How to Find Your Own Writing Style

Writing is a fascinating practice. It can bring joy, happiness, deep-thinking, relaxation, and a whole range of emotions to the writer. Some people don't enjoy writing and that is completely fine, writing isn't for everyone. I never really liked to write when I was at school, well...no let me re-phrase that - I hated to write when I was at school. I just didn't get on with it, in fact anything to do with the subject of English I hated.

When I first started this blog I didn't really like to write but was fascinated how other people from around the world could read the works of others via the Internet. So I set up this blog and found that writing wasn't that bad at all, in fact I found it rather likeable, and now I can't really see myself without my blog.

Writing style is completely unique to every person and is something that cannot be learnt or taught but is something that can only be discovered. I think I now have my own unique writing style but took a good while figuring out what it was. In this post I will offer you some tips to how you can discover your own unique writing style.

1. Write, write, and write.

The biggest and best piece of advice you will ever receive regarding the subject of finding your own writing voice is to write. It's such a simple thing to do and if you enjoy to write (which the majority of you will if you're wanting to find your own writing style), then it will be enjoyable at the same time.

The more you write the more your personal style will start to break through and you'll be able to start noticing it.

2. Read, read, and read.

Read as much as you can and don't just limit it to your favourite genre. Often limiting it to one genre will create a writing style catered more towards that genre but that may not be what you're actually best at writing for (even if you don't know it). Expanding upon your knowledge of writing is definitely a beneficial thing to do and so exposing yourself to these different genres will be the best thing to do.

I'm not saying that you have to read different genres but it is beneficial for finding your own writing voice. If you already know what genre you're going for when writing then reading lots of different books in that genre is fine. However writing is a diverse subject and many genres contain subtle similarities and so reading lots of different genres will be beneficial for your own writing style. 

3. Play writing games

Writing games are all about creativity and getting yourself more used to the art of writing itself. There are many writing games you can choose from to get your creative juices flowing.

One example of a writing game is where you write a list of random words. It doesn't have to be a long list, maybe 10 words (although you can make it as long or as short as you like), then write for 2-3 minutes about the first word on the list trying your best to write continuously about it. Once 2-3 minutes have passed move onto the next word and write all you can about that, however you also have to link it back to the word before itself. Once this word is complete move onto another word and link it back to the word directly before that, keep repeating this process until you have gone through your entire list. 

4. Don't be predictable

This is easier said than done as so many people fall into this trap and with good reason - it's easy to become predictable. So to stand out from the rest of the crowd and make your writing voice unique you must differ from the rest of the writing community. When reading try to see if you can guess what's coming next, and if you can't then try to take the approach that that author has done but don't 

To be different you have to think outside of the box and even that can sometimes be predictable...you must think further afield than even outside of the box which is a challenging thing to do. The more you write and get used to thinking like this the better.

Conclusion

It may take longer for some than others to find their writing voice (it took me the good part of a year to find mine, or at least to notice it anyway and I still have much to learn) so don't get disheartened if you don't notice immediate results - it will come in its own time.