Share Your Voice
By Dan Blank | September 23, 2016 |
In that time, I shared:
- More than 500 email newsletters
- More than 1,000 blog posts
- More than 24,000 Tweets
I even began sharing photos on Instagram, with more than 1,500 shared to date. No, I am not “promoting” any of these things here to get more followers, which is why I’m not linking them.
In total, there have been tens of thousands of times that I have clicked “publish” on something. In each of those times, there was a momentary pause where I tensed up. Where I wondered if what I was sharing was meaningful. Was authentic. Was worthy. And in many of those instances, I worried about what could go wrong. What I risked in sharing.
Today I want to talk about why, as an author, you want to increase your ability to share your voice. Because, in each of those times I clicked “publish,” I was not only using my voice, hoping it was heard, I was also attending to the practice of developing my voice.
A Conversation is happening, whether you know it or not
Plenty of authors tell me they have zero interest in social media. In having to share 20,000 pithy updates that don’t feel meaningful. Nor do they want to develop an email list, or start a blog, or podcast.
Do you need to do any of this to be a successful author?
Nope.
You don’t need social media.
You don’t need an email newsletter.
You don’t even need a website.
But what you do need is a voice. Now, you may be thinking, “Dan, that voice is in the book. The story that is crafted. It is not my voice.”
Do you remember that scene from the Wizard of Oz. (Oh, spoiler alert.) When the projected voice of Oz — this big bold earth shattering confident voice — turned out to be a little nervous man, whose authenticity, while flawed, deeply resonated with others, and helped them in ways that his projection never could?
That’s you.
What I asked today is that you pull back that curtain.
Do you know how many authors I have spoken to, who have written wonderful books, that are published by awesome publishing houses, which FAIL to find an audience? Lots. Too many.
This is why an agent asks you about social media. Why a publisher asks you about what influential people or organizations you know, which they can then reach out to for marketing. Not because they are trying to hollow out the most meaningful thing you have ever created, your book; but because they want to ensure the book turns into conversations.
Conversations that turn your ideas into a living reality in the lives of readers. Conversations that take your work and expand upon it, because the story takes hold of a group of friends who can’t stop talking about it. Conversations that lead to word of mouth marketing — where one reader just can’t help but tell a friend about your book.
It all starts with your voice.
Obviously, that voice begins within the story you craft. The voice you give to the characters you create, the stories you tell.
But it also extends to the path you take in trying to get your book published: it should be all about you connecting your voice with your audience, potential readers.
For nonfiction and memoir authors, this is a process that may naturally lead you to your next book via conversations.
For novelists, this is about understanding the marketplace as people, not a “thing.” And that your book is not a product, but rather, a conversation. At the most basic level, this is a conversation between what you say in the book, and what happens when someone reads it. It happens entirely in the readers’ head, with each reader experiencing the same book differently for thousands of personal reasons. But it can extend beyond that — which is why you see see hundreds of people lined up to meet an author whose book moved them.
These are conversations waiting to happen; conversations that are related to the book, but outside of it. This is how a book not only encourages you to share your voice, as the author, but where it encourages the reader to share their own voices.
Voices are powerful, only if we use them
Every day, we read stories that move us; we have ideas; we have deep beliefs that can help others. Within our heads, these things shoot around like fireworks. Within our heads we are certain that our voice big, bold, powerful. That it is caring and reasoned and unwavering.
I would simply encourage you to share that voice. To consider that having a voice is about the ability to communicate with others.
Honing this ability takes time. It is why I look back on the thousands of times I have hit “publish” and consider how my voice has evolved. And how it is still evolving.
When a partner in your writing career — an agent, a publisher, etc. — asks about social media, what they are really asking is if you have honed your ability to connect your voice with the world.
A voice without action, is silence. In that silence is the potential where you could be connecting with people who will be moved by your stories.
Finding your voice is a process
Honing your ability to find and share your voice is not about getting a great tagline, designing a great website, or having a big publisher back you.
Finding and sharing your voice is a practice.
Whenever I ask authors that I work with about their goals, I don’t use that term. Instead I ask them, “What kind of conversations would you like to be having?”
When considering how to create the foundation for your books in the marketplace; when considering how to grow at any stage in your writing career — I would encourage you to focus on the conversations you are having. On how your voice reaches others in a variety of ways. That this process is more about establishing means to share your voice, than a product to sell.
