulate others), it's something that comes with being a human being with a unique worldview (rachel from coffeeandcalligraphy recently compared it to handwriting styles, which i totally agree). As a lit student I've found the most impressive writing styles always come from people who have identified that voice very clearly and use their craft in a very deliberate way in order to serve it
Understanding the techniques you implement to build your voice is such a good tip- I wish I'd talked about this haha! Understanding the building blocks of your voice and how to write it deliberately is so important
Want you to know your a breeze of skill and true advice in the sea of fluff and those who have no idea what they’re talking about. Your content actually makes me think and gives me answers to my questions as a new writer.
Thanks for the reminder that one should 'not' force their writing style. The ah-ha moment of realizing that we hit that style and then see it evolve as you write more. I think learning to find ones style involves that period of discovery and then the excitement as you learn more of that discovery over time.
Was very unsure how you'd tackle this topic, as I'd be unsure how anyone would tackle it (myself included), and have in fact been a bit frustrated that it's a topic other people have *demanded* of you. But once you got to the "learn to line edit" part, it's a solution you presented with such straightforward sense that I now consider the matter closed. Once people pay attention to how they create and arrange sentences on the page, they can see how they're communicating. Shout-out to your professor who emphasized that.
Thanks for including links, and YES to the "save words you like". As a user, I appreciate old content as well as new. I like watching viewpoints and explanations evolve over time. Also, some people may be finding your channel from older videos hanging out in other people's playlists, so please don't feel bad about the oldness of videos.
@@Hurlburton Hi, it looks like you intended to comment on the video but instead replied to my comment. No big deal, but Shaelin is more likely to see it if it's a top-level comment.
"that's just a utilitarian sentence" I THINK THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TO HEAR i think i've been trying to find a way to "write an action beat like a writer would", when really, what i needed was to be reminded that i need to tell the reader what they did. showing IS telling, just a slightly more focused target.
It’s sad when a writer heavily edits their manuscript to a point it loses the author’s voice. A writer friend wrote a draft novel. When I first read it, I laughed so much because of her sassy sense of humour throughout the story. Then, I read it again after she did several rounds of heavy editing, wanting to sound sophisticated and so on. Totally lost the sassy voice, which is a shame, because it was so good.
Overediting and editing out your voice can for sure happen, especially if you don't know to look for it. I accidentally edited out a lot of the voice in the dialogue of one of my novels once, when I was deep in line edits and not paying close enough attention, and I ended up overediting the dialogue so it all sounded like the narrative voice. I definitely learned my lesson to not get complacent and edit too quickly/carelessly after having to go back and rewrite almost all the dialogue in my book because I edited out the voices rippp
Great video - I actually appreciate that its not like "MAJOR ANSWERS" and instead about the process of finding voice... Also 10,000 hour rule hasn't been debunked, but a few caveats have been found (main one is the reminder that it should be 10,000 of learning and developing and feedback). Finally love the point on learning to line editing - endless vomit drafts aren't going to build your voice (much LOL)
Maybe it's a bit like acting? If the directing or writing is bad, even great actors can come across as amateur or non-genuine. Taking the analogy to writing, each author has their own style of voice (just like each actor has their own style), but to come across as genuine, the style has to be appropriate for what's going on in the book. If the developmental editing (i.e., the director) or the line editing (i.e., the writers) are working, then the voice won't come across as genuine either. Maybe this is one reason it's so hard for established authors to jump genres and do it well-the voice needs to match/complement the content. (Just spit-balling here.)
When writing in first-person I noticed I was subconsciously writing it in the same way I do for my usual third-person work. The locked perspective of first-person and the allowance of detailed inflection have been very fun creative challenges! My favourite limitation to play with is describing a scene as a matter-of-fact but having the POV character interpreting it slightly differently or drawing a warped moral lesson.
Your voice is you. People never mistake you for somebody else when they hear you talking in another room. Your writing voice is the same unmistakable you, on the page.
Just write a lot and your voice develops. Also, join a critique group in order to refine that voice. Great tips. Many of them, I never consciously considered. My voice is pretty identifiable at this point. I see it adjust depending on the work, what I'm reading, and after response from readers. Interesting comments on editing. I hadn't really thought about the power of line editing specifically helping to refine that voice.
