u/Powerful_Concept6502

I’m going to word this carefully because I don’t want this to sound like I’m fishing for reassurance or doing the whole “am I secretly good?” thing.

I’m not a beginner beginner, but I’m also nowhere near where I want to be. I write a lot. Not always consistently in the noble disciplined writer way, but enough that I’m past the point where “just write more” feels like useful advice by itself.

The problem I’m having is this:

I genuinely can’t tell the difference between my “voice” and my bad habits anymore.

Like, I know everyone says voice is the natural way you see the world, the rhythm of your sentences, the kind of things you notice, etc. Fine. I get that in theory.

But what if the thing that feels natural is also the thing making the writing worse?

I over-explain. I repeat emotional beats. I make characters think the same thought three different ways because apparently I do not trust the reader to understand anything unless I put a neon sign over it. I also have this habit of making every sentence slightly dramatic, like every paragraph is trying to prove it belongs in a novel.

And the annoying part is that when I’m writing it, it feels like style. It feels intentional. It feels like “this is how I write.”

Then I reread it two days later and I’m like, no, this is not voice. This is insecurity wearing a coat.

But then I cut too much and suddenly everything feels flat and dead and not mine anymore.

So I’m stuck in this weird loop where my raw writing feels bloated, but my edited writing feels emotionally sanded down. I don’t know where the actual good middle is.

Has anyone else had this problem? Where you genuinely cannot tell whether something is part of your style or just a flaw you’ve become attached to?

How do you separate “this is my voice” from “this is just a crutch I keep defending because it feels familiar”?

I’m especially interested in practical methods, not just “read more” or “get feedback,” because I am doing those things. I need ways to actually train my eye for this.

Would appreciate any thoughts, even if the answer is that I’m overthinking this in the most writerly way possible.

Hello! I thought I'd float this question out there as I'd like to make a YouTube lesson on the subject. There are some American English words that seem to annoy British People (often unfairly) - most common, in my opinion, is 'soccer'. I'm British, and when my son says 'elevator', 'apartment' or 'movie', it doesn't annoy me in the slightest - but 'soccer' - well, that's another story. This isn't intended to be a language bashing post, and I understand that that annoyance we feel may be completely unjustified, but some people may experience it. I'd also love to know British words that annoy Americans, and, if you fancy, we could venture into the territory of pronunciation as well. Again, this is not intended to start an argument - more an interesting discussion. Cheers.

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