Let me frame this in a non-author example, with filmmaker and YouTuber Casey Neistat, who I have written about before. In a recent talk he gave, he discussed a pivotal moment in his career about six years ago.
At that moment:
- His original HBO TV series was launching.
- He had just won a big award for the movie he produced.
He had hit the zenith, but found that it felt hollow. His time was spent waiting for his products to be released to the masses. He had achieve milestones every filmmaker dreams of, but found he wasn’t creating, and didn’t have a voice with his audience.
Slowly, he focused more on sharing videos on YouTube while he did videos for private advertising clients. He posted around two dozen videos per year for awhile. He did pretty good with this, amassing about 500,000 followers. A few of his videos went properly viral. They received millions of views.
But, about a year and a half ago, he doubled down. He began posting daily videos. And that changed everything. He now has well over 4 million subscribers. This is not about him becoming a “YouTube Celebrity,” but about his voice changing people’s lives for the better.
What he found in the years since then was that YouTube wasn’t just a distribution channel for his videos, but it was a way of having a voice with his audience.
When Casey talked about his childhood, he describes it this way:
“I was the third of four kids, the forgotten one. I always had to scream the loudest to get what I want. When I was a teenager, I was always frustrated, because I could never be heard.”
We each have our own motivations, and this is Casey’s. And now his voice is being heard.
Sometimes we pursue publication of our work as a means of validation. I would encourage you to consider the many ways that your life as a writer can share your voice in a way that makes people’s lives more meaningful. Where it helps them in some way, even if it is merely to entertain them for a moment.
In many ways, your voice becomes your identity. That can feel scary at times, just as I was nervous in many of the times I was about to click “publish” to something online.
But it is also a responsibility is yours and yours alone. No one else — no agent or publisher — can magically give you a voice.
What I have found not only in my own personal experience, but in working with thousands of others, is that finding small meaningful ways to share your voice is a powerful process. How, very often, the smallest things you share can have the biggest impact with and connection to others.
I would love to know: do you feel your voice is being heard? If not, what is a single action you can take to develop a practice of sharing your voice?
Thanks.
-Dan
Dan Blank is the founder of WeGrowMedia, where he helps writers share their stories and connect with readers. He has helped hundreds of authors via online courses, events, consulting, and workshops, and worked with amazing publishing houses and organizations who support writers such as Random House, Workman Publishing, Abrams Books, Writers House, The Kenyon Review, Writer’s Digest, Library Journal, and many others.
Hi Dan,
Next month I will be releasing my first CD. That might not sound like a big deal, except that I am in my 50’s. My songs reflect a lifetime of living, learning and evolving into the person I am, and am becoming. It is me sharing my voice and I believe that it will resonate with others and connect me to them. Trust me, it is scary but it is also necessary and worth the risk.
Congratulations Penny! If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to explore streaming services such as Bandcamp. I follow some artists there, it is a wonderful system that also helps fund creators: https://bandcamp.com
I know a number of singer/songwriters who use Bandcamp. Have you met Adler& Hearne there, Dan?
Thank you so much for your voice it’s been heard in central america.
Thanks!
I haven’t!
Dan-
Voice is not about being sonorous. It’s not about volume or timbre. Especially not for writers.
For writers, voice is using language powerfully. To say something powerful. Strong words. Strong ideas. Memorable patterns. Memorable thoughts.
“I have a dream.”
“What is our aim? Victory.”
“Ask not…”*
(*Do I need to fill in the rest of that quote from President Kennedy? My point.)
Frequency is good. Power is better. Emotional appeal is better still. Speaking truth is best of all.
Imagine speaking truth, in strong and memorable language, from the heart, every day.
Imagine writing a novel that way.
Every day.
Benjamin,
I love this. “Speaking truth every day.” It sounds so obvious, yet it isn’t because first we have to dig deep into understanding our core beliefs. We have to embrace *feel* even when it hurts.
Trying to cultivate the habit of writing truthfully in my journal every day. It’s amazing how much I resist at times … but practice, practice, practice.
Agreed Vijaya! I have someone on my team whose JOB it is to keep me accountable to writing.
Thanks Benjamin! I had to look up “sonorous.”
