Developing a voice...

A voice is one of the most important parts of writing. It makes the story interesting, compelling, and recognizable. It's important to cultivate your voice as a writer but also be flexible with it, and let it change when needed. Voice is what all the greats speak through when they write. Voice is crucial to good writing.

Here's my take on it; how I see the subject of voice.  

Your voice isn't defined, it's found, it's heard, and transmitted through your writing. Some "experts" will tell you to look to others; ask yourself who would you want to narrate your story? Spoilers: the answer is always Morgan Freeman. This process is important, but only for the sake of experimentation and exploration of who you are as a person, not a writer. It's a good writing exercise, nothing more. Indulge in it from time to time, but when you are serious about finding your voice, abandon it!  

A writer's voice should never sound like someone else. The voice of a written work should sound like the authentic and genuine soul of the person who wrote it. Most writers aren't fully confident with that kind of vulnerability. It takes a fair amount of courage to uncover and expose the secret parts of ourselves. 

It's a scary, dirty, aggravating process, but it needs to happen. The truth about who you are, what and how you think, the emotions you feel are what will make your writing great. They will make it recognizable, indelible, and people will be able to identify with it. As a bonus, it will also make you more aware of who you are as a person. In turn, that will shine through in your words.  

The ones who embrace this exposure and lean into it, develop their voice and hone it into an instrument of precision. They are unforgettable, and really can't be copied. Mark Twain is a good example of a writer that found his voice, and people still appreciate him a century later.

To find your voice, stop copying others, start telling the truths that are inside you. Write down those scary, dirty, horrible, wonderful, beautiful things hidden deep in your heart. Write them with confidence. Your voice is cultivated through practice and patience, also a lot of late nights and self-examination. It will get stronger, it will change and grow with you (make sure you let it). 

That is your voice; the confident exposure of your truths captured by the words you write.

Here's a great video from Jamaica Kincaid about the subject of voice, it's short, I hope you enjoy.

Cheers!