I have a thing for real life history that plays out like fiction. Lately, I’ve been reading up on Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames. Two men, one from the FBI and one from the CIA, who sold American secrets to the Russian and Soviet intelligence services during and after the Cold War. Traitors, both of them.

The two men weren’t working together, but their overlapping activities made it difficult for the CIA and the FBI to find their leak. Ames was found out first and his capture made it clear that they had not entirely solved their problem. They still had a mole.

In the end, you know what outed Hanssen?

His voice.

The FBI purchased a recording of him speaking to the KGB. Agents working the case recognized the voice, but could not recall who it belonged to. Pilfering through a stack of documents they had obtained along with the recording, the agents found a racist comment–a comment they had heard Robert Hanssen use in conversation. Listening to the recording once more, they realized that it was indeed the voice of their coworker.

When I read this story the first time, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the literary world. You could tear the covers off books written by my favorite authors, change the font, try to convince me they were written by people I’d never read, but you’d never, ever succeed.

I know their voices.

I’ve read Tasha Alexander enough to know when I’ve picked up one of her stories. I can identify Tana French’s writing without even trying. And JRR Tolkien and Jane Austen, and Jenny B. Jones and Leigh Bardugo and Ally Carter, Ruta Sepetys and Kate Morton and oh, my, gosh Jennifer Donnelly.

These authors have collected words as they’ve traveled through life. Words they’ve polished and played with and turned on the tips of their pens. There’s a cadence to their writing that I recognize. A swagger. A fingerprint-like uniqueness that declares ownership of the tales they spin. They’d have to pull off a magic trick to disguise their voices from me and I sincerely hope they never try.

I pick up my favorite authors’ books because I want to hear them tell me a story. I want to hear their voice in my head. In fact, it’s the deft way they use language that spurs me on in my own efforts to discover and refine my storytelling voice.

What exactly is voice?

The voice of an author is made up of several things:

Words: Authors have an invisible word bank to draw from. This includes words they’ve read and heard as they’ve moved through life. The more words they collect, the bigger their word bank, and yet most authors gravitate toward certain words and phrases. The frequency and application of these words in their writings begin to form something recognizable. Jane Austen’s voice is easy to pick out because of the words she used again and again in her novels.

Syntax: The way an author uses the words they’ve collected to assemble sentences often moves with them from book to book. Even when genres change, our sentences are often shaped in similar ways. Shakespeare is an easy example here. Whether they’re comedies or tragedies, Shakespeare’s writing has a very unique flow.

Tone: While authors can work to adjust their tone for different works, there is often a dominant mood that permeates the pages of their stories. I think of Edgar Allan Poe. Even in his more romantic tales, there is a sense of melancholy. A melancholy readers have come to expect of his works.

And while word choice, syntax, and tone make up much of an author’s voice, they are embellished by the unique character voices the author uses in their books. A well-written character reads differently from the other characters on the page, and yet they are all a part of the author’s storytelling voice.

How do I know if I have a storytelling voice?

Fear not, friend, you have a voice. It’s in there somewhere–a seed maybe, or a green shoot popping through the soil. Perhaps your voice hasn’t been used in a while and it’s a little dry and brittle, but when at last you find the words to write, they will have a rhythm and a tone. They will have a style. 

And while there’s no doubt some of us are flashier in the voice department than others, there are stories only you can tell, in a voice only you were given. Developing your voice is not only your responsibility as a storyteller, but it’s also the inevitable outworking of many things you naturally do. So rest easy. If you’re wishing your voice was more mature, there are things you can do to grow it.

How do I develop my storytelling voice?

While developing your storytelling voice occurs naturally with time and effort, it’s not always pretty. It’s a little like going through puberty. And while that season can be uncomfortable for a teen, I love that my boy and his friends learned to laugh with one another when their voices began to change. They realized their voices wouldn’t always sound that way, and even if they squeaked now and then, the things they had to say were worth the occasional awkwardness. They took joy in the process. New writers would do well to adopt this mindset.

Like the changing voices of teenagers, your storytelling voice will improve with time and effort. You need not wait for it to arrive. That’s not how it works anyway. You have to commit yourself to the process. You have to: 

Read: For a writer, reading is learning at the hand of an artist. The exposure to other stories and other voices is necessary. Read poetry and novels, non-fiction as well. Read books in the genre you want to write in, and read books intended to stretch your taste and your preferences. As you do so, you will pick up all sorts of things: new words, turns of phrase, syntax, story structure, pacing, and most of all, you’ll be discovering your own preferences.

Practice: There are many ways to practice the craft of writing. I suggest Googling “writing exercises” to simply open your eyes to the free resources out there on the internet. You can also use the search bar on the Go Teen Writers website. We have tons of writing exercises to help grow your voice and your craft. 

Another way to practice writing is by journaling. You can journal as yourself or as a character. You can put yourself in the middle of any historical time or event. You can simply dump your emotions onto the page. Any time spent with pen and paper (or computer!) will grow your voice.

Free writing is a very handy tool for practice as well. You simply sit down and write without stopping. You write whatever comes to mind and, in this way, you empty yourself of thoughts. These sessions may not produce anything worth keeping, but they’re often full of raw beauty and may grow into something more with a little effort.

Your voice deepens as you grow, and with every story you tell, it takes on nuance and sheds old habits. Our early efforts may not hit on all the notes, but we improve if we continue to live, and read, and try. 

Like our favorite authors, we collect words as we journey along, and we weave them together in a way only we can. Your voice is yours and yours alone. And though it will change and grow, it will always sound just like you.

Which authors have captivated you with their storytelling voices? Can you pinpoint what it is they do so well?

Shannon Dittemore is an author and speaker. Her books include the Angel Eyes trilogy, a supernatural foray into the realm of angels and demons, as well as the fantastical adventure novel Winter, White and Wicked. Its sequel, Rebel, Brave and Brutal is due out January 10, 2023.

Shannon’s stories feature strong female leads grappling with fear and faith as they venture into the wilds of the unknown. She’s often wondered if she’s writing her own quest for bravery again and again.

It’s a choice she values highly. Bravery. And she’s never more inspired than when young people ball up their fist and punch fear in the face.

To that end, Shannon takes great joy in working with young writers, both in person and online at Go Teen Writers, an instructional blog recognized by Writer’s Digest four years running as a “101 Best Websites for Writers” selection.

For more about Shannon and her books, please visit her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.