Finding your voice
Gary Bloomer | SHAKING THE TREE #184
Start a blog, they said.
It’ll be easy and fun, they said.
Follow your passion and the money will follow, they said.
Yeah, right.
WordPress has confounded and annoyed me since 2010.
My luck with Weebly, Wix, and various other online publishing platforms hasn’y been much better. I’m thankful now to have discovered and settled on Substack as my platform of choice.
These points aside, I get that starting out as an online publisher can be as irksome as it can be daunting.
As if finding the platform that’s right for you wasn’t enough of a hurdle, there’s the endless chore of figuring out publishing tools, video editing, and audio processing software, let alone the actual creating of your content and getting it out there, a task that at times can feel like a week-after-soul-sucking-week chore.
And then there’s finding your voice? What fresh hell is this?
At times it feels like it would be easier to climb Mt. Everest than to find your own voice. And yet, here we are …
The world of online publishing can be a daunting and noisy place at the best of times.
What with a bajillion voices all screaming “Me! Me! Me! Pay attention to me! Look at me, over here!” figuring out how you can make a stand can be something of a challenge.
So far, I’ve been writing and publishing a twice-weekly newsletter for 21 months and while I’m delighted to share that I’ve built us a modest list of subscribers and readers, I know I have a lot of ground to cover and I know I need to do a better job of distributing my content.
And yet, and only in recent weeks, or so it feels, I’ve finally found my voice:
A voice of gradual, steady, assured, practical, pragmatic encouragement.
A tone of gently cheering budding (and seasoned) content creators along and ever onwards to greatness.
A voice based on a thorough grounding in hard knocks, resilience, and in getting back up whence knocked down or out.
For you, your voice might be one of humour and irony; anger and rage, or direct, dire, romanticism; whatever works for you—whatever resonates with your readers—whatever helps you share your experiences and passions and loves.
While it might be tempting to copy someone else’s style, don’t.
Your authenticity sets you apart.
Likewise with following current trends to generate clicks and likes.
How do you find your voice?
Embrace the rough draft: Let your thoughts flow freely without self-editing and refining your material. Your first draft is the raw material, like a sculptor's marble, in need of refinement and work.
Read widely and diversely: Explore different genres and styles; pay attention to how writers write, not just what they write. Analyze their techniques, but absorb and synthesize, don't imitate.
Experiment fearlessly: Try various formats—micro-fiction, essays, poetry, songs. Play with language and perspectives, break as many rules as possible and at some point, something will stick. Experimentation reveals what feels authentic.
Reflect on your experiences: Your unique voice stems from your personal life journey. Share your weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and triumphs; it’s your life stories that create the most genuine of connections.
Seek feedback, but trust yourself: Criticism is valuable, but your voice is your own. Don't let others change you. Trust your gut and follow your instincts. Someone giving feedback might have a point, they might help you see a new angle. They might also be wrong.
As daunting as it might seem, finding your online voice is as worthwhile a task as the process of writing in itself. Your voice is a journey of exploration, revelation, self-discovery, experimentation, and refinement.
It takes patience and vulnerability, but the reward is genuine connection with readers and a lasting impact online.
Embrace the process and run with it. You never know where it will lead you.
As always, thanks for reading.
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P.S. Next time on Shaking the Tree … Fixing dull content.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.