Helping Students Find Their Writing Voices
One of the most frustrating things for writing teachers is reading papers that simply lack style. When all of the research has been completed and all of the sentences are structured well, but the paper still lacks some pizzazz（活力），it can be boring to grade. If you are searching for ways to help your students find their voices, why not try making students themselves the topic of the writing?    
Who are you?
One of the most difficult questions for students to answer is: “Who are you?” _  __ In doing this, through writing, students will start to see their personalities differently and, hopefully, be able to add a feature to their writing.
Dear John
     Encourage them to write to a famous person they’ve always admired, and then the one they absolutely hate. Explore how their language changes between the two letters. When students know their audiences, it is much easier for them to add the kind of personality their audience wants to see．
     When students write about what matters most to them, they will often give you the best writing you’ve ever seen. You’ll get those when you ask questions that hit home. When students have something to say about a given topic, it can be easier for them to get their ideas down and then work on their writing style.
Get the words on paper, and then edit them
The most valuable lesson students can learn is to write first, and edit later. Have students write for five minutes about their topics. If they can get their ideas down on paper, that’s 90% of the battle.    This can help them realize that, once they have the ideas down, the rest is just fine tuning（微调）. Once they have this skill mastered, it’s easy for them to start adding their own personal voices to their papers.

A．What matters to you?

B．What style is taught in class?

C．When they write about themselves, students’ voices often shine through.

D．Writing letters is a great way for students to explore their writing style.

E. Have your students explore who they are and what makes them unique.
F. Voice is that magical quality which is able to make a creative writing idea sing!
G. After that, have them edit these ideas into a really strong introductory paragraph.