Last week I asked about your least favorite part of blogging and admitted that mine was the actual writing. In the comments Ron Obvious wrote, “I think if you go back and read some of your earlier stuff you have really found a voice.”
While I agree with Ron that my writing has improved since I started this blog and he was my only reader, I disagree that I have found MY voice.
My goal is to be kind and helpful. And honestly, I think that makes my writing and many of my articles quite dull.
In real life I AM kind and helpful. I am also so much more. I describe myself as sarcastic, snarky, pseudo-confident (I fake it), and really really funny. And while I am hesitant to admit this, I swear like the proverbial sailor.
If I was honestly writing with my own voice, my articles would be super funny, snarky, and liberally sprinkled with four letter words.
Maybe my blogging voice isn’t supposed to be the same as my real voice. Maybe I am supposed to find a voice that works and appeals to readers.
I am half tempted to start another blog and try writing with my OWN voice. Something funny that contains sarcastic observations. Something that isn’t quite so nice. Something that reads just like I speak. Something R rated. I’m partially inspired by The Bloggess.
I’m not planning on giving up this blog. Not at all. But I don’t know if I can suddenly change the tone, especially when I’m primarily writing WordPress tips (I haven’t done much of that the last two weeks though). Hmm … my own voice would fit with the whole (Anti) Social thing I have going on here.
So, how about you? Do you have a blogging voice? Is it your real life voice the same as your blogging voice? Or you just pretending the way that I am? ;-)
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Good question! I guess for me, since my blog is connected to my business, it has to remain “business oriented” though I don’t always blog about my website much unless I’m writing about a product. I am still in the process of finding my voice and too feel that my writing is a bit dull. I don’t know if I would ever be “popular” as a blogger since it’s very specific. I also don’t post very often (once a week mostly).
Actually, I think you *do* have a blogging voice, but it’s not one that you would recognize. Just like our own voices sound funny when we hear a recording of them. Of course, I have no idea what your spoken voice sounds like, or the content of your utterances — no matter how many letters your words have!
I have a blog writing voice and a speaking voice. I think my writing voice comes across pretty well. It’s a bit involved and pedantic, but so is my subject matter. It’s a lot like my voice when I was teaching.
I often read my posts out loud to make sure they make sense and are conversational enough to be easily understood by the average person. So there’s that link to my speaking voice as well.
As far as my speaking voice — well, I don’t know. It’s certainly pretty slow and baritonish and southern-sounding. I don’t use many 4-letter words unless I’m riled up, which is pretty seldom. But all this is neither here nor there as far as the question your post poses.
Do you think you might have a writing voice and a speaking voice? Do they have to be the same?
Mike Nichols’s last blog post – “What if I’m the ONE?” Intolerance of Uncertainty, Worry and Anxiety
Hi Kim. I think you might be being too hard on yourself. Knowing how you are outside of your website, I would agree that Kim the blogger and Kim the person have two different voices. But they’re not THAT far off from each other. I think its partially because your articles and their content call for a different voice than when you’re talking or emailing or using Twitter. I mean using four letter words to describe a WordPress plugin might not work as well in your articles ;-). But I also think that if you go back to the beginning of ASD and read some of the first articles and go through until today, you will find steadily that your articles have gotten better and the tone of them is more like you. Your recent articles exude a confidence in your writing that you didn’t have when you first started ASD and the articles are so much more Kim and that I think is very noticeable. I think you also have to consider that its been less than 6 months since the site started. In that time I think you’ve blossomed as a blogger and as a writer and in another 6 months we’ll look back and see even more progression. :-)
I’d love to see a blog with your snarkies. :)
I would say my blogging voice is probably stronger than my real life voice, because I express myself much more confidently in writing. Not that I say things that I wouldn’t say in real life, but I just usually express things better by writing.
And I don’t think being kind and helpful is boring at all… your posts are always interesting!
~ Kristi
Kikolani | Poetry, Photography, Blogging Tips’s last blog post – Fall Colors
1. Thank you. You totally made me blush.
2. You are awesome and your writing has a wonderful flow to it.
3. I have two different blogs and each have a different voice and tone. I think it’s all about cultivating whatever part of you you decide to show the world. Whichever one you pick, there will be people waiting to hear it.
Hi Kim:
I think you have a very distinctive voice and I like it. I also think I have a sense of humor – some call it sarcasm, hmph! I usually write like I speak (less the 4letter words), for me, it’s hard not to – you are who you are. I find it difficult to express myself clearly. I don’t want to get into a blah, blah, blah type of writing so sometimes feel like I leave out parts of my thought process.
Kim,
I have nothing of great substance to write here but I wish I did. If I knew you in person I could have a comparison (you verses the blog). I think a blog can act as an alter ego or a voice you didn’t know you had (techy side). The trick is mingling them and connecting to your readers. My favorite post to date is the one of you talking about Stan.
Why? Well, the tech stuff is great but it’s nice to also know the person behind the details/screen. Darron at Pro Blogger has mentioned this and I think it is true. My videos are allowing my readers to see me with no makeup, in my p.j.’s and my true self. That has increased loyalty and readership.
Is my blog the same as my real voice? I think it’s a great combo of real life me and virtual me. Genuine across the board but very much about business and branding.
P.S. I think you’ll get it and look back at this post and think of how far you’ve come. I do when I look at older posts. Add some four letter words…would you? Spice it up Sailor!
