Finding Your Voice: How to Put Personality in Your Writing

One of my Favorites. Aug 09, Lisa Ciarfella rated it it was amazing. Edgerton is top notch when it comes to offering up the tricks of the trade to beginning and aspiring authors. I can't recomment it highly enough!

His warmth, humor, and on target wisdom comes from a very real place, in true spirit of wanting to help. The prompts and exercises alone are more than worth the price of admission! Especially the critic nag-dude letter! If you need a little help in this direction, look no farther. Les is your man! Aug 06, Kenn rated it really liked it. This was the first how-to book of Edgerton's I read. I had read about it in the Writer's Digest magazine and read an article in the same magazine by Les.

I'm a hard-headed mofo sometimes, and Les will vouch for that, but he lays it on the line here. He makes you toss out the window everything you ever learned in school about writing. Definitely worth your time and money to invest in. Jan 24, Matthew Pierce rated it liked it. His other book - Hooked - was much better. Nevertheless, this also is a good book. I bet if I had read this before Hooked, I would have rated it higher. Jan 17, Susan Fields rated it it was amazing. I highly recommend this book. This is an area I've really been struggling with, and I learned a lot by reading this.

Nov 10, Gisele Thomson rated it it was amazing Shelves: This was a great book on giving you permission, as a writer, to speak from your core. He described well the tendencies for aspiring authors to take on a voice that they believe is writerly, when in fact, their writing is more interesting and funny when they're just being themselves. This book is definitely a good push in the right direction to get on already with producing the words consistently and full confidence that what you, and only what you can say because of your life experience, is not This was a great book on giving you permission, as a writer, to speak from your core.

This book is definitely a good push in the right direction to get on already with producing the words consistently and full confidence that what you, and only what you can say because of your life experience, is not just good enough. It is exactly what readers, agents, publishers and so on are looking for: Jun 13, Julieta Ninno rated it it was amazing. Un buen conjunto de informes, consejos y verdades sobre la escritura y sobre encontrar la voz de cada uno. Jun 16, pianogal rated it really liked it Shelves: I didn't like this one as music as Hooked, but I still thought it was a good read.

He had some very good suggestions for how to work through finding your voice. Out of all the aspects of writing, I think I'm most confident in my voice. But it was still good to read about ways to protect it and develop it without losing it. Aug 16, Erin Geil rated it it was amazing. This was another book that I read while in college, not for a class, just for myself. I think it really helps you fine tune that voice you are looking for that will help you write that book, short story, or poem more effectively.

Dec 08, Richard Cadot rated it it was amazing. One of the top 3 best books on writing I've read in 35 years! Jul 29, Abigail rated it liked it Shelves: Voice chapter was the most interesting. Which comes first, voice or craft? In Finding Your Voice: How to Put Personality in Your Writing, author Les Edgerton begins by blaming all the English teachers you had through elementary and secondary school for destroying your original voice.

I thought learning how to write came first and voice came after that, a Which comes first, voice or craft? I advance the concept that once you learn how to write, and I mean actually put in those 10, hours to become reasonably adept at the craft, voice comes naturally. And you know what? I think Edgerton believes that as well, because once I got past the idea this book was about magically finding your voice, I realized it was a book about how to write, and a solid one at that, and written in an easy, kind of folksy, non academic voice.

And it worked, at least on me. View my flickr photostream at https: Or, My YouTube channel if you prefer photo videos accompanied by classical music https: Feb 10, Harry Collier IV rated it did not like it. Les Edgerton has found his voice. Sure it is the condescending voice of an old man shouting at the neighborhood kids about the good old days all while trying in his mind to stay "hip. With that said, I do have hope of learning something in this book and so I am pressing onward.

I think I should just get through it as quickly as possible, concentrating on the exercises and not the meaningless babble that tries to sell more Les Edgerton Les Edgerton has found his voice. I think I should just get through it as quickly as possible, concentrating on the exercises and not the meaningless babble that tries to sell more Les Edgerton books and also trump the values of this one.

On page 15 he actually tells the reader that if they have trouble recognizing a good writing book this book is one. How many more lies must I endure on my quest to reach the end? I have finished this book and it never got any better. I am sure Edgerton wrote this with the intention to help people and I am sure it can. The problem I had with it was that after I left the 3rd grade I went on to learn a little more about writing.

