Can you hear me now?

“Voice is nothing fancy. It’s simply the way you, the writer, project yourself artistically. It’s the way you draw on yourself as you write – your sense of humor, irony, the way you see people and events, use language and entertain.” Cynthia Morris

 Voice is strongly linked to who we are, our experiences, and what drives us to write.  Our subject matter will drive our voice.

 Our audience has an influence on our voice.  If we’re writing to a principal or a superintendent, we’re not going to tell jokes or family stories.  If we’re writing for our peers in a school newspaper, jokes might be appropriate but we also need to think about who else might be reading what we’ve written.

 The distance between us and our reader influences our voice.  Are we revealing facts about ourselves so that our voice is more personal? or  Are we using data and facts to express our point so that our voice is more distant?

 Our emotions can influence our voice.  Depending on whether we are writing to make a point, to convince or to inspire, we need to make decisions about how to use our emotions to appeal to our reader.

 Writers can choose as many different tones of voice as speakers can in conversation with others.  Writers need to choose the appropriate tone for their purpose and audience.

 Our word choice has a great impact on our voice.  Our word choice should also be influenced by our purpose and our audience.

 Our voice, like us, may change according to the purpose and our audience.  We’re not saying the same things at a family dinner that we say when we’re hanging out with friends.  Our writing voice should change according to what we’re writing and we need to make sure that we’re using an appropriate tone.

Acknowledgement: muse.shtml Prepared by Jennifer Bernhard Clark County Schools