Throughout my years of being a literature lover, I have read upwards of 10,000 books in my 19 years of life. Of course, that means I’ve seen 10,000 different writing styles that all work in their own individual way. My favorite author, C.S. Lewis, had a writing style that I desperately tried to emulate, but that is absolutely not the way to become a better writer. Now that I’m yearning to become a fiction writer, I’ve been working on developing my own style – and I feel as though I’ve effectively done that. Let me go through my process of developing my own voice as a writer, and hopefully I can help some of you along the way!
Step 1. Read Books That Are Written In A Similar Way To Your Writing Style
Okay, this may sound counter-intuitive; how could reading other people’s works help me develop my own voice? As I mentioned earlier, you cannot simply emulate someone’s style when it doesn’t come naturally to you. However, reading other people’s works can provide inspiration as well as enlightenment on what doesn’t work for you. Let’s take another author I enjoy, Suzanne Collins. Her famed book series, The Hunger Games, was written and laced with metaphors and imagery, much like C.S. Lewis, the author of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I gravitate towards authors that write in ways I frequent; the use of metaphor and simile, beautiful imagery, and allegorical stories. I recommend reading some of the work you’ve written, fictional or nonfictional. How do you write? What common literary techniques do you employ? Commit that to memory, and immerse yourself in works that use the techniques you do as well. I think you’ll find that it’ll fuel your fire.
Step 2. People Watch
Now this is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, and you’ve probably heard this one before – but it works! Obviously, in the midst of a pandemic, it’s hard to people watch. However, get creative with it! Watch movies and TV shows and pay attention to the background players: the girl sitting on the bench behind the main character, or the random couple in the background on a date at a restaurant. However you can think to find strangers, do so. Once you do that, create their story! Give them a name, write down where you think they’re from and where you think they’re going, and conjure up what you think he or she does for a living. People watching is great for creating characters and helping you imagine how to really make a personality come to life. This is especially helpful if creating real-feeling characters for your stories is difficult.
Step 3. Use Writing Prompts
The final thing I do to form my own writing style is use writing prompts. I have a very large book for writing prompt exercises called The Write-Brain Workbook.
The book has been extremely helpful in getting my creative juices flowing. The best thing about it is that nobody will use the same prompt in the same way; take the one at the top of this post for example (if you noticed it!) Prompts are geared towards honing your individual writing style. Let me give you a few examples of the prompts within:
- Use the words septic, septuplet, septuagenarian, septillion, septennial, septilateral, and septum in one short story.
- You’re a 6-year-old, and it’s your first day of first grade. Write a story about how your first day went.
- Look around you and write down the first 6 things you see. Connect all 6 things into a story.
Obviously these prompts are weird, but that’s the point! Really get creative with it, and have fun becoming a more unique writer!
readreaming 