If your writing no longer sounds like you, is it still your writing?

Over the summer, I submitted a novella to an editor, and when I received it back, I felt off. The editor didn’t add anything to the story or remove anything, yet some of the wording had been changed… and suddenly, it didn’t sound like my voice anymore.

Yes, there were sentences that needed restructuring. I can admit that. As a newer author, I know I have areas to grow in and my grammar often needs help. But the amount of edits went far beyond polishing. It felt like my voice had been overwritten... and that was something I couldn’t ignore.

What made it even harder is the thought of replicating those edits in my next book. I couldn’t… even if I tried. Those choices weren’t mine. And while I appreciated the intention behind the edits (every editor wants to help make a book the best it can be), I couldn’t accept changes that took my identity out of the work.

So, I went line by line, asking myself:

What serves the story?

What strengthens clarity?

What still sounds like me?

And what doesn’t?

I’ve always understood that my job as an author is to get my manuscript as far as I can on my own, then let an editor correct unseen grammar issues, clean up rough patches, and help polish the final piece. Up until recently, that’s exactly how the process went.

In hindsight, I believe AI was used to assist in this edit. Thus, this experience, with a new editor, made me think a lot about AI and the current debate surrounding it. Should authors use it? Should they avoid it entirely? Can you still call yourself an author if you rely on AI for your writing?

My experience helped me figure out where I stand: anything that takes away an author’s voice is a problem.

AI can be helpful in many ways, but if it replaces your voice… if you copy and paste what it produces without a second thought, then it becomes the same issue I faced with those edits. We each have distinct voices and unique rhythms in our writing.

An author’s voice is more than the words on the page. It’s how they’re arranged. It’s the cadence, the phrasing, the emotional undercurrent. Even if some sentences could be more grammatically perfect, sometimes those imperfections reflect the character, the moment, or the authenticity of the story… And that matters.

Some authors are known for the types of stories they tell. Others are known for the way they make readers feel. Either way, if the writing doesn’t reflect the author’s voice, is it truly fair to put their name on it?

When your voice is diluted, even a little, it’s not your voice. There is a clear difference between improving grammar or flagging confusing passages and reshaping a piece so much that it doesn’t feel natural to the one who wrote it. When that happens, you risk losing the very thing that makes your writing uniquely yours.

So, note to self... Ask if they use AI before I partner with them. Be who I am, without apology, understanding that as an author, I will always be improving my craft.

Note to authors… Your voice is the one thing no editor, tool, or machine can replicate. Protect it. Nurture it. And never be afraid to let it shine through your work. Your readers don’t want the polished “perfect” version of you… they want the real you.

“What’s one writing habit you swear by?”

Current Reads: I finished King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby last month and loved it! I also read Don’t Let Him In, by Lisa Jewell. A lot of moving pieces (characters) but I enjoyed it. Currently, I’m reading The Silence that Binds Us by Johanna Ho.

My Updates: The Prequel to the Chronicles of Iniquity Series is available on Amazon.com for pre-order.

Current Blurb: Detective Lance Mason knows how the system fails the vulnerable... because he used to be one of them. When eighteen-year-old Lexi Jameson goes missing after a campus coffee date, Lance discovers patterns that don’t add up: girls tied to foster care, abortion clinic rumors, a nightclub owner with too many secrets, and someone who leaves a grisly signature in the fields. As he follows the thread from coffee shops to abandoned barns, he unearths what he never expected... informants who lie, a retiring cop who looks the other way, and a community that would rather not know the truth.

 Time runs out when a surveillance clip surfaces showing Lexi with a young man who isn’t who he seems. As Lance pieces together the lives behind the missing… a social worker’s guilt, a foster mother’s devotion, an abuser’s charm… he must confront how far some will go to keep the past buried. The rescue will demand everything he’s kept bottled up and a reckoning that could cost him his job, or his life.

This is a prequel (“Book 0”) in the Chronicles of Iniquity Series.