I've noticed that I'm influenced in my writing style from what I'm reading at the moment or have just finished. It's not a choice to emulate, it just happens. I wonder if that's common with people who are newer to writing in earnest and have yet to find their own voice?
I think this is pretty common, I've heard other writers describe this phenomenon!! As you get more comfortable writing in your own voice, I think this tends to go away
i have such a fear around character voice being authentic when writing in first person that i feel like i'm filtering my own instincts/my author voice and i don't know how to strike a balance
Read writers that you admire and see what they do then do that until you develop your own style. How I did it. I ripped off William Gibson a lot in my twenties and now my prose is a more simplified version of him, Ryu Murakami and Philip K. Dick.
Remember. Practice doesn’t make perfect, PERFECT practice makes perfect. If you continue to practice in a way that is just BAD then naturally you’re going to develop bad HABITS. How do you fix this? It’s simple, CRITICIZE your writing. The road to betterment isn’t paved with good intentions but honed skill. Work out the kinks, just because it might be stressful and hard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. It’s hard work, don’t lose faith in yourself though. Understand that even if you aren’t good now, in a way, we’ll never be good, in a way nobody ever will be the best they can be. There is ways even Stephen king and Brandon Sanderson can improve their writing. We are never perfect in this life. Accept a philosophy of constant betterment. Edit: if you get the sensation that what you’ve written is bad, think deeply and wonder “what exactly makes this bad?” And when you learn the truth you will have a new learned lesson that will instantly send your writing into the next dimension.
i actually think writing in another language usually makes for a pretty unique voice, bc we tend to translate certain concepts in a way that might be foreign to english, which can turn into interesting sentence structures and original turns of phrase. that said, it's helpful to read a lot and try to avoid falling into cliches lol
@music4airports my friend and critique partner writes in Hebrew (her first language) and English (her second language). She often has fresh phrasing that's so interesting but also struggles to identify clichés and preposition errors. Her work in the last 4 years has improved so much. Careful critiquing and line editing - I'm in awe of how well she can write now!
"Not every sentence needs to be groundbreaking". How dare you call me tf out while I'm eating lunch
LOL. Was it a ham sandwich?
I don't intentionally write in a particular style. But all my readers point out that they like my style of writing. Again as you rightly said Shaelin I just write in my natural style, more in line with how I speak, joke and say stuff.
Glad to hear you emphasize reading. So many authors, ironically, aren't heavy readers.
Reading is soooo important!! It's really the best way to strengthen your intuition for good writing/storytelling, alongside practice with your own writing of course
@@ShaelinWrites The only caveat I can see with this is, some people, such as myself, have this tendency to be empathic to the point of being a "chameleon," or "shapeshifter." We absorb other people's writing like sponges, so our own writing can all too easily -- unconsciously so -- sound like someone else.
So I've had to back off of reading someone else's stuff in order to find whatever voice I've got. 😅 I know, it sounds counter-intuitive, but by doing things this way, I've managed to work out that my own style comes out when I'm not reading other's stuff as much. 🤷♀️
@@a.katherinesuetterlin3028 I’m definitely like this too. The art we consume inevitably influences our own. I try to read in my genre, and read from multiple authors. That way it’s just many different fragments of styles merged with your own. It’s pretty cool,
@@Ebony.B One thing I've been led to is annotating books as an aspect of journaling. How I got led to that -- to give you the short-short version -- is a combo of researching various journaling practices (keeping commonplace books), notebook types, pen designs, art journaling (mixed media and ASMR videos where collage journaling with stickers, paper, overall calming aesthetics is prevalent), and so on.
The purpose of annotating is to write in one's impressions, immediate reactions, doodles, etc next to bits of text within fiction or non-fiction. Some people have issues with the notion of writing directly in a book, so they use post-its. I decided that I would give annotating a shot, just because I have a huge idea for a Paranormal romance book series that I feel could take off quite well.
And I want to make note of how my favorite authors employ particular aspects of their genre -- stuff like "how spicy do they make this scene" or "how does the overall spiciness move the plot along" or "is this 'enemies-to-lovers' or simply "rivals-to-lovers" etc.
