One comment I’ve heard, in the past, about writing is the voice of the person doing the writing. For most people, when you sit down to write, the way in which you write something – especially what you choose to include in areas of description and dialogue – inform your voice. In short, your voice is developed as a result of what you choose to add into what you are writing.

Voice is not limited to the realm of fiction. There are many areas of life that require a person to write and to share, or not share, different pieces of information. Dropping into the realm of my past experience, one of those areas is professional communication. In professional communication you, as the writer, have to read, disseminate, and then write material based off of certain requirements. These requirements might include a specific audience, reading level, intended use, source material, and etc. As a result, having a greater understanding of the material in question results in a better product – even though only a small portion of you “understanding” actually goes into the finished work.

Writing fiction is not so far removed from writing other things. Considering that fiction requires a series of events that set up the story, and then a succession of longer bits of description to draw out the story. Each element of the overarching story has to be taken into account and what the author chooses to include at each stage of that storytelling is what makes up his/her voice.

When you, as a reader, decide to pick up a copy of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and you read it, enjoying his writing, and choosing to go out and read more of his work, what draws you back to the man (and his work) is not only the story being told, but also what Tolstoy chooses to include into his creative work.

A more contemporary example might be Dan Brown or  John Grisham. In either case, the story behind what the writer is exploring (Mary Magdalene and a potential offspring of Jesus Christ or a lawyer is a part of corruption of seeks redemption) is only a part of what is being shared. Neither author has created an original story, both have borrowed from other authors and other ideas (and in some cases their own lives… though to what extent is up in the air), what draws the reader to the author is how the author shares the story and what elements the author chooses to include in his narrative.

Ultimately, voice is a result of writing, a lot. There is no short cut to developing it. You cannot sit down and decide to write a book and automatically have a conceptualized way of telling a story. That does not happen. Instead, like Neil Gaiman, you will need to go out into the word and write and write until what you are writing sounds like you and then you can start writing fiction.

No one was born with a clearly defined literary voice. Some people develop their earlier than others. However, regardless of when you develop yours the only way to develop voice is to sit down and write. Write a lot. Find a job that lets you write exclusively. Do what Gaiman did and write as a reporter. Do what Grisham did and become a lawyer (and yes, it is writing intensive). Do what others have done and write, write, write.

The only way you can develop you voice is to write as much and as often as you can.