Basic Article Marketing Tips: Finding Your Writing Voice

If you’ve done research into the field of article marketing, you may have heard the expression “writer’s voice” mentioned and wondered what exactly it referred to. After all, we are talking about writing, not speaking.

Even though it is a written format that we are dealing with, every writer has a style with which he or she expresses his or her self. It is this style that is referred to when speaking of a writer’s voice.

Finding your writing voice will be a key component of your writing style. Finding one that not only allows you to express your thoughts, but also attracts readers on a variety of subjects will bring you success.

Take a moment to think about articles that you have read. Have you ever run across an article that put you off from the beginning? While it may be difficult to do in hindsight, think about what it was about the writing that put you off.

Possibly it was that you did not agree with the author’s viewpoint or the subject was one that you felt strongly about. However innocent the author’s remarks were, he or she failed to score points with you.

Every writer has a style of his or her own. This style is the voice in which they write and is what gives uniqueness to their material. Just as not everyone is a fan of eating liver, different people will be attracted to different writing styles.

The question you need to answer and the dilemma that you face is whether or not your particular writing style or voice works for the area of your niche market that your intended audience comes from.

If you’ve never written anything it would be pretty difficult to identify what type of writing voice you have. Back in grade school when writing was being taught, you were given writing formulas to follow. They probably went something like this:

• Each paragraph will contain four sentences
• The first sentence will contain the topic
• The following sentences will support the topic sentence
• The concluding sentence of a paragraph will lead into the topic of the next paragraph

While formulas such as these were given as guides to how to structure your writing, they produce a style of writing that is very matter-of-fact. This style type may be fine for a school situation, but it won’t fly in the real world. It will only make you sound stuffy and uninteresting.

Here are some basic article marketing tips to help you with finding your writer’s voice:

To begin with, most people come across as pretty stilted, at least for their first few attempts at writing, so do not be concerned if this happens with you. Instead, find a topic that you are genuinely interested in and start writing. Try writing the same information in different styles so that it comes across as serious in the first, casual in the second and light-hearted in the last attempt.

Now take some time to look at the way other writers are talking about a similar subject. Some writers are funny, while others come across as serious, sarcastic, stilted or even carefree.

Within those classifications come many shades so to speak. It is those shades that characterize the writer’s style. The writer’s voice will determine the manner in which the words are chosen the order they are written and how they come across to the reader.

Let’s take the example of someone who uses a humorous writer’s voice to understand this concept better. A writer can use an instructional voice and throw in bits of humor from time to time to lighten the material. Or a writer could write in a more casual manner that relays a story in a humorous light.

The first example would be a style appropriate for a teaching venue. The second, more suited to a discussion with a friend. The voice or style that you use most naturally will be your writing voice.

Adapting Your Writing Style To Different Settings

Your writing voice is part of you the same as your speaking voice is. That having been said, we all speak differently in different situations. Therefore we adapt our voice so that it is appropriate to the situation.

There are times that a writer may be required to speak seriously, even though their typical style is one of humor or even sarcasm. If you have found your normal writing voice, then adapting your writing style to meet new situations will come easier.

But why, you might ask, would you even want to change your writing voice? Well, just as in life, where we find that we speak differently for different situations, so too might a writer run across a subject or material that requires a different style of writing to bring the point across effectively.

Another situation where a writer might be required to change his or her writing voice would be if they were contracted to write material for someone else or for a publication of some sort.

In the first instance, the writer may try to imitate the writing voice of the person they were writing for. In the second instance, there may be guidelines setout by the publication that is being written for and the writer may have to alter his or her voice to meet those guidelines.

Writers find their writer’s voice and style by writing. The more you write, the more defined and unique your writing voice becomes. Read over some of your own writing and also ask for the opinion of others to help clarify in your mind the voice that you use best. Finding your writing voice is the first step to becoming comfortable with your writing.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com