Finding Your Voice & Knowing Your Audience | Steemit Mentor Lesson #2

When I started on Steemit in 2017, I didn’t have a clue what I should write about. Let alone how I should say it.

Fast forward to January 2018 when I decided I needed to start recording our life with the twins. There are so many things I’d like to know about what it was like to raise me, what my mom’s thoughts were, and what my parents’ lives were like at the time. I have facts, but time has long since passed and many details are forgotten.

I know I’m prone to forget things ... everything looks better and easier in retrospect. And even though Matt has a much better memory, who knows where we’ll be when the girls want to know all these things?

What better place to write down our memories than in the blockchain?

So, I started writing. My first post took hours. Not only did I want to make sure I wrote everything down accurately (while still withholding some information), I was also having trouble finding my voice.

I didn’t want to sound like a know-it-all ... or a sleepless, woe-is-me mother, ... or a dry, facts-only reporter. I tried to think about my audience on Steemit, but honestly, I wasn’t sure anyone would want to read our story.

Telling myself to just start typing, my thoughts drifted to my daughters reading these posts someday in the future. Perhaps when they are mothers themselves. Instinctively, I started writing for them.

Know your audience

So that’s the story behind how I found my voice on Steemit. I realized who I was writing for.

Before you find your voice, you need to identify your audience.

1. Some choose to write for Steemians in general. They write in a voice and on topics that relate well to individuals who like crypto, decentralization, and alternatives to social media.

2. Others write for a specific group or ideology on Steemit. As communities develop, there will probably be a lot more of this, but we can already see it happening now.

3. Another group writes for themselves. They write on a variety of topics they're interested in, allowing others to follow along as they like.

Your audience is your motivation

All of these are definitely options. The reason why I like writing for my daughters in the future is because it provides me motivation. Even when Steem is low or I just don’t feel like writing, or I haven’t gotten many upvotes, I keep on blogging for my girls.

Whoever you decide to write for, keep in mind they will influence how and what you write to a certain extent.

Conveying your voice

Maybe you know exactly how you want to come across ... but it doesn’t seem like you’re able to convey your voice.

This is tricky, especially on a cross-cultural platform like Steemit.

In some cultures, it’s really rude to be direct. In others, you should always show respect to strangers (sir, ma’am). For some, it’s fine to talk about finances, while in others your salary is a well-kept secret.

I’ve lived in three countries (maybe more, depending on how long you have to stay somewhere to have “lived” there). All three have vastly different cultures (and that doesn't include moving from the West coast to the Midwest of the United States). ;) Along the way, I've learned a lot about the way we communicate with each other and what we take for granted when speaking to someone from our own background.

Again, know your audience.

The last thing to consider is the style of language you use. Some writers are very academic in the way they communicate. Others are poetic.

I think most readers today appreciate a conversational-style of writing.

Voice check

If you think you've found your voice, here's a way to check if you're conveying it correctly.

Read some of your writings out loud in a monotone voice. Do your words sound angry? Arrogant? Nonsensical? Dry? If you get that feeling while reading monotone, then your readers are definitely going to pick that up.

Next, try reading it in the opposite tone of voice you’re shooting for. (If you mean to be funny, read it with a serious voice. If you want to sound happy, read it with an angry voice.) As you read aloud, is it obvious that something’s wrong? Or could it be taken in the wrong tone of voice and mean something other than what you intended?

I know these ideas might be a bit funny to do out loud depending on your surroundings ... in your head works pretty well too :)

Having trouble fine tuning?

For some, all of this may be new information. For others, you may still be feeling stuck. Maybe you've tried to write a variety of posts, but not found a style that you like. Or perhaps it didn't seem to resonate well with others.

Don't give up!

Here are a few final suggestions (again, you may think they're a bit quirky, but hey, maybe they'll work if all else has failed!) :)

• Read other blogs. Which ones do you identify with most? What do you like about their style? Who do you think they were writing for?
• Take a personality test. My personal favorite is 16personalities.com. Their description of your personality type might give you some inspiration. Perhaps you've been trying to write in someone else's voice, not your own.
• Write for your future self (or child or grandchild or ...) There's no way you can make everyone happy who reads your blog. But if you want to be a dedicated blogger, you need to stay motivated. Writing for your future self can give you that motivation ... and perhaps help you come up with some interesting topics.

I hope you found this helpful! As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, or improvements, please share them in the comments. I look forward to hearing from you!

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Note on last week's lesson: I mentioned that I use busy.org and of course it starts acting quirky! I don't know if anyone else is having issues, but it saves multiple drafts of the same post :S And sometimes there's a delay so it deletes part of what I just wrote! That's a recent issue, so I wonder if they've been updating things or if there's a glitch. @busy ... help?

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