Write With Your Speaking Voice

Most anybody can pick up a pen or sit down at a computer and write, but being good at writing often goes far beyond any inborn talent. There are already many books out there about how to improve your writing, whether it’s fiction, nonfiction, or somewhere in between, but every new book on writing that you pick up will hold new gems, new takeaways to help writers improve their craft. Such is the truth with Write With Your Speaking Voice by David Klein. In his book, Klein starts with a simple truth: to be a better writer, try to write with the natural voice and style you use while carrying on a conversation. To that end, Klein offers a number of tips to help writers do just that. The most useful of these tips, perhaps, is the one he comes back to again and again: flow-writing. If you’ve never heard the term before, flow-writing is the act of writing in a continuous flow–that is, to write without stopping to self-edit along the way, as most of us tend to do (there’s plenty of time to edit later, once those words are out of your head and onto the paper or computer screen!). Klein offers plenty of other tips as well, on a wide variety of writing topics: when and where to write, thoughts on writer’s block, openings and conclusions, sentence structure, active vs. passive voice, “rules” that so many of us feel compelled to follow (and that we risk being judged for if we “break”). Klein’s sections are peppered with commentary from his years of experience, examples to show readers just what he means, and an abundance of well-worded quotes from other writers to keep you inspired. If you’re looking for new inspiration to improve your own writing ability, or are brand new to writing and in need of encouragement, this book is an excellent place to start.