Our Voice In Writing

For those with pets and small children/babies, you’ll know this is true. Babies, small children, and pets respond not so much to the words we say as to the tone of our voice. In a voice that’s soft and sweet, I can call my dog or baby an idiot, ugly, stupid, say how much I hate them or any number of hurtful things, and baby and dog will respond with smiles, coos, wagging tail, slobbering, etc. My tone of voice conveys something entirely different than the meaning of the words spoken.

On the other hand if I speak in a loud, angry, and grating voice, it doesn’t matter if I’m saying, “You’re so cute, I love you, you mean the world to me.” My tone says otherwise.

When we write, we have a certain tone or voice in what we want to convey with our plot or story. It’s like a scary movie when the music builds to an ominous crescendo, we know something is about to happen. Our story should be building to a crescendo, and perhaps several crescendos throughout the story. It’s what keeps a reader turning the pages.

There is another “voice” involved in Christian writing. If you are a Christian and writing fiction or non-fiction Christian material, or if you are a Christian just writing in the industry, we should be listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

In 1 King 19: 11-13, it talks of God being in the still small voice. When I think of a still, small voice, I imagine that I have to hush and be quiet so that I can hear. As writers, we can become so loud in our busyness, that we don’t even hear Him. Invite Him as a partner in your writing journey. He longs to anoint what you write.