Thoughts on Voice

The key to using “voice” in an academic setting is to apply it to your individual style of writing. The difficulty is finding your voice or style as it applies to writing. Many teachers/instructors have never found their voice/style. As a result how can they teach their students how to find it? We often discuss how it is essential that students practice reading and writing to improve their skills. We never mention that this should apply to teachers as well. I think voice/style is incredibly important. Voice separates us as individuals. It allows for our personality to come through in our writing. If used properly, an author’s voice/style can be a very potent and engaging quality in a text. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. Poor use of voice/style can turn a reader away. Finding your own voice/style is not easy. The best way to find it is to read and write. It’s that simple. As teachers, it will be up to us to guide the students to their own voices/styles.