Find Your Freelance Voice
When you write, it is crucial that people hear you, not literally, but people need a sense of a writer to become engaged in the article, story, blog, or anything else they maybe reading. Once that sense is established, a reader can feel a connection to the writer, and want to read more of his or her work.
One of the most important things for a writer to define is their "voice." A writer's voice is their unique way of presenting their point of view regardless of whether the piece is for a byline or ghostwriting.
A writing style is ascertained by the person behind the writing: the writer. The writer is characterized by their life experiences, education, and belief system. How they write is exemplified by how they view words and their placement through diction, syntax, tone, dialogue, and so forth. The combination of all these elements gives a writer a voice.
As children in school, we are taught the technical specifics of language, but we were never taught how to infuse the written word with personality. As a writer, making your work talk is your key to marketing it, and becoming a successful writer. As a freelance writer, the way that your pieces speak to potential clients will ultimately decide whether they choose you or another writer. Ideally, you need to identify your style and niche.
The oldest advice for writers is "write what you know." What we know is usually where we are most proficient, and where we start. Freelance writing with a byline gives you the leeway to write entirely through your perspective regardless of the topic. Ghostwriting, however, requires you to have a flexible writing voice so that you can match a style to different clients.
Clients, who are seeking blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts, and such, need their content to sound genuine and relatable; therefore, they seek a ghostwriter who will match their tone and way. Maintaining your own voice while ghost writing is complicated, at best. It is important to market your ghostwriting services to clients that demonstrate a similar way of thought.
Freelance writing for a byline gives you much more room. Often, you are directly targeting the topics you want to write for. If you have a penchant for gardening, it is much easier to approach websites and magazines with ideas because you already know your subject and possess a good working knowledge of it. Whereas, writing for a construction venue with little or no knowledge of the subject, while it can be done, would be more difficult.
Define and identify how you want to write, then give life to the way you write. Your writing voice will find the most appreciation with clients, who have a similar outlook and approach. Remember, that all of the technical education on the planet will only get you so far as a writer; only you can get people to listen to your writing.
