Voice & Style: Finding What Is Yours
Develop a clearer sense of what your voice actually is — and how to make it more consistent, more controlled, and more unmistakably yours.
Next cohort: February 2, 2027
Overview
What this program is
Voice is the element of writing that is hardest to teach and hardest to learn — which is why most writing programs barely try. They tell you to 'find your voice' without explaining what that means or how to do it.
This program takes a different approach. Over four weeks, you will study voice analytically — reading writers with unmistakable styles and learning to identify exactly what they are doing and how. You will then apply those analytical tools to your own writing, developing a clearer picture of what your voice actually is and what you need to do to make it more consistent.
The program is suitable for writers at all levels and in all genres. Whether you are a novelist, a memoirist, an essayist, or a copywriter, voice is the element that makes your work recognisable — and this program will help you understand and develop it.
Outcomes
What you will leave with
- —A close reading methodology for analysing voice in published work
- —A clear articulation of what your own voice is — its qualities, tendencies, and signature moves
- —Writing exercises that target your specific voice tendencies and help you develop them
- —Feedback on voice consistency across a body of your own work
- —A personal voice statement and style notes you can use as a reference
- —A reading list of writers whose voice work is most relevant to your own development
Who this is for
Who this is for
- —Writers who feel their voice is inconsistent or underdeveloped
- —Writers who admire other writers' voices and want to understand how they work
- —Writers who have been told their voice is strong but do not know how to control it
- —Any writer who wants to understand the element that makes writing recognisable
Schedule
Week by week
What voice actually is
Before you can develop your voice, you need to understand what it is — and what it is not. This week we will examine voice analytically: the relationship between narrator and material, the role of syntax and rhythm, the difference between style and voice, and why some writers are immediately recognisable and others are not.
Reading your own voice
Most writers have a voice they do not fully understand. This week you will apply the analytical tools from Week 1 to your own writing — reading it as you would read a stranger's work, identifying your patterns, tendencies, and signature moves. You will also identify the gaps between the voice you have and the voice you want.
Developing what is yours
Understanding your voice is not the same as being able to control it. This week is about development: exercises designed to push your specific tendencies further, to test the edges of your voice, and to make conscious choices about what you want to keep, amplify, or change.
Consistency and control
The final week is about making your voice reliable. You will learn how to maintain voice consistency across a longer piece, how to recover when you lose it, and how to make conscious choices about when to modulate it. You will also write your personal voice statement — a document that captures what your voice is and how to sustain it.
Instructor
Eleanor Marsh
Founder, The Prose Haus
Eleanor has been obsessed with voice since she first read Penelope Fitzgerald. She created this program because she believes that voice is not a mystery — it is a craft element that can be studied, understood, and developed, like any other.
FAQ
Common questions
Ready to do the work?
The next cohort opens February 2, 2027. Join the waitlist to be first to know.