When I was a teenager, I idolized Hunter S Thompson.

As I’ve written in the About page to this blog (no, I won’t link to it… go find it yourself!) he was my idea of Creative Temperament.

Anyway, I just read a little of his writing for the first time in ages.

And I was struck by how much he has a strong, unique writing voice. This is what I talk about in my business all the time – having a unique voice.

The thing is that I feel like I’ve lost my voice.

Sure, you might be reading this thinking “Alex has a pretty distinct writing voice. He doesn’t sound like everyone else.”

If you are thinking that, thank you very much. I appreciate it. (if you didn’t think that, well… you can’t please everyone).

But I’ve had my content marketing and business communication business for 7 years. I don’t have much time to write for fun. For most of the past 7 years, I’ve written businessy blogs for my clients. When I wasn’t doing that, I was writing businessy stuff for my own business.

And I think that I’ve lost my voice in the process. It’s become dulled and diluted by the repeated writing in an “acceptable” voice. I don’t sound like the bland, cookie-cutter voice of most businesses, sure. But my voice isn’t as dynamic or different as Hunter S Thompson’s.

I’m not saying I should copy Thompson’s voice. Obviously. That wouldn’t make it unique.

But I do think I need to get used to writing in a more “Alex” style.

Since late last year, I’ve been writing a lot.

In my diaries mostly.

I’ve been in a low point of my life in many ways.

And when I hit low points, I write to claw my way out of them.

So my writing voice is returning…

… but it’s interesting reading my old writing and that of my teen idol, and thinking…

… “Wow. My voice really has become quite “acceptable” these days.”

And the last thing we want is to have a voice that is passively acceptable.