Understanding Voice

Writing voice (style) is the way a specific writer uses words to express ideas. When you listen to someone speak, you can tell who the person is, what the person is trying to do, and how the person feels about the topic. You learn the same things from writing voice:

• Personality: Voice tells who the writer is: friendly, obnoxious, shy, goofy, wild, and so on.

  Outgoing: Every Saturday morning, my friends and I can't wait to play baseball in the park.

  Shy: Some of my best friends live in books, and we travel to secret places no one else knows.