In other words, I am in a major nerd-out mode, here. 😂😂
@@a.katherinesuetterlin3028 No, I completely get that! I haven’t done much annotating, but I’m VERY familiar with art journaling. I’m also an artist so I have a few different journals. Writing journals, art journals and my anime/book journal 😂 nerd out all you want with me lol
And best of luck with your project! It sounds really cool. I’m writing a historical Greek romance right now. Ahh
I think the tricky thing is identifying your own style when to yourself, it just seems like a neutral style. Like, when I read my work to others sometimes they gasp or laugh in places I wouldn't expect, because I wasn't intending to be funny or surprising. So I think getting feedback really helps!
This is very true!! It can be surprising to hear other people's reactions to your work, because sometimes things are working in ways you never expected. I remember learning that a lot of people interpret my work as surreal or magical realist even when I wasn't intending that at all, just because of my writing style, which was a total surprise to me
I think something that really helps in finding your own style is to critically analyze the authors you admire and indentifying what makes their voice unique. "Voice" is something every writer naturally has (even if it's "bad", even if it's trying hard to emulate others), it's something that comes with being a human being with a unique worldview (rachel from coffeeandcalligraphy recently compared it to handwriting styles, which i totally agree). As a lit student I've found the most impressive writing styles always come from people who have identified that voice very clearly and use their craft in a very deliberate way in order to serve it
Understanding the techniques you implement to build your voice is such a good tip- I wish I'd talked about this haha! Understanding the building blocks of your voice and how to write it deliberately is so important
Want you to know your a breeze of skill and true advice in the sea of fluff and those who have no idea what they’re talking about. Your content actually makes me think and gives me answers to my questions as a new writer.
Thanks for the reminder that one should 'not' force their writing style. The ah-ha moment of realizing that we hit that style and then see it evolve as you write more. I think learning to find ones style involves that period of discovery and then the excitement as you learn more of that discovery over time.
Would love another line edit with me video. They're super helpful.
Was very unsure how you'd tackle this topic, as I'd be unsure how anyone would tackle it (myself included), and have in fact been a bit frustrated that it's a topic other people have *demanded* of you. But once you got to the "learn to line edit" part, it's a solution you presented with such straightforward sense that I now consider the matter closed. Once people pay attention to how they create and arrange sentences on the page, they can see how they're communicating.
Shout-out to your professor who emphasized that.
No one was demanding anything, I’m happy to get video requests and make the ones I feel qualified for!
.... Never mind, I must've misheard something. (Which will happen more frequently as my hearing loss gets worse.)
YES I NEED THIS. I’m just starting a new novel and still really looking for my voice/style. Thank you Shaelin
Thanks for including links, and YES to the "save words you like".
As a user, I appreciate old content as well as new. I like watching viewpoints and explanations evolve over time. Also, some people may be finding your channel from older videos hanging out in other people's playlists, so please don't feel bad about the oldness of videos.
I compliment you on this video You have style for explaining things Thanks for downloading
@@Hurlburton Hi, it looks like you intended to comment on the video but instead replied to my comment. No big deal, but Shaelin is more likely to see it if it's a top-level comment.
Never clicked on a video faster
I don't mind the refresher 💜
"that's just a utilitarian sentence"
I THINK THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TO HEAR
i think i've been trying to find a way to "write an action beat like a writer would", when really, what i needed was to be reminded that i need to tell the reader what they did.
showing IS telling, just a slightly more focused target.
It’s sad when a writer heavily edits their manuscript to a point it loses the author’s voice. A writer friend wrote a draft novel. When I first read it, I laughed so much because of her sassy sense of humour throughout the story. Then, I read it again after she did several rounds of heavy editing, wanting to sound sophisticated and so on. Totally lost the sassy voice, which is a shame, because it was so good.
Overediting and editing out your voice can for sure happen, especially if you don't know to look for it. I accidentally edited out a lot of the voice in the dialogue of one of my novels once, when I was deep in line edits and not paying close enough attention, and I ended up overediting the dialogue so it all sounded like the narrative voice. I definitely learned my lesson to not get complacent and edit too quickly/carelessly after having to go back and rewrite almost all the dialogue in my book because I edited out the voices rippp
Omg, my best friend Shaelin released a video 😍
Thank you for your words of encouragement, Shaelin. Appreciate U.
Grateful for this video! This is something I’ve needed.
New to this book tube/author tube malarkey and finding my way around. Best wishes to you with your writing, reading and to your channel.
Great video - I actually appreciate that its not like "MAJOR ANSWERS" and instead about the process of finding voice... Also 10,000 hour rule hasn't been debunked, but a few caveats have been found (main one is the reminder that it should be 10,000 of learning and developing and feedback).
