: Is there a hack to bring out your "true" voice? I've just approved my typeset manuscript and re-reading the book, I'm aware that it sounds very far away from my internal voice. Whilst it has

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Personally, I tend to write much of my prose in theater form first. In that way, I can put the characters on paper exactly as I hear them in my head. Then I add the prose structure and start editing. In the end it will be quite a different product, but it is the closest way I've found to transcribe my inner voice to paper.

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I have often written in a voice that is not my authentic voice. At work and in academia there's a place for that. A manuscript you are not comfortable with is a sure sign that something is amiss. If you think it's your voice, you can try rewriting a bit with the filter turned off, the way you would in journal or something else intended for no one's eyes but your own. You can then compare the two and see which direction you want to take or if there's a hybrid approach that will work for you.

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Before jumping to a conclusion about your work, certain things which are not mentioned here need to be considered. Sometimes the writing process can take you out of or beyond what you think of as your "self", and that might not be a bad thing. Give it time to settle and read it again. Such things like the use of a persona, or point of view may affect this.

Having said that, it may well be that you have a sense of the style and effect you want and found the manuscript didn't live up to that. In that case, I would recommend re-reading the parts you liked least (surely some came off better to you than others) and seeing if you can revise them or even excise them. Also look at the work overall and see what it is that bothers you. This is something only you can really assess.

Finally, show it to someone else and see what they think of it. Hopefully that someone will be willing to tell you if something about it strikes them as not quite right or weak in any way. An objective reader (meaning, not you) will notice things you didn't and I've found that extremely valuable.

From my experience (which may not be universal), finding a "voice" requires much writing, maybe over years. I do not think finding the "you" of the soul or life-force is the same as finding your writing voice. The latter can only be done by writing, although finding that voice could possibly help the former. Only by observing your work over time can you get that sense. However, writing something you like is different. I've loved things I wrote before I actually discovered my writing "voice." Or at least something recognizable about it. But it's always a work in progress.

Remember, you might be doing better than you think you are. Or be a good self-critic. Asking the question itself I view as a good sign.

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