Finding your own voice

How do you define "voice" in writing? How do you discover your own voice as a writer?

I define "voice" in writing as the authors own thoughts, feelings, and experiences that they incorporate into their writing in order to show how they perceive the subject. Thoughts might be good or bad opinions on a topic or might be taking one side or the other in an argument. Your feelings are your emotions on the subject, do you not care about the topic, or is it something that you are very passionate about? Finally, a writer's experience is what examples of how the author has come across the subject in his or her own life. You discover your own voice by being passionate and interested in your topic. If you can do this, you will be able to express your "voice", that is you thoughts, feelings, and experiences on your topic.


What does Lamott mean when she says "We write to expose the unexposed. If there is one door in the castle you have been told not to go through, you must. Otherwise, you'll just be rearranging furniture in rooms you've already been.

Lamott's quote is telling writers to write about the way we feel, to write about subjects that may be touchy, and to try new things while writing. Lamott explains that if you just write to get a grade, your writing will never improve. If you open the "forbidden castle door" and get engauged in your writing, it will improve and you will be much more involved in your writing.