It takes multiple drafts to find your voice. It is a process of discovery and can take time to settle. Voice is shaped by word choice, sentence length, phrasing, syntax, rhythm. Good writers pay very careful attention to their language usage choices to make sure the right voice is instilled in those black marks on the page. The way in which the writer chooses to use language is called style. A writer’s style gives form to their voice; and voice helps to establish the relationship between writer and reader.
Your relationship with the reader
One of the key markers of this relationship is the choice of personal pronoun you use. Addressing the reader directly as you creates an intimacy and bond between reader and writer. Using we suggests inclusivity and shared experience. Using one is more distancing and formal.
Most self-help writers use a combination of you and we. When you are introducing a concept that is relevant to everyone, you might want to use we, and when you are drilling down into how this effects an individual you might want to use you. Switching between the two is fine, although it works best if you don’t mix pronouns in the one paragraph. For example, I opened this blog using they, and then switched in the next paragraph to you. You probably didn’t even notice the switch.
Establishing trust
Readers of this genre seek books by writers who are experts in their field through dint of experience, insight and professional standing. While you don’t have to say ‘I am an expert’, it is important to claim your authority. In order for the reader to trust you as the writer, you need to own your experience and insight and come from a place of knowing you have something of value to offer.
That trust goes both ways. Trust that the reader understands the ideas presented in the book are yours. Be wary of expressions that belie your confidence in yourself as the expert, such as the qualifier ‘I believe…’. The reader has invested money in the writer’s expertise and assumes the book will be about what the writer believes rather than what they don’t believe. And is it really a matter of belief? Or is it about your understanding and insight.
The difference between speaking and writing
A lot of the self-help writers I work with are practised at sharing their ideas through the spoken word. The way we ingest information via the written word is different from the how we process what we hear in a live presentation or session.
In hardcopy and audio formats, the reader has control of how they navigate the work and can set their own pace. On the page, the reader can flip back and forth through the text, re-read a passage, take their time, or skim material. While this type of consumption is curtailed to some degree in audio books, the listener still has the ability to rewind, skip and replay, and even control the playback speed.
When you present your ideas to a live audience you set the pace, and control the way the material is consumed. This spawns a type of word usage and sentence construction that does not necessarily work on the page. For example, it is common to use a lot of connector words at the beginning of sentences to keep a listener on track, such as And, But and So. These can be stripped right back on the page where a reader can visually follow the prose. Even in audio form, a listener understands the reading of the book will convey information on a pathway that will take them through to the ending.
Sometimes these connector words are used to join multiple clauses within a single sentence, resulting in very long sentences that are hard to follow on the page. A full stop provides breathing space for the reader. Read your sentences aloud to feel the rhythm, and to feel where the pause of a full stop would help the reader digest the information.
Another tendency of writers more familiar with spoken-word delivery is to use expressions for emphasis that aren’t needed on the page. Phrases such as ‘It’s worth pointing out…’, for example, are largely redundant because everything you commit to the page is worth pointing out. Similarly, I have a personal dislike of the phrase, ‘The truth is…’. I can’t help but feel that by drawing attention to something that is ‘the truth’, you unintentionally suggest that other things may not be ‘the truth’ because you haven’t labelled them as such. Having said that, I do concede such phrases have value in certain contexts; it is a stylistic choice, a matter of voice. The important thing is to be aware of it and to craft every sentence with care and clarity.
Take the time needed to find and hone your writing voice; it is the key point of connection you have with your readers and will shape their experience of the content.
See also Writing Self-help Part 1: Clarity of Purpose and Writing Self-help Part 2: The Mix of Content
