How To Find Your Authentic Blog Voice
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Hello there cottage lovelies!
I hope you are enjoying your weekend. At the cottage we are loving the tropical weather and Miss LCBL has finally gotten her way after days of begging and is off to the pool with her Dad. So I am here in the peace and quiet while Master LCBL has a nap, to write my little heart out – pure bliss 
Today I would like to talk about blogging again, and share my tips on how you can find your authentic blog voice.
I am still working on this, and I think I always will to be honest because I’m always growing and changing. I feel being authentic is one of the most important aspects of blogging and am always checking myself to make sure I’m staying true, and reminding myself to “get out of the way” so my authentic voice can come through loud and clear. Or in other words stop over thinking and write from the heart.
At the beginning I wasn’t quite sure what my authentic voice was, but as I got into the swing of it my voice began to emerge on it’s own.
I’m not sure if it is the same for everyone, I don’t imagine it would be. It would be really great to hear your take on this subject. How did you find your authentic blog voice?
Over time I realised how important it is when blogging to find and use an authentic voice that is uniquely my own. Authenticity to me means being myself and ALWAYS telling the truth, even when my views are wishy washy or even unpopular.
I don’t think people mind when you are unsure about something, as long as you are honest about it. Although in saying that blogging has certainly made me look at how I truly feel about the subjects I write about before I hit the publish button. It has somewhat forced me to take a stand, because for me it is so important to say what I mean and mean what I say to my readers. If I don’t believe what I am saying how will anyone else?
I’ve come to know my expectations from the blogs I read, so I decided to hold myself to the same standards and on the top of my list of bloggy love requirements is honesty, so I am honest with my readers too. This method is just what works for me.
My top 3 tips on how to find your authentic bog voice TODAY are…
1. Write from the heart
2. Don’t be afraid to tell the truth even if its unpopular
and
3. Work out your standards and stick to them
There you have it my friends. I hope you find this little post helpful, and please don’t hesitate to reply if you have something to add or even if you disagree. I ALWAYS love hearing from you!
Now I’m off to make a cold drink with loads of ice and sit in the sun for a while. This pasty, white chick could use some good ol’ vitamin D in her bones.
I hope you are having a fun weekend
I am linked up with the lovely and ever generous Nikki from Styling You for her amazingly informative Saturday Blogging Linky. If you love blogging and want to find out more on the subject, please head over and check it out.
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
When I first started blogging, when no-one was reading, when it was just me and the keyboard – that was authentic. It was raw, it was intensely personal and it was sometimes beautiful. For my first hundred or so followers, it was raw and authentic and beautiful. But after that it is hundreds of followers, stress about advertising (do I, don’t I? How often do they want me to blog? How many hits a week do I need to get for them to stay?) and numbers and I felt it change.
I took a break. I stepped away, removed advertising and stopped blogging for a while. I’ve only just come back. I will find my voice again, I hope.
It can really help to step away sometimes. I hope you get back into the swing of it easily and soon Melissa
I think I’ve found my authentic blogging voice and it is a smart ass.
I’ve seen lots of posts on this topic, and love that you’ve got three basic rules. Instead of 20. 30. 50! I agree wholeheartedly.
Thanks Emily! Thanks for stopping by
This is such an interesting subject. It took me forever to create my blog and even more time to hit publish because I had negative thoughts such as no one will read, what am I going to talk about… But then I took the plunge because I thought my voice will come up if I start writing and my blog will take shape with time. But I’m always true to myself when I post on a subject. I think the most important thing is to be honest with your readers.
Yes, its harder than first thought to take the plunge but it was so rewarding when I did it and I wholeheartedly agree that being honest with your readers is very important.
I think for me, finding my authentic voice can be a work in progress. Because as a blogger, we all evolve (our opinions, our ideas etc) and so finding that right tone that will work for us can also be a matter of time and development.
If I’m sitting at the keyboard, writing a post where I either a) laugh my head off or b) cry buckets of tears, I know I’m writing from the heart.