Edgerton assumes that his reader has not. The exercises had no redeeming value for me but I am sure they would for someone who has no idea how language works. Things like look at something you wrote and get rid of all the adjectives and adverbs is a blanket rule with a lot of flaws. For instance, to get rid of the adverbs is admirable and what a profession writer would do, but he would also then change the verbs to stronger verbs to get his point across.

He ran quickly equals He sprinted but He ran quickly does not equal He ran. Instead of telling the reader to get rid of adverbs tell them and show them how to replace their verbs. Finally, the way to get better at writing is not through reading how to write books as Edgerton suggests. The only tried and true way to get better at writing and find you voice is to write and do it often!

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Jun 08, Rod Raglin rated it liked it. I thought learning how to write came first and voice came after that, and Which comes first, voice or craft? Nov 17, Liam Sweeny rated it it was amazing. This is the first non-fiction book I've reviewed, but I think it's a book worth reading by both writers and avid readers.

How to Put Personality in Your Writing is, as the name would suggest, a book on writing. I've read many books on creative writing, fiction specifically, but I noticed a few things about this book that really set it apart. What Les Edgerton, a fantastic writer and w This is the first non-fiction book I've reviewed, but I think it's a book worth reading by both writers and avid readers. What Les Edgerton, a fantastic writer and writing teacher, shows is the number of not-so-obvious influences that tell us not to have our own voice.

Everyone from your sixth grade English teacher to the iconic writers of the past and the plethora of creative writing books and he makes his no exception, btw And what's more, he shows you, throughout the book, why that natural style you have is better than any other style that's been drummed into you throughout your life. This book is good for writers, but I also have to say that if you're an avid reader, this book is a great read for you too.

Much in this book helps you to understand the literary contexts of past writers, which can explain the great differences in styles between books written in the past and books written now. But, in the end, the focus is on writing. Aug 03, Roland Martinez rated it it was amazing. I loved the exercises in this book. Some of my favorites are to talk a walk or a drive as a character you are writing about, write a poem about your story and writing a satirical letter to your probably imagined critics.

Les did a great job explaining why voice is as important to your writing if not more so than all the technical rules you have read about writing in the past. You can tell that he cares about writing and reading a book from someone who cares about writing is just plain motivatin I loved the exercises in this book. You can tell that he cares about writing and reading a book from someone who cares about writing is just plain motivating.

The main part of the book is a good group of lessons on exercises and experiments you can to to discover your writer's voice. Not to be discounted though are the two chapters that in most books would be appendices.

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One chapter is all kinds of people in the publishing industry from authors to agents to publishers discussing voice. I had the highlighter and the pencil out to write in the margins of that whole chapter. The last chapter is a long reading list Les has put together on books he's found to be exceptionally helpful about writing.

Those last two chapters are the why of voice and Les does a great job of telling the how. I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking to find the secret of how to make their writing distinct and interesting. Sep 07, Shawnaz rated it it was amazing. This book is a godsend for both the neophyte and seasoned writer. I've spent entirely too much money on writing craft books, all of which either rehash the same advice, or expound on techniques that could only work for a particular author.

DO NOT hesitate to grab this book! It's consummate reference material for the serious writer. Our time is s This book is a godsend for both the neophyte and seasoned writer. Our time is short, so I'll get straight to the goods. This is the best six bucks I've spent to date on a craft book, and I own them all. Feb 11, Deborah rated it it was ok. I saw this book while picking up another book in this section and decided to give it a read. After reading three chapters, I realized I wasn't going to learning anything new.

I've read the same information in other writing books. This book isn't so much about adding personality to your writing as about not writing exactly like your favorite author or how your English teacher taught you to. I wouldn't say the book is bad, just that I didn't see anything truly unique about it.

But a writer who's ju I saw this book while picking up another book in this section and decided to give it a read. But a writer who's just starting out and hasn't read many other writing books might find this book very helpful. Feb 05, Lee Kofman rated it it was ok. Ironically, I hated the author's voice in Finding Your Voice. Yet it seems that reading any book on writing, even a really annoying one, can teach you a lot. The Six-Figure Second Income. Map Your Way to Success.

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