in writing, we hear about voices a lot. Character voice, author voice.
So, do you know your own voice in your writing?
I took a small prompt (a woman alone in the kitchen at night heard a noise) and wrote the reaction in 3 different genres: comedy, drama, horror. I analyzed the results and yep, it all sounded like me.
I wanted to expand on that, and deep dive into my own writing voice. For starters, I wanted to see if it had changed at all from my previous literary career (it hasn't) and I wanted to explore in depth if my voice stays consistent across genre, format etc.
So, I took 3 of my screenplays (one drama, one comedy, one romcom), a couple poems and sample chapters from a horror novel I'm working on - fed all of those into AI and asked for a brutally honest, in depth writing voice analysis. I won't list the full descriptive analysis here, but this is the bullet point version of what I got from it.
1. Character first, genre second.
2. Conversational precision
3. Intuitive structure and cinematic flow.
4. Empathic brutality.
5. Clean drafts with deep subtext that sometimes rely too much on reader immersion.
6. Genre fluid, emotion constant
7. Across all samples, the authors voice shows these stylistic signatures:
Characters with distinct voices who say exactly what they mean when it hurts the most.
Jarring tonal juxtapositions, such as laughter and despair in the same frame that feels organic, not contrived.
Family or found family bonds are treated as sacred engines.
Recurring themes of inheritance, responsibility, silence, and survival.
A rhythm of revelation, restraint, gut-punch.
8. Voice archetype: "The empathic realist".
I was also given comps to other writers and show runners who closest fit my writing voice, though none of the examples fit me across the board. I was given comps on tone and emotional signature, dialogue and characterization, and structural/world building style.
All in all, it was quite revealing. My writer's voice archetype has not changed at all over my extended hiatus. That, actually, surprised me.
If you don't know about writer voice archetypes, I'd suggest taking a deep dive. See if you can figure out what yours is. If you find your "voice" you can lean into it, build your signature. Every script will carry your DNA and fingerprints on every word. Execs won't have to ask who wrote it. They'll hear you.
So, do you know your voice type? Do you lean into it and own it or do you try to edit yourself out?
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Thank you for that.
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I just wanted to add: empathic realistic is a bit of a descriptive variation of the true archetype: realistic. Empathic realistic isn't a standard archetype. The archetype is realistic, empathic is a descriptor.
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I know my voice in my writing, Elle Bolan. Even when I change genres, I recognize my voice on the page. I lean into my voice. I don’t try and edit myself out. I think it’s better to lean into voice because it’s one of the things that makes a writer and their work stand out.
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Maurice Vaughan I definitely agree! I found that my work suffers when I try to edit my voice away. I've seen a lot of new writers try to overwrite themselves or cut out what makes them sing. I'm with you. Lean in.
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I'm not sure, Jon Shallit. I've tried to describe my voice, but I haven't been able to. I recognize it though.
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I used to do that, Elle Bolan. "I've seen a lot of new writers try to overwrite themselves or cut out what makes them sing." It hurt the action lines and other parts of my scripts.
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Knowing your voice is one thing. Trusting it is another. If committed, every writer arrives at the crossroads: Lean in and let the voice carry, or smooth it down until it feels safe and unremarkable. Editing might get you past a gatekeeper, but it erases what makes the work worth remembering. Voice is your fingerprint.
Owning your voice doesn’t mean never adapting. It means holding steady.. You can flex the sinew, but the bones stay the same. That’s how a writer goes from anonymous craftsperson to undeniable presence.
Of course it's leaned into. Voice is the most difficult aspect of writing to develop. Once arrived, why pull it back. Unfortunately, many writers fall short because Voice is far beyond craft. It's the practiced ability to be nakedly honest, and the unashamed courage to put oneself on the page. Michael Hague asks the most important question, "Where are you in the story?"
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Maurice Vaughan I'm Southern so I do have to lightly edit myself out. For example, yesterday I was rereading and editing a scene. I had initially written, "Sig came out from inside the house."
My editor brain laughed out loud and changed it to, "Sig stepped out of the house."
I definitely lean in, but I absolutely have to curb the Blanche Devereaux out of my work lol.
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In this example, what's the emotional content. Does the character stumble out, swagger out. What's the importance of this action. Make it count, compelling and tell us something about the character. Or cut it.
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Contextually, how he steps out doesn't add a thing, which is why it isn't stylized at all. He's emerging for a purpose, but was not the POV character in the scene. Our POV character was already outside.
