Try on another writing voice

As teenagers figure out who they are becoming as adults and where they fit in the world, they sometimes experiment with other identities. We can apply a similar strategy to finding our writing voice: try on a few extreme alternatives.

Today’s writing exercise entails writing about your own life using an entirely different voice than your default option. You’ll pick a voice of a fictional character or famous author, and use it to discover things about your own writing voice.

The exercise (repeat as often as desired)

First, make a short list of fictional characters or famous authors with distinct approaches and voices.

For fictional characters, you might dip into distinct options from favorite books or shows, like Sam Spade or the Dowager Countess on Downton Abbey (as portrayed by Dame Maggie Smith, of course). For authors, consider Jane Austen’s sly narrator in Pride and Prejudice, or Edgar Allen Poe’s narrator in “The Raven.” Think of character voices you can summon easily.

Now, make a short list of activities or experiences in your life. This might include:

A description of your favorite coffee shopAn event from your last vacationA protest or city hall you attendedA recent phone conversation with a relative

Now, pick one event and one character, and match them up.

How would Hercule Poirot (famously fastidious) describe the hike you took in the woods?How would the Dowager Countess from Downton Abbey, as played by Dame Maggie Smith, describe attending a local protest?

You get the idea. Write a few paragraphs using one voice, then try on another.

Why do this?

When you’re done, see what you learned. Which parts of this character’s voice might true to you, to a greater or lesser degree? Which are not? What does this tell you?

Your fictional character may give you an entirely different (and maybe humorous) perspective on your topic. And, you may discover elements of their voices that you’d like to play with on your own.

You may find that you have a dash of Dowager Duchess, or that you enjoy rugged Hemingway prose. Perhaps this will lead you to experiment. If nothing else, it should help you identify and lean into your own voice when you need it. Writing is a human communication, we need to distinguish ourselves from the bots!

Related Reading

Finding a Writing Voice that Fits.

Watch the video of this exercise on YouTube.

Check out more exercises in The Writer’s Voice.

Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. var formDisplay=1;var nfForms=nfForms||[];var form=[];form.id='5';form.settings={"10":{"label":"Sign Up","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"11":{"honeypot_save":""},"12":{"class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"18":{"label":"Sign Up","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"19":{"label":"Textbox","label_pos":"above","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":"0","email":"0","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_address_1":"","user_address_2":"","user_city":"","user_zip":"","user_phone":"","user_email":"","user_info_field_group":"1","user_state":"0","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"character(s) left","req":"0","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","calc_auto_include":"0","admin_label":"","num_sort":"0","conditional":""},"20":{"label":"Text","default_value":"<a href=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-thumbnail wp-image-3252\" src=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp-150x50.png\" alt=\"email logo wp\" width=\"150\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a>\r\nWrite much? Me, too. I've been delving into how to optimize my writing practices for creativity and productivity, and I'm sharing what I've learned.\r\n\r\nSign up to get once-a-week posts by email.","desc_el":"div","class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"21":{"honeypot_save":""},"27":{"label":"Text","default_value":"<a href=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp.png\"><img class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3252\" src=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp-150x50.png\" alt=\"email logo wp\" width=\"150\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><em><strong>Want to read more\u00a0posts like this?<\/strong><\/em> Sign up to receive writing posts by email, every other week.\u00a0You'll also receive a guide to overcoming common barriers to writing.","desc_el":"div","class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"28":{"label":"First Name","label_pos":"left","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":"0","email":"0","first_name":"1","last_name":"0","user_address_1":"","user_address_2":"","user_city":"","user_zip":"","user_phone":"","user_email":"","user_info_field_group":"1","user_state":"0","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","req":"0","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","calc_auto_include":"0","admin_label":"","num_sort":"0","conditional":""},"29":{"label":"Email Address","label_pos":"above","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":"0","email":"1","first_name":"0","last_name":"0","user_address_1":"0","user_address_2":"0","user_city":"0","user_zip":"0","user_phone":"0","user_email":"1","user_info_field_group":"1","user_state":"0","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","req":"0","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","calc_auto_include":"0","admin_label":"","num_sort":"0","conditional":""},"30":{"label":"Sign Up","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"31":{"honeypot_save":""},"32":{"class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"objectType":"Form Setting","editActive":true,"title":"Want More Like This?","created_at":"2020-04-09 05:19:32","show_title":"0","logged_in":"0","append_page":"","ajax":"0","clear_complete":1,"hide_complete":"1","sub_limit_number":"","sub_limit_msg":"","admin_mailto":["ajanzer@marketingdocs.com"],"email_from_name":"Anne Janzer","email_from":"ajanzer@marketingdocs.com","_service_select":"convertkit","_aweber_list_select":"","_infusionsoft_list_select":"","_mailchimp_list_select":"","_service_merge_keys":"email,first_name,last_name","_rainmail_list_select":"11703243","email":"20","first_name":"19","last_name":"","last_sub":"173","date_updated":"2020-04-02 14:40:18","status":"","conditions":[],"default_label_pos":"above","wrapper_class":"","element_class":"","add_submit":1,"currency":"","unique_field_error":"A form with this value has already been submitted.","not_logged_in_msg":"","calculations":[],"formContentData":["hr_32","html_27","textbox_28","email_29","recaptcha_1598034875811","submit_30"],"key":"","changeEmailErrorMsg":"Please enter a valid email address!","confirmFieldErrorMsg":"These fields must match!","fieldNumberNumMinError":"Number Min Error","fieldNumberNumMaxError":"Number Max Error","fieldNumberIncrementBy":"Please increment by ","formErrorsCorrectErrors":"Please correct errors before submitting this form.","validateRequiredField":"This is a required field.","honeypotHoneypotError":"Honeypot Error","fieldsMarkedRequired":"Fields marked with an <span class=\"ninja-forms-req-symbol\">*<\/span> are required","drawerDisabled":false,"allow_public_link":0,"embed_form":"","changeDateErrorMsg":"Please enter a valid date!","repeatable_fieldsets":"","_convertkit_list_select":"5217741{{type}}forms","fname":"19","ninjaForms":"Ninja Forms","fieldTextareaRTEInsertLink":"Insert Link","fieldTextareaRTEInsertMedia":"Insert Media","fieldTextareaRTESelectAFile":"Select a file","formHoneypot":"If you are a human seeing this field, please leave it empty.","fileUploadOldCodeFileUploadInProgress":"File Upload in Progress.","fileUploadOldCodeFileUpload":"FILE UPLOAD","currencySymbol":"$","thousands_sep":",","decimal_point":".","siteLocale":"en_US","dateFormat":"m\/d\/Y","startOfWeek":"1","of":"of","previousMonth":"Previous Month","nextMonth":"Next Month","months":["January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"monthsShort":["Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"],"weekdays":["Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday"],"weekdaysShort":["Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri","Sat"],"weekdaysMin":["Su","Mo","Tu","We","Th","Fr","Sa"],"recaptchaConsentMissing":"reCaptcha validation couldn't load.","recaptchaMissingCookie":"reCaptcha v3 validation couldn't load the cookie needed to submit the form.","recaptchaConsentEvent":"Accept reCaptcha cookies before sending the form.","0":{"label":"First Name","label_pos":"left","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":"0","email":"0","first_name":"1","last_name":"0","user_address_1":"","user_address_2":"","user_city":"","user_zip":"","user_phone":"","user_email":"","user_info_field_group":"1","user_state":"0","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","req":"0","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","calc_auto_include":"0","admin_label":"","num_sort":"0","conditional":""},"1":{"label":"Last Name","label_pos":"left","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":"0","email":"0","first_name":"0","last_name":"1","user_address_1":"","user_address_2":"","user_city":"","user_zip":"","user_phone":"","user_email":"","user_info_field_group":"1","user_state":"0","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","req":"0","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","calc_auto_include":"0","admin_label":"","num_sort":"0","conditional":""},"2":{"label":"Email Address","label_pos":"above","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":"0","email":"1","first_name":"0","last_name":"0","user_address_1":"0","user_address_2":"0","user_city":"0","user_zip":"0","user_phone":"0","user_email":"1","user_info_field_group":"1","user_state":"0","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","req":"0","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","calc_auto_include":"0","admin_label":"","num_sort":"0","conditional":""},"3":{"label":"Sign Up","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"4":{"label":"Textbox","label_pos":"above","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":"0","email":"0","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_address_1":"","user_address_2":"","user_city":"","user_zip":"","user_phone":"","user_email":"","user_info_field_group":"1","user_state":"0","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"character(s) left","req":"0","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","calc_auto_include":"0","admin_label":"","num_sort":"0","conditional":""},"5":{"label":"Text","default_value":"<a href=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-thumbnail wp-image-3252\" src=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp-150x50.png\" alt=\"email logo wp\" width=\"150\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a>\r\nWrite much? Me, too. I've been delving into how to optimize my writing practices for creativity and productivity, and I'm sharing what I've learned.