Grower Girl here, today Julie Wildhaber, who transwriters and editors at Yahoo, will explain

what it means when people tell writers to find their voice, and also how to understand

the difference between voice and tone in writing.

Voice is the distinct personality, style, or point of view of a piece of writing, or any

other creative work.

Because what Simon Cowell is talking about, when he tells American idol contestants

to make a song their own and not just do a note for note karaoke version, many musicians

have played the star-spangled banner for instance, but there's a world of difference between

the Boston Pops performance and Jimmy Hendrix's, even though the basic melody is the same.

In writing, the New York Times and the New York Post may cover the same story, but their

headlines are likely to be quite different.

For example, when Ike Turner died, the New York Times had a straightforward headline.

Ike Turner, musician and songwriter in duo with Tina Turner, dies at 76, whereas the New

York Post went for a bad pun.

Ike beats Tina to death, but I'm bomb.

Voice is important because your writing should have as much personality as you do.

You've read things that seem to have been written by committee, and it's not a fun experience.

A strong voice helps you make every word count, establishes consistency across your website

or body of work, and most important helps you grab your reader's attention and establish

a relationship with them.

You probably have a short list of writers, you'll read no matter what they're subject,

because you like their style.

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