how to find your own aesthetic and voice - Pay Attention

 

In all the reading I have done about the art, craft, and process of writing I don’t think I have ever come across a process for cultivating your voice. Which does not mean that no one has ever discussed this. I just haven’t come across it. However, I have thought about it and come up with some ways to cultivate your voice.

1.  When you read something or watch a movie notice the parts that you particularly like and ask yourself why you like them. Copy off particular snippets of writing you admire and keep them in a list. Read the list before you write.

2.  Conversely when you read something or watch a movie notice the parts that you particularly dislike and ask yourself why.

3.  In a specific work is there a particular type or aspect of writing that you enjoy or dislike (narration, dialogue, description, etc.)? Is it the way the author uses words? Or sets up plot points? Or reveals the characters feelings? Or something else? Is it that it’s funny? Funny in a particular way? Or philosophic? Etc.

4. What are the “things” across works and authors that you like and dislike?

5. All of the above are about making you specifically conscious of what you like and do not like. Not just a particular work but the exact words/passages/structures in that work that you admire. It doesn’t mean you have to like the whole work.

By being conscious of what you like and dislike in works of fiction you define what your own aesthetic is to yourself. You focus on what you admire in the world of fiction and where you want to be in that world.

6. When you read some paragraph of fiction that you particularly admire the writing of, copy it out. Then write your own paragraph from that paragraph by replacing the words with like words of your choice. This is kind of like the game Mad Libs.  For every noun substitute a different one. The same for verbs, adverbs, etc.  In this way you get into nitty gritty of a style of writing that you like and learn from it in a very essential non-intellectual way. You learn the feel of it from forcing yourself to write in that way. Writers learn from other writers and build on what they do. Just as visual artists study the masters works and copy them to learn. Then they build on what they learn and take it in their own direction.

7.  Notice when you write something what you like or don’t like and ask yourself why? Don’t shy away from liking or disliking your work. Knowing both helps you to make your work more of what you like. Focus on making it more of what you like and not on judging what you do. Separate the work from yourself. Not liking the work is not making you bad, or untalented, or stupid, or anything else. It’s just giving you the opportunity to make it more of what you like.