I have a thing for writers with a very signature writing voice.
You know what I’m talking about. There are certain writers that you can hear in your head as you read. It’s as if they were right in front of you, telling a story or entertaining a small crowd.
There’s definitely an element of showmanship to stylized writing: It performs for the reader/listener. It pauses. It has asides with the audience. It builds anticipation and delivers solid punchlines.
How can you develop your own writing voice?
Part of it comes with practice and developing your writing style/voice over time. But some if it happens as a result of leveraging smart shortcuts in your writing. Let’s look at what they are and how you can use them.
1. The colon
Colons are great for two key things: Emphasis and reinforcement.
If you’re introducing a quote, you can use a colon instead of a comma to emphasize the message inside the quotes.
Example: My mom always told me: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
You can also use colons to restate or clarify an independent clause (just be sure to capitalize the first letter after the colon as if they’re separate sentences.)
Example: I failed the test because of one thing: I hadn’t done a minute of studying.
2. The em dash
This one’s my personal favorite. An em dash is the punctuation to use when you’re interrupting yourself with an interjection or something you want to draw further attention to. I think of these as an aside with the reader and a simple way to make your writing sound more like your natural speaking voice.
Example: I like to go on vacation — I mean, who doesn’t, really — but I have a hard time giving myself permission to take one.
3. The semicolon
This one’s a bit more tricky, but here’s the best explanation I have for when to use them: Semicolons can be used to link together two related independent clauses. They can also go before a word like additionally, otherwise, however, etc. to link two similar sentences together.
Example: I love reading her books; she’s my favorite expert on psychology.
4. Text formatting
I’m a big fan of putting text types to work in my writing. Here’s what to remember as you leverage your formatting options:
Bold = emphasis, importance
Italic = punchlines, words you want the reader to slow down on or reinforce
Underlining = importance, drama
Alternating uppercase and lowercase letters = The SpOnGeBoB meme (aka I am frustrated and saying this with major emphasis!)
5. Onomatopoeias
That $10 word for words that are sounds. These would be words like ‘Shhh!’ or ‘Whoosh!’ that add an interesting sensory element to your writing (also a great tool for building mental imagery.)
Welp...this has been your crash course in English for the day. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and get to put these tactics to work!
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