You’re not sending an email- So make like Taylor circa 1989 and shake off that stuffy professional voice. It’s easy to make formalities your go-to when it comes to writing. Let loose, dance on the ceiling, do what you have to do and then come back to your document. This is supposed to be fun writing! How can you make it fun for yourself?.
Listen to that voice inside your head- Sounds like something a crazy person would do? Well, too bad because I encourage it. Listen to the way you talk and think. Even listen to how others talk. Take up cues. Think about the slang you use. What do you call your friends? Are they the squad? Crew? How many times do you use “extra“ in a day? Listen and take notes. Try recording a conversation between you and a friend. It may be difficult to listen to your voice (I know I hate listening to mine!), but anything helps!
Try to copy your favorite conversational writers- Is the voice in your head thing not doing it for you? That’s fine. We try and try again, dear reader. The number one lesson I learned from my professors was to copy from other writers. Now, stay with me. I’m not telling you to plagiarize, here. An exercise that helped me tremendously was molding my stories after my favorite writers in their writing style. Do they write short sentences or long-winded sentences with lots of adjectives? It’s tricky but it’s fun to try! If you have a modern writer whose voice you want to emulate, see how they do it, take notes, and move from there.
No more formalities- Think of conversational writing as having—well, a conversation. You’re talking directly to the reader, man. Keep it cool and casual. Think like the sunglasses emoji. Be the sunglasses emoji😎.
I’m a big fan of “try and try again.” Your first shot may not be perfect but that’s life, baby! We keep going.
