And one of the things I've learned is that freelance writing sometimes means setting aside my own writing style to fit the clients' needs. It's not that I abandon my style, but when you're writing for someone else (especially ghost writing), you have to let the other person's style be the one that shows in the article.
This has been an adjustment for me, and one that I'm still working on as I write for clients, especially if I go from writing fiction to working on freelance projects. Who I am tends to peek through, so then I have to go back and edit me out.
Writing for yourself is a different experience than writing for others. In writing for yourself (and by this, I mean writing your own pieces such as fiction), you're expected to have your own "voice," a distinct writing style.
When you write for yourself, you're putting yourself on the page more than you do in freelance writing. I think that's why I spend so much more time agonizing over word choice when I write fiction. In writing fiction, every word choice is a reflection of me, and my writing style. So it's far more important for me to make sure I give the right reflection of myself in my writing.
I think that's why I haven't been working on fiction lately. I've been so concentrated on writing for others that I'm lost in them instead of sharing myself through my own writing.
So I think I'm going to pick up the coffee house book again and let myself shine through on the page.
How do you let someone else's style be the one that shows through? Do you imagine that person talking about the subject at hand? Seems to me that would take getting to know the person fairly well.
ReplyDeleteClearly, I've never written that way. I've done technical writing, but there the idea is to not have a style. Just go by the style book, if there is one, and remember not to use the first or second person. That usually covers it, assuming there's no overall document spec.
Well, some clients want their articles more casual, others want them more formal. That's what I mean.
ReplyDelete