-Dan
Dan:
Thanks for this post. I’ve had to learn a lot about social media for my job, and I can even say that I enjoy some aspects of it. But I still struggle to imagine how I can use it–in a genuine way–for my fiction.
This post goes a long way toward explaining how to get there.
Joan
Wow — thank you Joan!
Love this, thank you Dan!
I recently resumed my newsletter after spending a lot of time uncertain where to proceed now that I’ve had some drastic changes to my overall writing plans. The key insight for me was realizing that people who have signed up for my newsletter have done so because they want to connect with me and know about what I’m up to. I’ll only be sending something out quarterly, but I feel like that will pack much more of a punch. And I always close off my newsletter with an invitation to email me. I find that’s where the best connection happens.
I love that you encourage your fans to connect, John. As one of your subscribers, I’ve appreciated how you share so honestly about your process. That’s a very real conversation you’re having with the folks who read your newsletter!
Susan — thanks so much for this feedback. It means so much to me!
John — thank you so much! And I received your newsletter today. I’ll admit, I cringed at “quarterly.” My gut is that if someone is asking to hear from you, I am POSITIVE that you have on meaningful thing to say each month.
Just my take. Again, thanks!
-Dan
For the past several months, I have been sharing my self-illustrated poems daily on Facebook and Instagram and my blog. This morning I really relate to your “fear before clicking ‘submit'” because I just published an illustrated poem yesterday that was on the more serious and personal side, and I am feeling exposed and vulnerable after that. But when I review the piece, I feel that it is authentic and does have beauty…. so I hang on to that. Thank you, Dan, for this truth and encouragement. It guides me!
I would like to add that what I wrote/drew is flawed and not nearly as momentous or piercing as I wish it was. Also, only a small handful of people have “liked” it, out of hundreds that may have seen it. But I give myself credit: I made art and I’m sharing it with the world.
Thank you Heather! And congrats on working through the risk, that is key to the creative life.
-Dan
Hi Dan,
Interesting essay this morning. I was really caught by the, “focus on the conversations you’re having.” I’m curious about this. I have so many varied conversations these days. Much of my conversation is about medical issues and treatments for my husband, quality of life issues for my mother, job stresses my children face… And the political landscape….
My question is this: Life circumstances aren’t always even-keeled so when the voice/conversation changes, how do you adapt that to your writing?
Deb,
Before I get into the writing, I immediately thought of a friend who, while at the hospital, kept asking the nurses and doctors about the books they like to read. The CONTEXT of the situation was secondary to them pursuing conversations that my friend loved having.
As for adapting life situations to your writing, that is ALWAYS something we have to deal with. Most people I know go through a complex set of responsibilities and “situations.” Some infuse them into their writing. This is sometimes what kicks off someone’s writing career as well — a brush with a serious medical issue can make them seize the day. But it also helps them inform their characters, their plots, etc.
And let’s face it, even-keel is boring.
:)
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” — Helen Keller
-Dan
Hmmm. CONTEXT. Lots of perspective in that one word. Thanks!
Hi Dan and Hi Deb,
Deb, when you are in the position you find yourself in now, I think you write about it. You position yourself in that context and it can generate so many ideas. Your feelings in any situation can help others. We humans survive when someone takes our hand and offers comfort or reads a passage that clicks and brings them to the realization that they are not alone. Been there. You find yourself in conflicting positions. Let the page know. But most of all, take care of yourself. Your voice, whether it’s on the internet now or later or never, is your key to understanding your life. Use it, Beth
Thanks, Beth. It’s true, there is solace in realizing others have walked the same paths we are walking. What I’m finding is that my scattered emotions are equally erratic on the page, at least for the moment. Thank goodness editing can be done later.
Editing will be a great help, but the raw emotion that might come on the page now could be something rare. I went through some years when my husband was diagnosed with cancer. I’m pulling for you, Beth
Writing is how I found my voice, literally. I could barely speak with the horrible stutter I used to have. And I’m very much conscious that there are others whose voices are never heard. I write to give them a voice too. And I’ve always believed the pen is mightier than the sword!
As a new FB user I am enjoying coming upon some interesting conversations, but I’m not sure I can contribute in a meaningful way by just acknowledging that I *like* something. But it is a beginning. It reminds me of the break room; it’s good to connect but you have to make a separate appt. if you want to discuss things more in-depth. I always prefer the face-to-face or the exchange of ideas through letters. I’ve made some good friends through the SCBWI blueboard. Hope to do the same at WU.
