Exploring the question of whether or not each writer has one "authentic voice", this document compared the private voice (as found in a personal journal) and the published voice, as well as these voices with those of other authors. Through the process of searching for the authentic voice, the document arrives at 12 conclusions, including the following: (1) the nature of an authentic voice, if it exists, is protean and shifty; (2) most published voices are carefully constructed to present the self in particular ways; (3) authentic voices can best be found by looking at whole pieces of discourse, and by looking at samples written to different audiences for different purposes; (4) writing voices are unlikely to be characterized by the smaller technical units of composition; (5) when people hear a voice in writing, they most likely hear a "tone" characteristic of the writer's public personality; (6) the specific topic of a person's writing is a strong determiner of voice; and (7) a writer's attitude or viewpoint toward material is a stronger determiner of voice than any specific linguistic trait. The author concluded that he has one public voice (as do most writers), and this "authentic voice" is the voice that the public finds in his writing. Also, the private voice resembles other private voices more than it does an author's public voice. (ARH)