Since joining Medium at the beginning of February, I knew that this would be a great opportunity for me to learn more about writing and my own skills. In the almost two months that I have been writing here, I’ve discovered something about my writing voice.
What Is A Writing Voice?
To put it simply, your writing voice is you. It’s how you express yourself on paper, or a device in our modern age. Everybody’s voice is different. Whether it’s long-form or short-form writing, creative writing or expressed simply. We all have different experiences, choices, views etc. So the voice of each individual will be expressed uniquely.
What Have I Learned?
Since writing here on Medium, I made it a goal to see how I can improve as a writer. I wanted to learn what works and doesn’t work. My discovery so far (I hope the first in many) is that I enjoy creative writing best.
That doesn’t mean though that I will be writing stories. Writing stories is all very well, and I used to enjoy them immensely as a child, but these days I prefer non-fiction. So the most natural move for me is to write narrative non-fiction. That way, I get to be more creative in a genre I appreciate the most.
I wrote a short post recently about whether I should write a novel or a memoir, and I think that, in writing that post, it helped answer my question. It solidified in my mind what I wanted to achieve from being a writer.
What Is Narrative Non-Fiction?
If you’ve ever read an autobiography or true story, that’s narrative non-fiction. It’s also called creative or literary non-fiction. It kind of moves closer to fiction writing in how it is written, but with truth and facts instead of a fictional story.
So What’s Next?
I don’t know yet. I don’t know how my writing will play out in terms of a long-term goal. But I do know that the more I keep writing, the more I’ll figure out what goal, or goals, I should aim for.
What I do know is that I want to learn more about the art of creative writing. So I’m looking for a course or book to help me with that. I did do creative writing at school, but that’s a long time ago, so I need to brush up on it.
This article was originally published on Medium.
Charlotte Clark 