Learning to use your own voice by Claire Musters
As the marriage book I have written with my husband has gone off to the printers this week, it got me reminiscing about my writing journey. I think one of the biggest things I (and we all) have to face is finding our own particular voice. I can remember when I was writing Taking Off the Mask , I was told by a couple of people (including an ACW member and Jeff Lucas, who had both kindly agreed to read draft chapters) that there were definitely parts that just didn’t sound like me so they needed to be rewritten. I was devastated. I was doing a lot of book editing alongside my writing, and there was one particular author whose style I really admired – and wanted to emulate. I thought picking up tips from others was a great way of developing my own style, but sadly it seems I ended up coming across as someone other than myself. I know that writing is a craft, and that we do need to take time to hone it. However, I have also learned that comparing myself with others, or trying t...