How to Maintain a Consistent Writing Voice

Lillie Ammann didn’t intend to steal my thunder, but she certainly covered all the bases I was planning to mention in her “Changing Styles,” article of Feb. 9, 2011. I’ve been following Lillie’s, “A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eyes,” for several years now, picking up some excellent pointers from her, although the styles we usually employ are different.

And that is what Lillie’s post is all about — working with various style guides to present a consistent and unified voice in your writing.

Editing Gig

Do you speak with a consistent voice?

Allow me to make a sidebar transition here to explain what I’ve been doing over the past few months.  I’ve been blessed with more work than I can handle, meaning I’m not taking on any new assignments and am finding myself turning down opportunities. One newer gig I’m working on has me in a role I don’t usually perform exclusive of my own writing — I’m editing other people’s work and am using the AP Stylebook for my style guideline.

In college, I mastered the APA Publication Manual, the favorite of the academic brainiac set. Though I don’t work with books, I later became familiar with the Chicago Manual of Style and have referenced that publication frequently. I’ve also worked with clients who use their own style guides, usually based on one particular guide with their own exceptions or rules thrown in.

Voice Consistency

The challenge when working with any client is in finding the company voice and consistently reflecting that voice as you write. I’ve blown that before, by writing in a style that doesn’t wash with the prevailing voice. Usually, I’m able to quickly correct my mistakes, but not without some embarrassment. I should get it right the first time and editors shouldn’t have to correct me.

Sometimes, the differences between styles are subtle including comma placement, the usage of title case and abbreviating. If you look back at the last sentence you will see that something as small as the omission of a serial comma reveals that I’m writing with the AP Stylebook in mind. My personal preference is to include the serial comma, but I’ve got “AP on the brain” and will be editing that way again today.

Blogging Voices

What does maintaining a consistent voice with a blog have to do with anything? A lot, actually. Though blogging has certainly opened up many writing avenues for the masses, bloggers seeking a consistent following would do well to require some ground rules, especially if inviting guest bloggers to participate.

Without some sort of guidelines in place, any website or blog quickly becomes a mishmosh of articles, making it difficult for the reader to stay focused. You may already be an SEO expert, able to drive people to your site, but you need to give visitors a good reason to stay including presenting writing consistency on every page and article. Plus, consistency helps people recognize you as authoritative — someone they can trust.

Personal Style

Matt’s Musings is my personal blog, therefore my style isn’t the same as what you might find from me elsewhere. I write in the first person here and am more conversational (or chatty) than on business websites.  Honestly, I’m more relaxed and engaged with readers here as I write in a passive voice.

Don’t get me started about active v. passive voice — I’ll be working with some writers today who must do the former and lose the latter.

Photo Credit: Julia Freeman-Woolpert

5 Writing Blogs You Should Be Reading

My Fav Five!

I haven’t done a “shout out” of blogs in some time, so let me do that today with a focus on those offered by freelance writers, bloggers, journalists, and others who write for a living. I’m not going to include the usual suspects because everyone knows the A-listers. Oftentimes, the best stuff is found elsewhere; besides if you want interaction from the blogger him/herself, the smaller sites are often the best for that.

My Blog Guest – I wrote about this site’s forum last week, but have since found Ann Smarty’s related and recently launched blog. As you might guess, Ann’s topic is about guest blogging which is something I know can help raise your visibility if you choose to go down that path.

Freelance Folder – I would not have known about this site if my writing friend, Laura Spencer, from Writing Thoughts hadn’t alerted me to it. Well, it turns out that Laura is a regularly and frequent to contributor to this site which has been picking up a ton of traffic in recent months. Laura always shares stuff of interest to writers including “Mastering the Art of Client Relations.”

Carson Brackney – Several years ago I crossed paths with Carson when he ran Content Done Better, enjoying his advice which always seemed to fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Carson sold his blog and disappeared for two years as he took on a regular job, but now he is back and as caustic as ever! Carson is an advocate of content distribution sites (he runs one himself) and a slayer of elitist writers. Nuff said.

A Writer’s Word, An Editor’s Eye – I’ve referenced Lillie’s site before, but her site is worth a visit. Lillie is a writer, but she is also an editor and a darn good one at that. A couple years back I referred a friend to Lillie who needed some advice with a book. Lillie took the time to help my friend out, an invaluable and totally unexpected response from Mrs. Ammann.

4 Walls and a View – Dominique Small launched her newest site in January and has been doing very well. Instead of offering writing tips per se, Dominique uses her blog to advocate on behalf or chronicle illnesses, namely chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. By sharing her personal battle with these diseases Dominique does a wonderful job in educating people on a very personal level. She demonstrates that good writing can come forth despite life’s challenges.

Thanks for stopping by; I’ll be featuring additional favorites in the near future, but covering a different topic.