Her brother stepping out to tell her about the contents of a phone call doesn't warrant stylization of his step. His tone, words, and expression do that work. He simply steps out to say something that needs said.
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Adding context to why the character steps out is Voice. The thing that needs to be said. Does that have emotion attached.
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It definitely does. The sister is an underaged inheritor of a property. Her older brothers have to keep it in trust for her, and act as her guardians, until she comes of age.
This is the first time her oldest brother acknowledges her ownership and asks for her opinion. It's a big turning point for her. It's one of those scenes that looks small but carries ALL the weight. She's SEEN, no longer a child but a near adult.
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Sounds pretty juicy. Right — small scene, big weight. Including all the character actions. This is a nuanced shift in their relationship.
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Elle Bolan really enjoyed your post and the subsequent contributions in this thread. It does indeed seem that 'voice' is the result of self-awareness and the honesty and courage of embodying the 'me' in this moment in time. Robert McKee used to sign all of his books with 'Write the Truth' - but writers cannot do that if they are already lying to themselves :)
I'd also like to quip if I may about the description of your character's exit - since we're in charge of the reader/viewer's focus 100% of the time, it is indeed sometimes appropriate to NOT draw too much emotional attention to a moment/action.
excited for your journey - cheers
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Whenever I'm thinking of any lines of my stories it's not my voice or my mind working for it. It's the character itself talking to me and defines himself to me and the stories running on my head so I don't really get my voice I lost in there stories and starts making it creative in my mind
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Sebastian Tudores yes, indeed. The choice of when to draw the eye and when not to. It's a valid decision.
I choose how I write my lines with specificity. Even during my first draft.
I'm glad you enjoyed the post. "Voice" is definitely about self awareness as a writer. Knowing who you are in your literature can only strengthen your work, whether it's when to curb regionalisms as I have to sometimes or where to just let your characters plunk down a jug of sweet tea and gab about it.
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Mukesh Singh character voice is an entirely different matter and you are right on the nose with how I approach character voice. Each is distinct and not at all mine.
The subject here was writing voice, the way you write the story. Your voice is there whether you know it or not.
It flavors how you construct sentences, just as how your characters sound as they do by how they speak out loud.
It's your filter through which you write.
For example: a sex scene. One writer may be overly purple and use flowery descriptions. One may CUE CURTAINS like in the soap operas. One may just show them going to the bedroom. And as in one example shown recently here on Stage 32, a writer may simply say "They fuck".
That is their voice. That's who they are as a writer.
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The writer of "Weapons" was also it's director. The economical, "They fuck," is all they needed.
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Voice= how you see the world.
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In writing, voice is the art. It's both the easiest thing and the hardest thing to do, because it's born out of a level of authenticity with as much noise as possible removed. Getting there is the hard bit, and then it becomes easy after that, because you lean into the path of least resistance.
It is not how characters speak. It is not the style of prose. It's much, much bigger than that, and it creates a vibe that hopefully resounds with others.
What's crazy is how many people compromise their voice through fear it won't be liked.
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Elle, when I'm writing, I like being jovial, conversational...and I try my best to show I'm having fun telling the story.
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CJ Walley this is so, so true! It's the most natural part of how we each write... and the hardest to use with intention.
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Jim Boston that's the best way, ain't it?
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What's best is Zeus come down from Olympus to educate the mere mortals.
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I wrote a three-part novel. My readers said that as I progressed through the parts, my writer’s voice started to emerge. Honestly, I’m not quite sure what they mean by that :) But I’m glad if they see something unique in it.
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I think I really, properly discovered my voice when I rewrote my novel Petal and leaned all the way into its surrealism even at the expense of plot; for me focusing on plot actually hurts my voice, since in real life I’m the type who escapes a lot, so it stands to reason I also do it when I write lol. Maybe it’s a byproduct of mental illness, quite honestly, and I definitely can’t hide that part of myself.
I learned my voice depends heavily on psychology; I love getting into my character’s heads, and I also love navel-gazing and going off on tangents, and I always, always write with the belief that my audience is full of geniuses (even, or especially if they’re kids) who will happily search for the method in the madness, to find the things everyone else is guaranteed to miss. I like to believe you read my stuff to start off with “where the actual hell is she gonna go with this one?” and then marvel at me showing you stars no one else knows exist, and keep coming back for more.
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Elle Bolan, something I always advise writers to do is to go back and read the first couple of scripts they ever wrote. They will often see the version of themselves who was writing without fear, cynicism, and introspection.
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Elle, you're absolutely right!