Finding your voice

There is a great post on the D*I*Y* Planner site about The Authentic Voice. It applies to journalling and writing, but the advice is excellent for homilists and preachers to consider as well. Note these four guidelines from the article:

1. Cater your writing style to match the intended audience. You wouldn't speak to your boss and your mother the same way, would you? Changing what words you choose to use in your writing, whether personal or creative can help you uncover and develop your writing voice by matching it to the audience.
2. Practice what you speak. Try writing as if you were talking to someone else. How would that sound on paper? Try speaking to another person as if you were happy, sad or mad at them and see how different the passages are.
3. Write as if you were the character. Sometimes helping to develop an authentic voice means writing as if you were that person. Step into your character's shoes. What words do they prefer using? Speaking as if you were that character teaches you how to use voice as if you were that character and in doing so, it helps you uncover the nuances that make your own voice special.
4. Try and examine the topic you're writing about from multiple perspectives and share the reason you feel the way you do. Sometimes when you explain the other side, you're able to view and relate to your own musings more truthfully.

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