The writing term voice means, “This is what I want to write about and how I like to do it.” There are many articles about the topic and how famous authors found it.
One found their voice by reading their words aloud. Another discovered that the only way to write was to be uncompromising about “being yourself.” IE, they only write what they believe in. Another writes only in longhand, and then an editor types up the book. And another sat up in bed one morning and knew “they had found their voice.”
While entertaining, all these articles glazed over the fact that talented authors had something special to begin with. This is a natural ability to invent a great story. The “voice” trick was to turn their thoughts into words.
What about me? As a kid, I thought about all kinds of stories to amuse myself before going to sleep. Of course, they were all about big adventures. Driving cars (long before I was old enough to get behind the wheel), meeting famous people, dating fantastic women, building incredible devices, and doing something exciting like going to Africa.
Good English was and continues to be a struggle, so at a young age, I did not record many thoughts. There were a few class projects, and reading them now reveals that I had a creative mind.
After college, I got a job, a house, and a family. I read a lot, but writing fiction was not in my future.
Around age 40, a good story began brewing in my bonkers mind. It had a solid plot and good characters. It seemed reasonable to share it with others, and in retrospect, it was the reason I took the writing leap.
The problem was that writing a book was an impossible task. I knew that only professional authors have the necessary English skills to write fiction. Plus, they are backed up by a team of editing and publishing experts.
A healthy bout of unemployment provided an opportunity, and I leaped without hesitation. I planned to write my second-favorite story first so that I would have enough experience to write the most important one.
By this time, I had thought so much about the story in my first book that I was able to jump right in. I began with the title, “A Graceful Interview.” (I named the main character Grace so I could have a pun in the title. Later, I changed it to Interviewing Immortality, but I kept her name.)
To put it mildly, the first draft was a sloppy mess, and it took a year of intense effort to correct the big problems. And a second revision, but that is another story.
The experience was scary and frustrating. I certainly did not want a public failure, and my writing skills were below the level I needed them to be. Yet, there was some joy in seeing something I had created come to life.
Writing my second book went smoothly because of the experience gained from my first book. Yet there were huge issues also requiring a second edition. Still, the process was more enjoyable, and the result was better received.
Despite having two books’ worth of experience, my third book underwent massive plot/character changes. This included deleting an entire chapter. Yet, despite the problems, I was more comfortable self-editing. And so far, only one edition. Yay!
During the first three books, I do not think I had a voice. I wrote what was in my bonkers mind. The process required extensive self-editing, beta reading, and professional editing to reach a basic standard. In retrospect, I did not enter a mental state where I was comfortable writing what was in my head.
All this self-editing, editing, and publishing required a lot of time, resulting in a large gap between my third and fourth books. It was then that I discovered outlines. This tool allows me to visualize the plot and make massive changes without consequence.
I spent two months tweaking the outline for my fourth book, and the result was a clean plot. The writing and editing went smoothly, resulting in only minor changes and less stress.
It is now clear that using an outline was a big part of finding my voice. Once it was finalized, all I had to do was fill in the blanks between outline bullet points. Of course, to readers, the “blanks” are the critical part.
Still… I am not comfortable stating that using an outline meant I had found my voice. I think a big part of a writer’s voice is dialogue.
Writing dialogue always came naturally to me. All I had to do was mentally put myself into the character and think about what they would say. The trick is knowing when to use dialogue or text. Sally felt cold. “Dang, it’s a cold day.”
A big part of editing my first three books was finding the right balance. Now, I use dialogue to show readers what is happening verbally. Specifically, when a decision is being made or when emotion needs to be shown.
For example, a fistfight. I would start this with a verbal argument where the two characters get upset. Then one would throw a punch, and I would switch to using text to describe the fight mechanics. This sounds simple, but it was a harsh lesson.
My next problem was how to incorporate dialogue with text. It seems so simple:
Bill said, “You think you are so tough?”
Why not use:
“You think you are so tough?” Bill asked.
It is even “acceptable” to not have quotation marks. And then there is the debate between "straight" and “curly” quotation marks. When I wrote the first draft of my first book, my integration was basic.
Joey said “You think you are so tough?”
Sam said “Tough enough to beat you bloody.”
Joey said “Oh, yeah?”
The word “said” appeared hundreds of times, making for an awful read. (Did you notice that I did not have a comma after the word said? Rookie mistake.) So, I read technical English articles, learned about the Chicago Manual of Style, and experimented with its guidelines. This included asking my mother for help and using three editors.
Again, with my fourth book, I settled on a dialogue integration format. It does not quite follow the gold standard listed in the Chicago Manual of Style, but to me, it reads better. And I have been praised a few times by fellow authors for my technique. Nice!
It seems the answer is that I found my voice in my fourth book. Writing my fifth book (which will be out soon!) went much easier, and the editing process, while long, was not painful. A big difference was in how confident I felt during the writing process.
What has occurred since I found my voice? Like any task that one puts effort into, I have learned new tricks, discovered more flaws, and my confidence continues to grow.
Yet, there is another aspect. With more confidence comes more joy. I think this is because confidence and skill reduce stress, allowing a person to enjoy their creation.
So that is how I found my voice. Not quite like the heroes of the writing world, but it worked for me.

You’re the best -Bill
October 15, 2025