\r\n\r\nSign up to get once-a-week posts by email.","desc_el":"div","class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"6":{"honeypot_save":""},"7":{"label":"Text","default_value":"<a href=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp.png\"><img class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3252\" src=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp-150x50.png\" alt=\"email logo wp\" width=\"150\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><em><strong>Want to read more\u00a0posts like this?<\/strong><\/em> Sign up to receive writing posts by email, every other week.\u00a0You'll also receive a guide to overcoming common barriers to writing.","desc_el":"div","class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"8":{"label":"First Name","label_pos":"left","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":"0","email":"0","first_name":"1","last_name":"0","user_address_1":"","user_address_2":"","user_city":"","user_zip":"","user_phone":"","user_email":"","user_info_field_group":"1","user_state":"0","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","req":"0","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","calc_auto_include":"0","admin_label":"","num_sort":"0","conditional":""},"9":{"label":"Email Address","label_pos":"above","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":"0","email":"1","first_name":"0","last_name":"0","user_address_1":"0","user_address_2":"0","user_city":"0","user_zip":"0","user_phone":"0","user_email":"1","user_info_field_group":"1","user_state":"0","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","req":"0","class":"","show_help":"0","help_text":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","calc_auto_include":"0","admin_label":"","num_sort":"0","conditional":""},"currency_symbol":"","beforeForm":"","beforeFields":"","afterFields":"","afterForm":""};form.fields=[{"objectType":"Field","objectDomain":"fields","editActive":false,"order":1,"idAttribute":"id","input_limit_msg":"character(s) left","show_desc":0,"desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","element_class":"","label":"hr","key":"hr_32","type":"hr","container_class":"","id":17,"beforeField":"","afterField":"","value":"","label_pos":"above","parentType":"hr","element_templates":["hr","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap","default":""},{"objectType":"Field","objectDomain":"fields","editActive":false,"order":2,"idAttribute":"id","fav_id":0,"def_id":0,"input_limit_msg":"character(s) left","default_value":"","desc_el":"div","show_desc":0,"desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","element_class":"","default":"<p><b><i>Want to do more with your writing?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Join my Writing Practices list for twice-monthly emails and monthly drawings for writing-related books.<\/p>\n","label":"Text","key":"html_27","type":"html","container_class":"","drawerDisabled":false,"id":18,"beforeField":"","afterField":"","value":"<p><b><i>Want to do more with your writing?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Join my Writing Practices list for twice-monthly emails and monthly drawings for writing-related books.<\/p>\n","label_pos":"above","parentType":"html","element_templates":["html","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap"},{"objectType":"Field","objectDomain":"fields","editActive":false,"order":3,"idAttribute":"id","fav_id":0,"def_id":6,"label_pos":"left","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":0,"send_email":0,"from_email":0,"first_name":1,"last_name":0,"from_name":0,"user_info_field_group":1,"show_help":0,"help_text":"","calc_auto_include":0,"calc_option":0,"user_address_1":"","user_address_2":"","user_city":"","user_zip":"","user_phone":"","user_email":"","user_state":0,"user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","show_desc":0,"desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","admin_label":"","num_sort":0,"element_class":"","required":0,"default":"","label":"First Name","key":"textbox_28","type":"textbox","placeholder":"","container_class":"","manual_key":false,"custom_mask":"","custom_name_attribute":"","personally_identifiable":"","value":"","id":19,"beforeField":"","afterField":"","parentType":"textbox","element_templates":["textbox","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap"},{"objectType":"Field","objectDomain":"fields","editActive":false,"order":4,"idAttribute":"id","fav_id":0,"def_id":14,"label_pos":"above","default_value":"","mask":"","datepicker":0,"send_email":0,"from_email":0,"first_name":0,"last_name":0,"from_name":0,"user_address_1":0,"user_address_2":0,"user_city":0,"user_zip":0,"user_phone":0,"user_info_field_group":1,"show_help":0,"help_text":"","calc_auto_include":0,"calc_option":0,"user_state":0,"user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","show_desc":0,"desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","admin_label":"","num_sort":0,"element_class":"","required":0,"default":"","label":"Email Address","key":"email_29","type":"email","placeholder":"","container_class":"","custom_name_attribute":"email","personally_identifiable":1,"value":"","id":20,"beforeField":"","afterField":"","parentType":"email","element_templates":["email","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap"},{"objectType":"Field","objectDomain":"fields","editActive":false,"order":5,"idAttribute":"id","type":"recaptcha","label":"Recaptcha","container_class":"","element_class":"","size":"visible","key":"recaptcha_1598034875811","id":90,"beforeField":"","afterField":"","value":"","label_pos":"above","parentType":"textbox","element_templates":["recaptcha","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap","site_key":"6LcvuO8UAAAAANZOgqvoTsSYFRZGj-nLA70F6UrV","theme":"light","lang":"en","default":""},{"objectType":"Field","objectDomain":"fields","editActive":false,"order":6,"idAttribute":"id","fav_id":0,"def_id":0,"input_limit_msg":"character(s) left","show_help":0,"help_text":"","show_desc":0,"desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","processing_label":"Processing","element_class":"","label":"Sign Up","key":"submit_30","type":"submit","container_class":"","id":22,"beforeField":"","afterField":"","value":"","label_pos":"above","parentType":"textbox","element_templates":["submit","button","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap-no-label","default":""}];nfForms.push(form);