Finding Your Voice
When you look in the mirror and see nothing but blah, it can be a frustrating experience. There are many people who have no idea how to find their voice as a writer--or at all--and they wind up going through life with a "meh" attitude. I don't blame them. But there is hope: You can create your own voice and carve out your place in the world of words through writing exercises and finding inspiration from other authors. By taking the time to learn about yourself and developing that voice, you'll gain the self-confidence needed to succeed in life.
Let's begin with a fun exercise to help spark your creativity:
Write down the five words you feel most comfortable using in writing or speaking. These words aren't necessarily those that you choose at random from the dictionary, but your own words. This is what you sound like, sounding out each word and letting yourself fill out the sentence.
Now, write down five new words. You can pick them up out of a dictionary or make up your own as long as they fit into this genre (for example, if you're writing fantasy you might want to pick up some fantasy-type synonyms). These are the words you pick that most accurately describe your personality.
Now, name five authors whose styles fit this genre well. Why? What makes them so memorable to you? It's okay to use a little bit of slyness here in making up your answers; real writers make their points through word choice and imagery, but there's also a hint of subtext in their writing that can be interpreted uniquely by each reader. Now here's the fun part: Choose five books from these authors, no matter how recently they were written or if you've already read them, and write a detailed description of each book. Write the plots of all six books as if they were one novel. This will give you a good idea of what types of words are used in this genre and how that affects your reading experience.
Now, choose five words from each section (the first five and the last five) that best match the style of the book you've written. This will help develop your voice without getting in the way of your own natural voice and style. Pick out two or three gems, and recognize which ones are more meaningful to you as a writer.
This exercise is more effective if it's repeated over time; try it monthly for a couple months, then once every couple months for another month or two. You'll be surprised how much you can grow in the process.
The second step to finding your voice is to learn from other writers. You can do that by reading what they have to say, watching them speak on a panel, or even just listening to them in an online chat about writing. Write down everything that interests you about their style and word choices, and then use them as inspiration for your writing. Eventually you may find a book or two written by the author that feels more like yours than his or hers; those books are good candidates for further development into your own "voice.
Note that it's not necessary to be able to imitate an author's style; it's more about understanding the texture of their writing and developing your own. As you write, don't just focus on what the author is saying, but on how he/she is saying it.
This next step can take a little bit more time. You will want to do two things: First, go through all of your previous drafts and delete any sentences that don't fit into your current voice. Second, go through your favorite author's writing and look for sentences that you like so much you could use them in your own writing. Write down three to five examples of each from the book, then try to incorporate the same sentences into your own work. You don't want to do this too much or else it'll sound like you're mimicking your favorite author rather than developing your own style.
This is a great way to improve your writing on a daily basis. One of the best ways to develop new skills is by practicing every day. If you do this, your voice will develop and you'll find it easier to craft a better story each time.
The next step is to look for inspiration from the world around you. Look back through your notes from finding your voice and look for sentences that fit well with the kind of scene you wrote in the past. These can be used for setting descriptions or dialogue, or even transitions between paragraphs. Take a few minutes each day and write down these lines, then use them as inspiration to come up with fresh ideas when you find yourself stuck on a writing problem and need some new ideas.
This step is a daily process because if you don't practice it every day, it'll be hard to pick up later in the book. As you write, focus on the flow of your writing, so that it's easy for you to continue pacing and developing your story line. Your challenge may be to look for ways to fill in the blanks as you write, helping you develop your own voice. If a chapter or scene isn't working well, try re-writing it all in one go rather than trying to fix the blanks while you're still writing it.
This exercise is also a great way to get feedback from other readers. Take what they say into consideration and use that when creating new chapters or improving your already existing ones.
The last step is finding inspiration from other authors and looking at what they have done well and not so well with their work. If you find something in their work that makes you aware of a part of your story that needs to be different, use it as inspiration to change the way you're writing.
Inspiration is a beautiful thing. We don't create art just to replicate what others have done; instead, we're inspired by them and improve by seeing what they did wrong and drawing from what they've done successfully. The same technique works for authors; it's about being inspired by other writers' talent and success, then striving to improve on that through your own effort.
The idea is not to copy another writer's style or voice completely, but rather emulate the aspects you like and develop your own unique qualities.
Conclusion
There are many creative exercises you can do to develop a writing style and make your work more cohesive. The first step is simply finding the writing style that works well for you and using it consistently, giving you a set of tools to work with in creating your story.
Most of these techniques build upon one another, each complementing the other as you learn how to use them effectively. As your skills improve, so will your voice and the quality of your writing.