Craft of Writing - How do you find your unique writing voice?

I have been as perplexed as many writers at the advice that when writing I should, 'Find my own voice.' I've already written on the subject.

The challenge is that despite the analysis of definitions, nothing really helps you find that voice.

The following occurred to me when considering two separate quandaries:

1. Should I write in first person or third person?

2. How do I make my voice unique?

The answer I came up with was simple and seemed too obvious. I have to be honest and say that it is not a final solution, but a path to a solution.

As I've said before, your own writing will imitate your favourite authors. It may not be conscious, but it will happen. This is particularly true if you write in the third person.
What occurred to me was at the very least a useful exercise to help me develop my unique voice - and at best a solution to my problem.

The common advice that point of view experts give is that you should write third person perspective unless there is a very good reason to write in the first person.

Well I have a really good reason - finding your voice. Take an idea you have, or a story you've already written in the third person. Now write it in the first person. If it's a rewrite, it will take some work - as the limitations of first person mean you will have to find alternative ways to reveal the plot - but it will be worth it.

The reasonable tendency in first person is for the author to become the protagonist. Something of their own personality inevitably comes through. More often than not the hero is someone they wish they were - someone funnier, wittier, braver - but essentially it is an extension of the writer. When we write third person, we tend to become more detached and are more inclined to copy characters from our favourite books.

The benefit of the first person (either as an exercise or a way to write your next story) is that it will help to bring out what is unique about the way you write the story. You will almost certainly show a more individual style than writing it in the third person.

This is not to say that you must write all stories in the first person - or even one. It is saying that this is a good way of practicing the craft until your unique voice is audible to you and you can write first or third person in your individual way.

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