finding my virtual voice

finding my virtual voice

• 11.05.2014

"Wanna have a chat?" Pretty much my party line for "stop running around, pay attention to me!" C is so wonderful and tolerant of me.

When I first started blogging in May of 2010, I thought I was just going to write a bunch of recipes and post about my life, pretty much like a journal with food. I wasn't much of a blog reader at the time and didn't really understand the world outside of my trusty Live Journal I had back in High School. 

what I would do to be curled up in front of that fire right now // via

Now, several years later, I think I'm just starting to find my "voice" on the internet. My goal is simple: I want my blog to sound like me. If you met me in person, I'd want you to say "Oh my gosh, she's exactly the same as she is on her blog!" Which is why I take great care to write in a more casual, conversational tone. I try to be funny and silly, like I (think) am in real life. 

Here's something to consider, though. Have you ever tried to "be yourself" or sound witty, or make a joke via email? It's REALLY hard and it usually results in a misinterpretation of what you're trying to say. I feel this tension often with writing this blog. I'm trying to be goofy and witty and engaging all at the same time while making you FEEL that through words, super tricky.

Additionally, it kind of drives me crazy when I read a blog that is written using words we'd never really use in conversation. It feels forced and too polished for my taste. While I'm pretty careful to avoid blatant typos or grammatical errors, I want my "virtual voice" to have a certain conversational flow when you read it. I want it to feel natural and easy, like if we were having a coffee chat. 

The other part of "finding my voice" that I continue to struggle with is how MUCH of my voice I should share out here on this public forum. I try to tow a fine line between being authentic, engaging, and real without divulging into super personal details that feel too invading. 

This is definitely always a learning process but something tells me that if you're still reading at this point, you're sticking around for a reason, and for that, I'm sincerely flattered. Thanks for stopping by!

I'm really excited to participating in my first NaBloPoMo month! From what I understand, this is a spin off of National Novel Writing Month for November - but the blog version! I'm make a commitment to post every day and I'm using the BlogHer prompts to help me out. Here's a list of bloggers who are also participating! I hope you enjoy this little writing challenge! 
Feel free to leave comments about what you'd like to see my write about this month.