Did you know that many of us “hear” an inner voice in our heads while we read silently? “Voice” isn’t just a metaphor when it comes to writing. People create a writing voice when they read your words. So, we should care what it sounds like to our readers.

You’ve probably heard the advice to your read work aloud when editing and revising. I highly recommend this. I do this for my own books.

However, if we want to grow and stretch our voices, we should tune our ears to other writers’ voices and pay attention to what we find.

This month, try reading passages aloud from books and authors you particularly admire. Read in the genre you want to write in, and go further afield as well. For example, check out:

• One or two “classics” that have stood the test of time, such as books by John Steinbeck, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Willa Cather
• A favorite book you return to for inspiration
• A current best-seller or award winner
• Anything by a writer you enjoy

Authors take the most care with opening lines, so consider reading those aloud. Check out your bookshelves. If you don’t have the book on hand, find it on Amazon and use the “Read Sample” or “Look Inside” feature to read the opening passage.

Don’t just read silently. Actually read the words aloud, as if you were narrating an audiobook. What does it feel like? Take note:

• What does it sound like to you? What adjectives would you choose to describe the voice you create?
• Was it easy or hard to read?
• Did the prose have rhythm? An internal rhyme?
• Were the sentences long or short? Both?

Grab a journal or file and make a list. (You might want to start a journal for this year of voice explorations!) If you have The Writer’s Voice, you can take notes on the page for the Week 1 exercise on narrating another writer’s work.

For each passage you read aloud, make a note:

• What you noticed
• What you want to try

If you really enjoy an aspect of a writer’s voice, is it something you can roll into your own work? Experiment in freewriting or a journal, or even an email message. Put imitation to work and see how it feels. You may discover new aspects of your own writing voice.

More about this series

This is the first in a series of monthly posts and videos that align with each of the 12 sections in The Writer’s Voice: Techniques for Tuning Your Tone and Style.

The book gives you a place to keep track of what you’re doing and further exercises along each topic, but you don’t need the workbook to participate. You can get plenty from by simply doing these monthly exercises. If you want your own copy, find it at any online book retailer or request it from your favorite indie bookstore. Or, purchase the PDF directly from me and use that to follow along.

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If you’d rather watch, you can find these posts as short videos on YouTube.