Sounding Like a Writer
Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m trying to sound like a writer,” before?
While this can be a nice goal, it sometimes backfires—que stuffy language, too many strings of showy adjectives, instant 3rd person past, over explaining, and more. Would you talk like this in real life? Hopefully not!
Can you think of what a writer sounds like? If you have a pen in your hand and you are writing, that’s a writer right there.
Write what comes to mind. Write whatever words you can think of and go from there. If you think it sounds too plain, keep writing; if you think it sounds too boring, keep writing; if you think it sounds too informal, keep writing.
To be a writer, you do not need to sound educated, wise, funny, or fluent. Your voice will guide you and that stuff, alongside whatever makes you—you—will come out. No one else has your voice so your writing is not supposed to sound like someone else’s.
Think of this when you think “my life is normal” or “my life is boring.” No one has experienced what you have, however ordinary you think it is. For example, when you walk out your front door in the morning what do you see?
An apartment hallway?
The parking lot for a motel?
A manicured front yard with garden?
A neighborhood street with wooden houses?
Palm trees and the ocean?
A jungle?
A busy street with cars honking?
Is it always dark outside because you live so far north?
Everything I just listed is normal to someone somewhere in the world. Everywhere that is considered normal or boring to you is interesting and totally different to another. In a world so connected, your voice has the ability to stand out even more as many different people around the world may turn to listen.
Style
When writing, just like art, there are different styles and voices you can mimic and borrow for your writing. Style is good if you are trying to create a certain kind of piece and your style is intentional. If you are mimicking a style only because you think it is what a writer should sound like… you should make sure you do not forget your own voice and that the style matches your story.
For example, imagine someone tries to make their characters all fancy and speaking as if their dialogue was written by Emily Bronte. If the story doesn’t take place in a setting that would have such dialogue—stop it. Unless it is for humor’s sake, a modern high school student in the Bronx, NY is not going to walk up to someone in the street and bid them a good morn’ and ask about high tea in an accent that is not theirs. (We will talk about accents and languages later.)
Mimicking or learning from styles unlike your own is a great exercise to flex those writing muscles. But do not copy or write one without saying where your influences come from. If you are inspired by a story, be sure to note that when posting or printing. You can draw from several sources; this is not off limits.
A few years ago, I did a practice piece mimicking the style of famous short story writer and novelist Annie Proux. She has haunting and gritty tales that are unforgettable. It helps to look at a piece of writing through someone else’s ideas or style to see how you can unravel the words in a new way. Mimicking pieces are something that never leave my journals though, these are just learning exercises and pieces of admiration for the works that inspire me. Once again, if you did share or publish these, add a tag or mention for the inspiration.
This is no different than studying painting and painting in the style of Picasso. You are learning new techniques via the lens of another creator. When you put that piece in a gallery, it will say “Title” inspired by Picasso. That’s it!
My Influences
Speaking of influences, here are some of my favorite writers who I study to improve my own style. These are my favorites for the grit, clarity, and wild yet simple ideas.
Flannery O’Conner’s short stories
The Palace Thief by Ethan Canin
Colson Whitehead’s short stories
Check out WWW Resources to learn more about my writing influences!
Language
Along with your voice—believe it or not—being unique, there are some writers who try to use certain language because they believe that their writing will not sound like a story without it. Have you ever used the following words to try to sound more like a writer? I know I used to. These words can be used purposefully and stylistically but try to avoid relying on them to make your writing.
Alas
Therefore
Once Upon a Time
Furthermore
Without Ado’
Sometimes I see these words overused—almost at the beginning or end of every statement in a draft piece of writing. Unless they are important to the theme and style of your piece, this will sound clunky to your reader and in the end, these are extra words you do not need.
Wordiness
I see this in all genres, but fantasy comes to mind. Huge monologues reexplaining everything in the plot… an overuse of descriptions to make that thick 1000-page fantasy book that will stand out on a shelf… and more. Part of me has always wondered when it comes to the length of some of those fantasy books. Is wordiness a favorite tool just to hit those 1,000 pages? Is that a thing??
