I should not write the way is speak. I was told early on by a few teachers that this was not proper. I used to think that this was something everyone learned. I was very shocked to find that this was not the case, there are people out there who speak as they write and vice versa, for better or worse. This still absolutely blows my mind.
After years of learning to write “better” and I use that word loosely, than I spoke I found that could still never separate the way I poke from my writing one hundred percent. I can easily be found in the way I structure my sentences, which can be a very weird structure sometimes. In the phrases I use and references I make. Little personalization I fit into my writing almost subconsciously now. After a few years of trial and error I’ve gotten much better at knowing when to, as Sister Heine put it “let it out or rein it in”.
Writing is like painting or singing. Once you learn the technicalities of the skill, and have gotten comfortable with enough practice. You can begin to weave pieces of yourself expertly into your art. For a painter this might be a signature, or a specific brush stroke technique. For a singer it could be well placed runs, or a specific tone of voice.
I’m still going through trials and errors now, on figuring out when I put too much of me in my writing and when I don’t put enough. Though I can now accurately recognize where my writing is technical and where it is personalized.
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