Журналисты делятся советами: как найти свой уникальный голос в текстах

One of the biggest compliments a writer can receive is when readers recognize their stories without having to read their byline. That’s because the writer has a distinctive voice. That voice isn’t necessarily based on the writer’s opinions. Often, voice has to do with style, tone and musicality, and how a writer chooses to tell a story. The Poynter Institute’s Power of Diverse Voices, a writing workshop for journalists of color, helps writers find and develop their voice — and provides a safe space to write from personal experience. This year’s workshop takes place in person at Poynter in St. Petersburg, Florida, Nov. 10-13, and you can apply here. As the seminar celebrates its 10th anniversary, we asked the workshop’s faculty to share their tips to help writers find their voice. Here are insights from Aisha Sultan, home and family editor and columnist, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Fernanda Santos, managing editor, The 19th; Eric Deggans, Knight Professor of Journalism and Media Ethics, Washington and Lee University; and Tom Huang, assistant managing editor for journalism initiatives, The Dallas Morning News. Be yourself. - Pay attention to how you tell the story to a friend or family member. What do you lead with? Which details do you share? Try explaining a complex or difficult thing before writing it. — Aisha Sultan - Read what you’ve written aloud before filing your piece. Notice the rhythm of the language and the flow of sentences. If you stumble over a part or it sounds off to your ear, rework it. — Aisha Sultan - It’s one thing to admire other writers. It’s something else entirely to want to write like them. To spend time trying to write like someone else is to waste time. Writing as yourself is what makes you distinctive. There’s no one else like you out there. Embrace that and use it to power up your writing. — Fernanda Santos - Comedians are great at using audiences’ reactions to calibrate their jokes, which may be stretched or cut short depending on how they’re landing. When we tell stories to others, we tend to do the same. We just don’t always notice it. Observe these moments and take note of what elements of your stories work and don’t work. Do your anecdotes go too long? What details piqued people’s interest most? Use these learnings to help shape the stories and scripts you write. — Fernanda Santos Read great writers. - At the risk of disagreeing with my esteemed colleagues, I will say that the first thing I tell young writers trying to develop their voice is to read a lot of other writers who are really good and write with voice. The goal isn’t to adopt their style or phrases, but to get a sense of how they do what they do. How do they deploy humor? When do they use colloquialisms? How do they reference their own culture or background in stories? How do they turn substantive ideas into engaging essays? For me, this was always an automatic process — reading writers like Ta-Nehisi Coates, Stephen King, Isaac Asimov, Roger Ebert, Linda Holmes, Frank Bruni and so many others automatically fired up my creativity in both conscious and subconscious ways. — Eric Deggans Just keep writing. - To develop your voice as a writer, keep doing it — writing with personality and distinction — as often as possible. It’s the primary reason I keep writing my Substack — getting in the ring regularly to wrestle with ideas keeps me sharp and allows me to experiment, so when I’m called upon to write something quickly or something for a larger audience, I have my writing chops together. Writing with voice is about constantly trying to lessen the obstacles between what you feel deeply and what goes on the page. And I have never found a more effective way of getting better at that than to keep doing it, like a musician honing skills in the practice room. — Eric Deggans - Write what you’re most scared to write about. It doesn’t mean you have to publish the piece. But digging deep and understanding your fears can help you develop your inner voice. — Tom Huang - Write your origin story. Reflect on where you came from, who influenced you and why you are driven to do the hard work of writing. Imagine yourself as the hero in your narrative. How did your journey start? What challenges stood in your way? What have you learned? Going back to your roots can help you understand what’s important to you, and that reflection can inform your voice. — Tom Huang