Hi, welcome back to Writing for Ministry. I'm Adam Navis. Today we're going to  talk about finding your voice. Now this idea isn't necessarily part of the writing  process, but it is an important topic as you develop as a writer. So in any  conversation about good writing, there's going to be arguments about technical  details, precision in grammar, or a writer's ability to construct a convincing  argument. But the reality is there's so much diversity of writing in the world that  there are exceptions to every rule. 

As much as we might want there to be a gold standard by which to judge your  work, there simply isn't. The more I read and the more I write, the more I am  convinced that the only rule of good writing is kind of what you can get away  with. Good writing is subjective. 

Of course, you can't dismiss the rules. You've got to know them if you're going to break them. But if you can find an audience who likes what you write, then good  for you. Enjoy it.  

Of course, you're going to have people who don't like what you write or how you  write it. That's just part of what it means to be a good writer. But you should feel  free to experiment with bending and even breaking the rules. Even some of the  rules that I've laid out for you earlier in this course. To me, this is what it means  

to find your voice as a writer. Your voice is when you, truly you, and uniquely you starts to come through in your writing. And there's two points you know when  this is going to happen.  

First, when you have a mastery of the craft of writing. This means that you have  enough tools in your writer's toolbox, not to be distracted or self-conscious when you need to use them. You have enough experience to start to just play around.  That you're not overly concerned with the how to use the tool, and you're just  

getting the job done. 

Second, you have done the necessary work on yourself to understand who you  are and why you are that way. You have thought about it. You are mature  enough. You're an adult. You know your limits and your gifts, your hurts and your triggers. You are secure in yourself. You're so secure that you can start to inject  your unique perspective on the world. Not as a weapon, but because you  understand that you have a responsibility. Because there are going to be people  out there who are going to be helped by what you have to say. 

Your assignment. Reread what you've written for this course. Ask yourself, does  this really sound like me? Do I really talk like this? Is this really me? If it doesn't,  ask yourself this, who do I sound like? My mom or my dad? A pastor? My third 

grade teacher who was always critical? Someone you've read in a book? We're  all trying on different voices as we're learning. 

I'm not putting that down. It's actually a wonderful way to learn. But eventually,  you need to step out of the shadow of others and be your own person. Just like  we need to leave our parents in order to be an adult, in writing, we need to let go of the voices that have shaped us in order to learn to write on our own.  

Next time, it's our last and perhaps most important lesson. We're going to talk  about what it means to write both pastorally and prophetically. Let's write. 



最后修改: 2026年10月19日 星期一 08:33