Thanks for a great piece and esp. “What kind of conversations would you like to be having?”
You make a great point here Vijaya, one that I am writing about more and more. Anyone can “like” a Facebook post. If you truly LOVE something, how can you do more than “Like” it? How can you celebrate it, and hold that creator up as the most special person in the world. This is the opportunity we all have, that is often watered down by simply “liking.” Don’t get me wrong, I click that “like” button all day. But I think the greater challenge — the greater opportunity — is to do more. Something no one else would. Thanks!
-Dan
Dan, you always remind me how important it is to keep adding meaning to the world. As writers, we strive to do this by writing, but as people we can do it in every one-on-one interaction we have. You never know how an honest exchange of ideas or kindness might matter down the line, or in what weird and miraculous ways. Today you reminded how connected we are. Thanks!!
Susan,
I 100% agree – thank YOU!
-Dan
Last year I took the plunge and started a podcast called Teen Writers Publish. It’s a bit of a play on words as it is both for writers of teen fiction and teens who want to write. I found myself doing more encouraging of young writers to pursue their dreams. This is what resonated most with my listeners. It gave me a very literal voice (and I didn’t have to look good doing it) and a way to reach teens in way that seems more real than an Instagram post.
Wow — how cool Ronald!!! What an incredible way to support others. Thanks.
-Dan
If I could connect with an audience on my own, I wouldn’t need an agent or publisher. But I have hated social activity as long as I can remember, and I’ve come to see my social isolation as essential to the development and exploration of unique ideas.
Also, my current work-in-progress is so completely different than anything I’ve done before (it’s my first comedy novel), I don’t think my existing network would appreciate being told about it.
Angraecus,
The nice thing is that you indeed get to choose this path. The choice is yours, and what is so nice nowadays is that you have so many options. Glad you found the path the works for you. Thanks!
Dan
Dan, thanks for another persuasive, generous post. I don’t do Facebook, because I am a snob, but I do enjoy Twitter breaks, though my voice is fairly restrained there. But my cranky, why-isn’t-he-in-jail voice does emerge fairly often in my newsletter and blog. However, I have a long way to go to make the “exchange” into more of a conversation. Thanks for the counsel.
Tom,
Sounds like you are finding the balance that works for you. Thanks!
-Dan
Interesting post. I only use my blog to make announcements about my novels (e.g. new releases, awards, conferences I plan to attend), and to respond to readers who make comments. I guess it’s because, as a reader, I generally don’t care about engaging with authors of the books I enjoy. I just want to read their books without becoming their friends, and I assume my readers feel the same about my books. I’m on FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads, and Wattpad, but I found the time I initially spent trying to make contacts that way was better spent writing or reading.
I think my voice is already being adequately heard through my novels and my characters. Although I love hearing their comments on my novels, as an author, I don’t want to get too personal with my readers.
That’s just me. I’m glad others find value in it and more power to them.
Ruth
Ruth: you seem completely fulfilled in how you are managing this, which is GREAT! So many seek to find the level of comfort that you have. Thanks, have a lovely weekend.
-Dan
Great conversation right here in this thread, Dan! I’ve been reading some other people’s comments and replies.
I am one of those who has a love/hate relationship with social media. I use it, because I “have” to. Except for Facebook – there, I am completely and totally open about whatever I want.
As a child, I never felt my voice was heard. Why? Because I was the shy, quiet, reluctant, and self-conscious young girl. I was surrounded by very opinionated adults who frequently told me “shoulds” and “should nots.”
But I have to tell you, now that I’m in my thirties, I don’t care about those other voices anymore. I have found my voice, and I am not only serene with it, but I am joyful.
Before, I was worried about what people might think of me or say about me. I was listening to everyone else’s voice but my own. Today, I hear what people say and respectfully listen. Sometimes I truly take what advice they’re offering into proper consideration. But when it comes down to making a decision – or writing or speaking, for that matter – I listen to my own voice.
And that feels amazing. It’s empowering. Thank you for being part of that empowerment to so many. I truly hope I can work with you one day, Dan!
Jeannie, LOVE THAT! Yay! Thanks for sharing this.
