Hey, you! Can you hear me?

The other day in my Interpersonal Communication class, we talked about “acoustic space,” which is the distance your voice carries in a given situation. It was a lively discussion, and I came to a realization.

My acoustic space is the length of the Atlantic Seaboard. My voice is loud and proud, and people tell me my laugh is distinctive (What are they talking about, anyway? LOLOLOL). All the time, friends say, “I knew you were in the store because I heard you!” What can I say? My voice is loud! No getting around it.

I have learned to live with my booming voice and laugh, but I hope my writing voice is just as unique. In my experience, I try to write like I sound. That may be oversimplification, but it works for me.

I approach my writing voice as if I were sitting down with you over a cup of coffee (or lemonade, since I gave up caffeine awhile back). Most of the time I write humor, and, as already mentioned, I love to laugh. So, as in conversation, I am going to break out every witticism, every cliché, every funny thing I can think of to make you laugh as I try to inspire you. I’m wacky that way.

That’s my style, and I’ll stick to it as long as the Lord allows. My type of writing would not work for everyone or in every situation. Imagine if I tried to write a suspense novel. It’s funny to think about, but I believe it would be DISASTROUS if I actually attempted such a work. Not my style, not my voice. I’ll leave the suspense to authors like Ted Dekker and Brandilyn Collins, who have honed and developed their unique voices in that genre (And who probably make a lot more money from writing than I do—on second thought, maybe I should try . . .).

All in all, writing voice is about letting your personality shine on the page or on the screen. It’s quite unusual that I am such an extrovert who is also called to write, but blame God for that—He often uses the foolish to confound the wise. In person, I’m ALL CAPS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!! I try to pull that back in my writing, but I still want to make you smile.

So grab a cup of coffee or lemonade or even water and get ready to smile for a while. Be warned: you may need earplugs if we’re together in person.

During weekdays, Carlton Hughes sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher (wah-wah wah-wah-wah) as a community college professor of communication and journalism. On Sundays and Wednesdays, you’ll find him playing games, performing songs with motions, and doing object lessons in his role as a children’s pastor. He and his wife Kathy also attempt to keep up with their two college-age boys, Noah and Ethan.

In his “spare” time, Carlton is a freelance writer who has been published in numerous books, including several recent releases from Worthy Publishing: The Wonders of Nature, So God Made a Dog, Just Breathe, Let the Earth Rejoice, and Everyday Grace for Men. He has been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul and other publications and is represented by Cyle Young of the Hartline Agency. He contributes regularly to two writing blogs, almostanauthor.com and inspiredprompt.com. He specializes in humorous observations of everyday life, connecting those experiences with spiritual application.

Carlton loves watching classic sitcoms like I Love Lucy, eating way too much chocolate, and rooting for his favorite college and high school basketball teams. He is on the planning committee for Kentucky Christian Writers Conference and a year-round volunteer for Operation Christmas Child.