This is embarrassing to admit.

For my first 4 months on writing online, I was copying the writers I admired.

Their format. Their opening hooks. Even their way of structuring a story.

I told myself it was "studying."

It wasn't. It was fear.

Fear that my actual voice was too boring. Too ordinary. Too me.

The day I stopped is the day my growth started.

Turns out "too me" was exactly what people wanted.

Most people are still figuring out how to be braver about that.

Don't. Just do it. Write as you speak.

That's your voice. It's there. You don't need to find it.

Just use it.