The “proper” writing voice to use is the one you would use in an email to a friend.

The “wrong” voice to use is the one you write an academic paper with.

You enjoy the former.

And nobody wants to read the latter.

If on doubt, be yourself.

8. What is the proper writing “voice”?

-John Erickson, Story Craft (Amazon)

I think we should quit trying to sound profound and authorial when we write too.

Gosh, this points gets me.

(Maybe it’s the need for self-importance?)

I often want to make some kind of keen and erudite point.

But people don’t want to be talked to like that. Do they?

I know I don’t.

And the second I head off in that direction, I feel like I lose my conversational tone.

Understand: People want to feel like they are at home.

It often happens that when we try to write something “important,” such as a novel, story, or poem, we become self-conscious. We try to be profound and authorial. We concentrate on the elegance of individual sentences and forget that all writing is a communication between one person to another—a process we follow in a letter without even thinking about it.

-John Erickson, Story Craft (Amazon)