Creating Distinct Character Voices

theguildedtypewriter:

When people speak they are influenced by their race, social class, job, friends, religious beliefs, where they live and grew up,and other factors. Your character is no different. We all picture the character in our heads and know what they look like. But what do they sound like? Sometimes their voice is clear as a bell in our heads and other times it isn’t. 

When you can hear the character’s voice in your head, in addition to writing with a great pace, allowing the words to flow from you to the page, it can be intoxicating. This free association style writing, is amazing. You don’t have to even think about how the character would speak or sound, you just know. When you are a bit more stuck, It’s torture. Something sounds off about your character and you can’t put your finger on it. We all get better with practice so here are a few tips for developing your characters’ voices. 

Giving Your Character a “Voice”

1.) Word Selection:

• Think about the vocabulary your character would have. This can be influenced by location, age, culture, and education level.

• How much does race and/or culture affect your character’s narrative?

• What, if any, regional influences affect his/her/their speech? Think about how distinct accents and dialect are present within a single country like the US.

• Would your character use slang? Would the make funny pop culture references? Would your character prefer to quote books? When characters use different words, their dialogue sounds very different from each other, which means you can use fewer line tags.

• What specific country are they from? British characters may sound different from Irish characters who sound different from African characters and Asian characters. If you’re not familiar with how these nationalities sound, do your research before you commit to using that nation as a country of origin for your character.

• Does their gender affect their speech? We don’t have to fall into cliches here but remembering that some genders feel more comfortable with some words can be helpful. This can also be a good place to show that your character is not a stereotype by breaking “typical (fe)male” speech patterns.

2.) Personality:

• People accustomed to giving orders and being direct speak that way all the time. Those who are very academic tend to employ larger, more complex words and phrases. People who don’t like to speak, don’t much. See what I did there?

• Is your character more aggressive or passive? Quiet and shy or expressive and loud?

• How do they respond to stress and conflict? Are they coming into their own and trying to be more assertive? You can so this by how their voice and speech patterns mature.

3.) Quirks:

• What personal habits and quirks to your characters have? Can you use these to show how they are feeling at a given time? Such as picking at their jeans when bored or nervous or stuttering if they get worked up. *Note: research a stutter if you plan to use one. They have specific rules.

• Are your characters obsessed with something or involved in a particular hobby or profession? A fisher might speak frequently in fishing metaphor.

• What is his/her/their sense of humor? Imagine a character being very cynical in his/her/their head but sounding completely different when speaking.Does your character enjoy dry humor of potty humor?

4.) Internal/External Voice:

• How does your character speak at work versus at home or with friend? What does he/she/they sound like when tense or when relaxed? Is your character vulnerable or self chastising internally but externally a joker or full of fake confidence? These choices can show character depth and grow through time.

5.) Metaphors/Similes/Comparisons:

• I can’t help but think of Castiel from Supernatural for this one. “I don’t get that reference.” When a character makes comparisons or even jokes they are influenced by what they have been exposed to. I just made a reference to Supernatural because I have seen it and enjoy fantasy and sci-fi, a character who doesn’t watch those shows, or TV at all, wouldn’t make that same reference when explaining something or making a comparison. Every character has their own frame of reference, even if that is none at all like Cas.