-Dan
I know that part of why I started writing is that I don’t enjoy speaking. So naturally at age 40 I was in China teaching speaking classes, which was fun, but I was much happier teaching those students writing classes.
Meanwhile, as an author, my greatest improvements came when I realized I should listen and consider what my readers have to say. I used to just shut out their voices completely. And as you have surely guessed, that didn’t work out so well.
Michael — thank you for sharing that! Powerful lesson.
-Dan
Dan, I hear you. My first book has sold maybe 500 copies mostly to my friends, and their friends. Now what? My publisher is a beginner just like me. I got my story out there. I sell my books that I have to buy at $10 each.
I have a FB. I had a website but couldnt afford the yearly cost.
I’m writing a new novel for the NaNo. It similar in style to my last one. I’m sure i’ll have good initisl sales. This time Im publishing it.
Christina,
The $10 up front cost per book to you was clearly a barrier. Good luck on NaNo!!!
-Dan
The desire to develop your unique voice is what makes you write. Anyone who thinks they can bang out a book in a month and enjoy J.K. Rowling money is delusional. Many of us would enjoy the view from the summit, but who enjoys the climb? Writers do. Writers enjoy the climb. The climb is all about discovering what you want to say, and finding the voice you were meant to say it with.
I love that! Thanks!
Dan, I love this column, especially your question “What kind of conversations would you like to be having?”
When I set up my website and blog in 2006, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to use the blog. I’d been keeping a writer’s journal as advised by the wonderful writer and teacher Jewell Parker Rhodes, where for each book I read I wrote three things I thought worked or didn’t work in the book and why. Thinking about them from a writer’s perspective helped me learn from the books I was reading.
I must have been asking myself your question because, yes, those are the conversations I wanted to have, like the conversations I’ve found here at WU. I wanted to talk about books at a greater depth than just “I liked/disliked it.” So that is how I structured my blog, reviewing books from a writer’s perspective. Non-writers have been interested, too, as they look for ways to deepen their book club conversations.
And now you’ve given me an idea for something new I could do in another social medium. Thanks!
Thank YOU so much Barbara!
-Dan
I’m one of those writers who is constantly trying to find my voice and working hard at it. Getting other people to hear my voice, or even care about it, is the struggle I face. You’ve had great success in that area. I’m jealous lol.
Dian,
Thanks. What I tend to find is that the first step is often asking questions of others, focusing on THEIR work, THEIR interests, and the RELATIONSHIPS first.
Have a great day!
-Dan
Bless you, sir, for helping me to be myself. That’s all that has ever stood between me and success, as my problems are all first world otherwise. Nicely said!
Thank you Steve!
I am so stuck right now. I’m literally lying in bed, on the last day of my stay-cation, contemplating going back to work on Monday, frustrated with feelings of emptiness and lack of meaning, asking myself “What next?” There may be a few tears.
I had a top New York agent. I had a manuscript that came so close to being picked up, by several major houses, several anxiety-riddled times. I had a second manuscript that my agent loved but it didn’t sell. He said I have the talent, I just need the right timing. I wrote a third novel, too dark for my agent. We parted ways. I got divorced. Stopped writing. Started again. I love the current manuscript, but I keep getting stuck. And it’s not the story that’s stuck, it’s me, and the big picture. It’s about how I dislike social media, but it seems a necessary evil to make it creatively these days. It’s how the more I see negativity on social media, the more my introvert side wants to hide my voice and not make myself vulnerable (while the feisty side of me says, Who cares?? Get out there!!). Something in me is rebelling, in revolt. But something in me is starving. Not writing, not working on my work, is like not eating. I’m not fulfilled. I need to find my way back. As Julia Cameron tells us in The Artist’s Way, we need to fill our well. And she says that it is far harder and more painful to be a blocked artist than it is to do the work. That’s where I am. I need to do the work. Get back to who I am. But I also need a community to support me. Julia says we need to choose companions who encourage us to do the work, not just talk about doing the work or why I am not doing the work. I don’t have writer companions. I need to find some. I once belonged to a critique group that caused far more harm than good, and I’ve been gun-shy ever since.
I’m new to your articles, Dan, I just now read several, but I’m finding that they’re hitting the spot at exactly the right time. Thank you!
I am trying to finish my book THE FAMILY MAN,for black friday but it does not look like I am going to succeed.