There was an interesting thread between me, @mikebyrnes and @Rawhead two days ago, about what our writing voice sounds like.

I commented on Mike’s post:

@mikebyrnes me too! Finding my writing voice is one reason why I’m writing here as well. If you were to describe your writing voice in 2-3 words, what would it be? I’l hazard a guess, but I might be wrong - steady and polite? :)

Then @Rawhead said:

@mikebyrnes @jasonleow Yeah, trying to describe your own writing voice in 2-3 words is an interesting exercise. I’m gonna ruminate on this a bit, but I like to think mine is creatively colloquial.
Mike - curious, informed, measured
Jason - fluid, rich, inspired
What say you about yours and mine gentlemen?

It’s interesting to hear feedback from other writers here about what your writing voice comes across as. I definitely didn’t see “fluid” coming! 

I would have never used those words to describe my writing voice: “fluid, rich, inspired”. I probably would have described my writing voice as “simple, deliberate, experimental”. So the contrast is what’s interesting. Mike mentioned something about hearing your own voice over the phone or on video. That dissonance, that cringing feeling of having heard your voice all your life only to hear it like how others hear it… is just weird. So weird.

Which makes the feedback all the more precious and refreshing. It made me think about how vastly opposite my own perception can be - I thought I was deliberate and methodical in the way I write, but it actually comes across as fluid. Made me think about what my strengths are, versus areas where I can improve (write shorter, clearer, to-the-point sentences, especially for other types of correspondences? I do tend to ramble..). It also mirrored back to me about my “inspired” style, and how it comes across to others - I definitely try to write about what inspired me for the day or the week, and I am glad it’s showing through.

This exercise also kinda harks back to one of the early objectives of this 200wad site when it started out - to help each other write better through peer feedback. Not sure if that objective is still current though, but we don’t do that much now anyway, so it’s nice to be able to do it, in a safe and assuring space. 

So, how would you describe your writing voice in 2-3 words?