When you over explain or write with wordy language, using lots of “cool words” does not equal sounding like a writer. Sentences that are too wordy can slow your reader down and make it hard to focus on what is important or what is going on in the plot.
English as a Second Language
Having been a teaching assistant and writing assistant (both in the USA and abroad), a big thing I learned was to not extinguish these voices.
If you are writing and English is not your first language, your editor should not try to change your voice. We can point you in the right direction and help with the technical stuff, but even something technical, if it is from your natural voice or the cadence of how you speak, do not take that out! You do not need to fit your language to that of someone else’s.
Some great examples of this writing is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Another note, if you are writing a story that takes place somewhere and has a different language or culture other than your own, avoid this cliché. Do not make very simple words randomly in that language. For example, you can keep unique titles for characters such as aunt or a job name, something that has a lot of meaning in the original usage. But it does not go over well to write a story and randomly plug in translated words to make the story feel foreign or unique (this can be quite rude if done poorly!) This is a device that literally makes that language you are borrowing feel like an object or tool to make your own writing stand out. Now, there are ways to use this correctly, but I want to highlight what you should be avoiding.
Let’s say you are writing a story where your characters are Spanish, and you write all the dialogue in English but only translate cliches (avoid this):
Hello/ Hola
Good/ Bueno, Buena
Sister, Brother/ Hermano, Hermana
Crazy/ Loco, Loca
Example: “Si, hermana,” Juanita says. “I know you want to go to school today but it is no bueno.”
It is not wrong to use other languages of course! What should be avoided is the intension of using different languages only to make your writing sound interesting. If you are only plugging in random Spanish words to make your characters “sound Spanish” …that is not good. These kind of things need to be handled with tact and thoughtfulness. Like everything you put into writing, your intention of how you use the words is the most important.
Can you be an English speaker and effectively write a setting and plot with characters in another ethnicity or culture? Yes, but in the end, you want this all to be natural. I am speaking directly to writers who have grown up in English households without other languages in their life. It’s harder to imagine how to write this way, it’s something to be mindful of, and if you have a story or character with a different background, see how the writers who share the same background handle these ideas.
Do not pick a background or language because you want it only to make your story more interesting—pick it if it talks to the theme and meaning of the story you are trying to tell, if it speaks to you and your reader. Do not use another culture as a plot device. If you are exploring topics and ideas within that culture or if your thesis is about something in that life, then yes, that story fits and the culture and language should naturally thrive in it.
To see these styles of writing, I highly recommend reading the short stories found in Pen America Best Debut Short Stories 2017 specifically: “Tell Me, Please” by Emily Chammah. The handling of bi-lingual characters and different languages is so natural and well done. You won’t see words in another language italicized—instead, they blend naturally into the text and are used as they would be by such characters, naturally.
Another great source is A Tutor’s Guide by Rafoth. This has a whole section on writing tutoring with English as a second language students and how to preserve and strengthen the unique voices in their work.
If anyone has any specific questions about this, let me know! I work with lots of Korean and Japanese culture and history in some of my private creative nonfiction essays and memoirs because it is heavily involved in my studies and interests that naturally shaped and wormed into my life. It’s a way I look at and experience things through an interest in multicultural lenses.
Ordinary VS Extraordinary
There is only one you and even in the most ordinary things, there is something extraordinary.
I recommend reading lots of short stories for these examples. The vast amount of what can be explored and showcased in only a few pages is astounding. One example of ordinary turned extraordinary is a piece called “Consider the Lobster” and it’s all about our ordinary lobsters, but you will be hooked, wondering what you will learn next.
Recently published in the New Yorker, an essay about pajamas kept me laughing and intrigued with the whimsical voice. You never know what can make the next story.
Conclusion
For me, I’ve written massive creative essays obsessing over objects like balconies or the English scone. Anything can be written about, and no one thinks the exact way you do. Experiences, backgrounds, opinions, race, culture, religion, preferences, age, location, education, and what your unique passions are all color your voice and make it uniquely your own.
You do not need something amazing, special, or exciting to happen to you or in your life to put that pencil to the paper and start writing. Your imagination and your unique perspective are all you need to make a story.
Best,
Danni Lynn, Evangeline40003