I love that Grace! A good yard stick to use x
As a new blogger I am worried that I’m not being authentic. Thanks for the tips.
You are very welcome Caroline and thanks for taking the time to comment
I have really struggled with this, I sometimes over think it all and just get very overwhelming.
Why would people care and want to read anything I write? I started blogging in April, it’s been a slow process gaining followers and likers, I often get grumpy and feel like not doing it anymore. Then I will get an email from my 93 yr old Grandma saying how much she loves reading it. Or my blind uncle who uses Jaws to read my blog to him nagging my mum about me not having a new post up yet. Or my parents-in-law who live in America who use it to keep in touch with all of our goings on.
I so get that iSophie. I guess the one piece of advice I can give you from my experience so far is write for yourself first. If you like it, then thats the most important person taken care of
Yes, it’s something I’m still working on. And you might find your authentic voice, but then it’s also fun to play with styles, or tweak it here or there. I suspect even professional fiction writers spend years settling into their groove.
Thats the fun part isn’t it?
I teach English (and creative writing) and I am telling people this all the time! “Be yourself because everyone else is taken.” (Perhaps falsely attributed to Oscar Wilde). People sense inauthenticity in a second, even it it’s at a subconscious level – no one wants to read a blog where the person doesn’t really believe what they’re saying, or another blog says it more genuinely. And yay! for being brave in offering potentially unpopular opinions. It’s your blog for a reason. PS I hate wearing high-heels too
I love that quote from Oscar Wilde! (and high heels are overrated lol)
I must admit I found it hard to find my authentic voice, but after a while I realised it’s because I change so much from day to day. I am what you would call a typical Gemini (even though I think horoscopes are a load of crap, some of the personality traits are spot-on for me! Ironic? Contradictory? Yes. Hence the name of my blog!) in that I definitely have two distinct sides to my personality and people never know what they are going to get from day to day. Heck, I don’t even know what I’m going to get from day to day! So I wonder if sometimes my blog seems like it is written by two different people, one who is a little more serious and the other who tries hard to be funny and swears a lot. But I hope the title of my blog reflects that this can be the case as I am a true study in contradictions!
Makes for a very interesting voice
That was a very interesting post. Even though I’ve been blogging for a while it is not something I have given a lot of thought to. I think sometimes its a matter of just writing and not self censoring or editing it just to see what comes out. I write the most ridiculous things and then get a little nervous posting them because I think someone will think they are stupid (especially as a mature person). sometimes I amuse myself and think its funny but its a gamble. But then people comment telling me how funny it is so I breathe a sigh of relief. Sometimes you just have to press the submit button, close your eyes and hope for the best.
I just love blogging. It is really the best. Over the past few years time has meant I could only manage a few posts a month. However, now I have more time and revelling in it all again. Thanks for your post, it is really thought provoking. All the best with your blog and its evolution. I found your post’s link through Nikki’s site.
Hi Lilly. Sometimes the best posts come out of bravery to share our own craziness. I love that you close your eyes and hope for the best too. I want to do a bit more of that here x
Claudia, another wonderful post. Straight from the heart, I loved it. I really appreciated, being a relatively new blogger, to hear that the things I have found myself challenged with (speaking my truth, even if others don’t agree, blogging out of competition vs my truth etc) is a common dilemma to come across. And that ultimately if you are having these moments, then the real question needs to be asked “why are you doing this?”. And when I have done that, I know the answer has been because I really really enjoy it. And if that also means that 1 or 100 others enjoy it too, then it’s worthwhile. Thankyou lovely lady! Kel xx
Hi Kel its so great to hear from you! The question of why I am doing this always gets me back on track. Thanks for stopping by
Thanks so much for linking up! You’ve nailed it … our blogging voice does evolve and we should let that happen as that’s our authentic voice finding it’s own way.
Thank you, for the opportunity to link up Nikki! And your opinion means a lot to a newbie like me, blogging is a journey and our voice reflects that