My blogging voice is similar to my real voice, but it’s a bit more restrained.
I think you can play with your voice on this blog. If Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz can be funny when she teaches marketing, you can be funny when you teach WordPress.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post – Help Me Find A New Tagline And Win A Prize
I don’t have a blogging voice. I write the same way I speak. And don’t worry, your articles are not boring.
Wesley’s last blog post – I’m always surprised at which tweets generate the most responses.
@Carla – I think your blog is business oriented and is to promote the products. I suppose you could try mixing it up a little with more personal anecdotes. I think you’re off to a great start.
@Mike – Thanks for your wonderful comment! Your description of your voice is almost exactly like I thought it would sound. Mine is on the deeper side and I tend to talk fast. Not as fast as a lot of people in the NorthEast but pretty fast.
I don’t think the voices have to be the same. I just think sometimes that practicing writing the way that I talk would be a good exercise and that it would be funny.
@Ron/Jim – Oh yeah, there has definitely been an improvement. You know I did go back and read the McCain/Golf Gear article recently and that one really does sound like the real life me. I think it’s because I wrote it quickly in a flurry of annoyance.
Thanks for being so supportive – as always.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. It is funny you should bring this topic up. I have had simular thoughts lately. I do think that I blog in a voice that is much like my own, but I don’t people get the whole “Malathionman” thing. Maybe I should just be me.
malathionman’s last blog post – The 6th Letter of the Alphabet List
@Kristi – Thanks. Maybe I’ll have to make a blog of snark. :-)
@Jenny – Thanks for visiting and commenting! I was very surprised to see your comment. It means a lot coming from you. You writing makes me laugh – you have a such a funny way of viewing the world and writing about it. I think you’re awesome too.
@Dee – I think you are funny and I do see your sarcasm – well, one time I didn’t get it in a comment and you had to explain it to me ;-) I often feel that I am not able to clearly express myself in a concise manner and get really long-winded, repeating myself over and over
@Sommer – Hi! It’s interesting that you mentioned the article about Stan. That was one of my first articles where I got a little bit more personal. I found people very responsive to knowing me a little better so I have tried to write more personally and to include an article like that at least once a week.
I also “attended” the online b-day party of Liz Strauss’ blog last week and you were supposed to bring a link to one of your articles as a gift. That was the article I selected. :-)
I didn’t ask Stan in advance if I could write about him and when I gave him a printout of the article he was SO happy. He told me felt “honored” to have made such a difference in my life. That reminds me – I haven’t seen him in a couple of weeks and I really need to talk to him.
Hmm … maybe I’ll start swearing for you ;-) Ask Ron Obvious – he’s heard plenty – especially when we worked in tech support together.
@Vered – Thanks! Naomi is a great example. You know I just discovered her site this week and signed up for her Online Business School lessons. I’ve received two emails so far but haven’t opened them yet.
@Wesley – I think that one of the reasons I was drawn to your site is that I felt like the real person was talking to me. That’s great that both voices are the same. And I’m glad that you don’t think I’m boring ;-)
@Malathionman – Hi! Thanks for stopping by too. I don’t even remember how I found your site – you must have commented on another article that I was reading. Honestly, I don’t understand the Malationman thing either but I enjoy your articles :-)
Ooo what a good question! I think most people have a blogging voice because they don’t want to offend or sound ‘professional’ or even to sound like they think readers want them to sound.
I had this conversation with another blogger recently who asked me for an honest opinion of their work. I said the writing was OK but I knew it wasn’t them. I had read comments they had left at other blogs which were so witty and fun and made me want to immediately link back to their blog but when you got there it was a totally different tone.
Now they blog without restriction and it’s still rubbish. No no no, only joking. It’s great stuff!
I also think it takes quite a talent to write like The Bloggess. Her writing is really funny but really well put together so it works beautifully. I have seen this done elsewhere and it just doesn’t work. Well not for me anyway!
I guess my very long winded point is, you should write how you are comfortable Kim and if that means starting up another blog to really blow your top in, then go for it!
Tara’s last blog post – The truth, the whole truth, about home birth. And poo.
I of course meant “I think most people have a blogging voice because they don’t want to offend or THEY WANT TO sound ‘professional’ or even to sound like they think readers want them to sound”
What a doofus!
Tara’s last blog post – The truth, the whole truth, about home birth. And poo.
SEEEEE! Nobody reads the bio. I was the Malationman in a cheesey movie called “Bleak Future”. The trailer is even on the sidebar of my blog and it has the Malationman in it! CHECK IT OUT! :)
@Tara – Thanks so much for visiting and commenting.
You’re funny. I actually knew what you meant the first time. :-) I doubt The Bloggess just sat down one day and instantly started writing like that. She said I was awesome, though, so I’m going to bask in that for awhile.
And I am considering starting another blog – maybe after the beginning of the year.
@malathionman – You might not believe me but after I wrote that comment I went back to your site to find out what Malathionman meant and discovered that information. I also discovered Death Chic because I wanted to find out more about the F-Lists, so thanks for that.
Hi Kim!
I think most of us tone it down a bit on the blogs. The blog most of the time now, is your web facing personality. A fair bit of people chose to no longer hide behind false names and etc on their blogs. With the risk of Google searches for future jobs, I think most of us do keep it toned down some.
Have a good week!
Hi Jason – I was thinking the same thing over the weekend. I was like everything is searchable which is why I’ve toned it down and not used any four letter works. Thanks for reminding me of that.