No matter what form of creative writing you do, you’ll hear teachers and artists talk about the importance of finding one’s “voice.” What does that mean?     Think of it as discovering what makes you uniquely you. What do you have to say that’s different than what everyone else is saying, or how is your presentation different than the presentation of others? 

     Most writers start out mimicking those they admire, just as painters have traditionally developed their craft by copying the masters. This is a time-proven technique. But there comes a time when a good writer begins to fuse his influences together — not only the styles of different writers he admires, but all the influences of his life — to create something unique, something with his “stamp” on it, so that he is bringing a different dish to the table. 

     This isn’t to say that you ever reach a point where your writing stops evolving and growing. You continue to take in influences and you continue to go through life experiences that cause further development. I use Dylan a lot for an example because he has been writing for so long that you can clearly see his development, and the many phases he’s gone through, both in terms of melody and lyrics. Some of his lyrics are obvious, some are obtuse. Some of his songs are very country-ish; some are straight up, hard-core blues. Some of his songs are what we think of when we use terms like “Dylanesque,” but some are not.

     Yet there are unique threads that run through all his work, coming together as part of what we would call his “voice.” You can find, for instance, a blues lyric structure in many of his songs that sound nothing like blues music. And the Biblical allusions are heavy, whether or not we’re listening to one of his gospel songs.

     There are many elements that make up my “voice” when it comes to worship songs. For instance, I often write in hymn meter. I have a background in poetry and a love for metered poems like, for example, the Elizabethan sonnet form made famous by Shakespeare. Having learned to write metered poetry long ago, it wasn’t hard at all to begin dabbling in the various hymn meters. I don’t always write with an established meter, but I do so more and more. I don’t write in meter out of a desire to be different — it just works out that way, again, because of my background in metered poetry. I’m merely playing to my strengths.

     You have strengths, too — in terms of writing style, musical influences, and the things that affect what you have to say: your experiences, sins and mistakes, situations God has brought you through … As the saying goes, “Dance with who brung ya.”  Use the experiences, education, skills and passions within you to “find your voice” as a writer.  In this way, you’ll be able to bless and challenge people and to bring to God the best offering of musical creativity that you can muster up.

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