Find Your Voice
In many ways, I peaked in the fifth grade. I was making the best dioramas with the help of my mama, had 0 checks on my conduct card, and was busting out ollies on the sweetest Razor scooter money could buy. Math? Bored me. Girls? Ignored me. And the only whistling I ever did was with a 15-yard rocket downfield with my NERF football.
I was king.
You can’t spell 'KING’ without ‘ING’. Which is fitting, because I was stunting, styling, profiling, smiling, beguiling and eating chicken nuggets. The future was so bright, I had to wear shades…
But beyond all the glitz and the glamour, life wasn’t all Easy Mac. I felt immense pressure and pride in trying to live up to the potential my teacher saw in me.
Of all the great educators I’ve had the privilege to learn from, Mrs. Savino was the best one. She regularly assigned writing prompts and urged our class to use them to create short stories that we would read aloud, and that stoked my passion for writing before I even knew I had it.
One day, she complimented a story I had written in front of the class (humble brag) because it had something all good stories should: a voice.
At the time I wrote it, I had no idea I had done anything of note. But as my life went on and my passion for writing grew, I always went back to her praise and made sure that with every piece I wrote, you could hear a voice in your head reading it to you. One with a big personality—whether it was mine, or the protagonist’s.
I’ve found that the easiest way to start writing is to do just that: open up a notebook and begin. Write whatever comes to the top of your head. If you want more direction, start a brainstorming bubble—write your main topic in the middle, circle it, draw a few lines coming out of it and place different aspects of that subject underneath. That’s how I learned to organize my thoughts as a child, and it is still helpful today as an adult—both in personal and professional environments. But like, don’t put your pencil shavings all over a clean page like a goddamn savage! WHO DO YOU EVEN THINK YOU ARE?!
That one compliment from my fifth grade teacher set up the rest of my life’s work. In marketing and social media, every brand has a voice. If you’re writing the copy, it’s your job to embody the brand and make sure fans, followers and potential customers hear the proper voice.
Still, the voice you need to find first is your own. If you can’t properly communicate your own voice through text, how can you expect to communicate someone else’s?
Finding your voice is all about knowing who you are. Like me: I’m the guy who peaked in the fifth grade with a big heart and an even bigger Pokémon card collection. Holographic, Japanese—you name it, I had it. Sorry all interested parties, I’m married.
My sense of humor is a gigantic influence on my writing style. Most of my best work comes when I’m trying to make myself laugh, and most of the time, I do! But that’s beside the point. You need to find who you are and what entertains you. If you’re interested in the topic at hand and what you’re writing entertains you, then you know it’s worthwhile. After all, when you have an interest in the subject you’re writing about, you are essentially your own audience. You know what others want to read because, well, you are them.
But even if you know exactly what your audience wants to hear, make sure to add your own personal flair to it. I add personal flair by sprinkling in somewhat related photos to each of my posts and adding ridiculous captions. It’s what I do baybeeeeeeee. :)
I’m going to be completely honest—I was looking for a totally different picture here. I was going to get one of butter next to a roll and then say “call me butter because I’m on a ROLL!”, but that’s gone and out the window. Our new focus is on this miraculous ball of floof balancing on his wheel. His name is Rocco. He’s been perfecting his craft for years, and it was in this moment where he reached the pinnacle of his life. Humans were watching him, and he loved the attention. Their applause were his treats, and he couldn’t get enough. His tail wagged excitedly until he got off stage and pooped in the janitor’s closet. That janitor’s son grew up to be Tobey Maguire.
Sometimes, you plan what you’re going to write in a calculated manner. You really focus on what the tone of your piece will be and how it will affect your audience, or what kind of action/reaction you want to get.
Other times, you can go with the flow. It’s in those times when knowing your voice really comes in handy. You don’t have to think too hard, just let your hands start typing and whatever happens, happens!
Most of my blog posts have fallen under the latter category so far, but I’m trying to get better at planning out entertaining pieces with a topic completely fleshed out and researched beforehand.
At the end of the day, I write because I’m still that kid that fell in love with it in Mrs. Savino’s class. She heard my voice before I ever did, and she encouraged me to keep exploring it. She’s a big reason why I am where I am now, and I hope I can thank her for that one day.
UNRELATED: I ran into Mrs. Savino for the first time since the fifth grade about 4 years ago, but it wasn’t under the best of circumstances for myself. I was working retail selling Apple products, and the favorite teacher from my past was with her husband, shopping for an iPod. I just happened to be the sales associate helping them, and I let Mrs. Savino know who I was, and that she was my favorite teacher. She got her iPod, we hugged, and that was it. I went home that day ashamed of myself. This woman gave me a gift through her teachings, and I was underachieving in a business I didn’t want to be in. I’d like to see her again to tell her how much she’s done for me, and how I’ve turned her lessons into a career and my Productive Nonsense.
If no one has told you yet, let me be the first: you have a voice. Not a physical one, but one that rises from the words you write. Spelling and grammar can be taught, but your voice is unique to you. You can manipulate your language to say what you want, how you want, in whatever manner you want. Want to write in bold? Okay. ALL CAPS? WHY THE FUCK NOT?! What about all sly and slick with italics? Awwww yeeeaaahhh!
When creating most art, you gotta get messy! Writing is no different. But like, maybe not this messy. I can smell this desk from the screen. Smells like dust, asbestos and stale tea bags. This dude probably sat on a thumbtack.
We get so caught up in the “am I doing this right?” of it all, and forget to ask “am I doing this how I want?” If the answer is “No”, you may not be staying true to your voice.
One thing I’ve been struggling with professionally is effectively showcasing the voice of my company. I work with tons of amazing photographers, graphic designers and video producers. They all get the chance to put their creativity on display and have it publicly embraced. With most of my projects being sales related, it is difficult to get really creative and original, and rarely is my work praised by a large audience.
I have to stick to the voice that is going to sell products, and that isn’t always entertaining. But my personal voice is one that is creative, weird and LOUD, so I have save that stuff for later and let it out here.
Let’s wrap this up in a nice little bow.
A nice little bow.
The next time you’re by yourself and get the urge to write something—a blog, essay, social post, Instagram caption—just sit and listen to your inner-monologue. Write whatever that voice is telling you, and then read it back to yourself. If it sounds like you, keep it. Then build upon it until you get the finished product. You’ll know when it’s done. It’s an instinct. The voice inside your head is published on the page and BOOM!
You’re a writer.