Finally love the point on learning to line editing - endless vomit drafts aren't going to build your voice (much LOL)
You're the only person I trust when it comes to advise ❤️ you're really cool and i love you, thank u for helping us.
Maybe it's a bit like acting? If the directing or writing is bad, even great actors can come across as amateur or non-genuine. Taking the analogy to writing, each author has their own style of voice (just like each actor has their own style), but to come across as genuine, the style has to be appropriate for what's going on in the book. If the developmental editing (i.e., the director) or the line editing (i.e., the writers) are working, then the voice won't come across as genuine either. Maybe this is one reason it's so hard for established authors to jump genres and do it well-the voice needs to match/complement the content. (Just spit-balling here.)
When writing in first-person I noticed I was subconsciously writing it in the same way I do for my usual third-person work. The locked perspective of first-person and the allowance of detailed inflection have been very fun creative challenges!
My favourite limitation to play with is describing a scene as a matter-of-fact but having the POV character interpreting it slightly differently or drawing a warped moral lesson.
So far as I got in the video your tips are really helpful, but challenging at the same time ❤
Thank you 🙏
Your voice is you. People never mistake you for somebody else when they hear you talking in another room. Your writing voice is the same unmistakable you, on the page.
Just write a lot and your voice develops. Also, join a critique group in order to refine that voice. Great tips. Many of them, I never consciously considered.
My voice is pretty identifiable at this point. I see it adjust depending on the work, what I'm reading, and after response from readers.
Interesting comments on editing. I hadn't really thought about the power of line editing specifically helping to refine that voice.
Your videos are so very helpful. Thanks.
great advice!
I've noticed that I'm influenced in my writing style from what I'm reading at the moment or have just finished. It's not a choice to emulate, it just happens. I wonder if that's common with people who are newer to writing in earnest and have yet to find their own voice?
I think this is pretty common, I've heard other writers describe this phenomenon!! As you get more comfortable writing in your own voice, I think this tends to go away
i have such a fear around character voice being authentic when writing in first person that i feel like i'm filtering my own instincts/my author voice and i don't know how to strike a balance
Read writers that you admire and see what they do then do that until you develop your own style. How I did it. I ripped off William Gibson a lot in my twenties and now my prose is a more simplified version of him, Ryu Murakami and Philip K. Dick.
Remember. Practice doesn’t make perfect, PERFECT practice makes perfect. If you continue to practice in a way that is just BAD then naturally you’re going to develop bad HABITS. How do you fix this? It’s simple, CRITICIZE your writing. The road to betterment isn’t paved with good intentions but honed skill. Work out the kinks, just because it might be stressful and hard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. It’s hard work, don’t lose faith in yourself though. Understand that even if you aren’t good now, in a way, we’ll never be good, in a way nobody ever will be the best they can be. There is ways even Stephen king and Brandon Sanderson can improve their writing. We are never perfect in this life. Accept a philosophy of constant betterment.
Edit: if you get the sensation that what you’ve written is bad, think deeply and wonder “what exactly makes this bad?” And when you learn the truth you will have a new learned lesson that will instantly send your writing into the next dimension.
I always wanted to write like Jack Kerouac 😊
Who’s that? If you don’t mind me asking 😊
@@martellc1008 i genuinely cannot tell if this thread is a joke
@@martellc1008 He was a writer back in I think the 1950s. He wrote On The Road and a lot of beat poetry.
Tip: read Hemmingway and study it after
How to find your own voice when you write in English and English is not your first language 🥲
I guess reading helps a lot
i actually think writing in another language usually makes for a pretty unique voice, bc we tend to translate certain concepts in a way that might be foreign to english, which can turn into interesting sentence structures and original turns of phrase. that said, it's helpful to read a lot and try to avoid falling into cliches lol
@@music4airportsLOVE what you said! Thank you 🙏🏽💙
One of the greatest writers in the English language was Joseph Conrad and he was Polish. Read up on him.
@music4airports my friend and critique partner writes in Hebrew (her first language) and English (her second language). She often has fresh phrasing that's so interesting but also struggles to identify clichés and preposition errors. Her work in the last 4 years has improved so much. Careful critiquing and line editing - I'm in awe of how well she can write now!