Voice is a key characteristic of any good character. 

It’s crazy the amount you can learn from someone just by listening to the way they talk. A well educated Englishman is going to talk differently than a southern rancher. Some people talk a lot, while others talk a little; some talk in slang, while others talk in a very formal manner. 

If you remember in the previous post about backstory, we talked about how your character’s history informs the way they act- that can include speech, or lack thereof. 

What we will be discussing in this post, is the importance of not only giving your main character (MC) a unique and individual voice, but all of the characters in your novel. 

A common complaint from new writers is that all their characters sound the same. I’m going to tackle a few tips on how to make your characters sound different and unique and how you can portray your MC’s voice in first person narration. 

1. CHANGE YOUR WORDS TO FIT WITH THE CHARACTER’S SPEECH. 

Typically, a conversation with perfect grammar is not a realistic conversation. When you write a scene of dialogue between your characters and they all have their words perfectly pronounced and punctuated, you’ve likely created flat characters with little personality. 

Here’s some examples of how you can texturize your character’s voice with accents: 

Scottish—“I ain’t havin’ none of it! Ye’ll be sorry that ye crossed me path!” 

British— “G’day madam. You are looking quite charming this evening.” 

Southern cowboy — “I ain’t shootin’ that! Thing’s bigger than a bull at quitin’ time!” 

Just a teenage boy from across the street—“Bro, can you pass me the ketchup?” 

A diva girl —“That girl, is like SO annoying. Like seriously, she doesn’t even talk!” 

Now some of those are accents, but the same principle can be applied even to characters without accents. For example, a shy kid isn’t going to be open about his feelings. He’s probably going to answer questions with a simple word or two. You have permission to misspell and do grammatically incorrect dialogue. No human (at least that I’ve met) has ever talked to me with perfect grammar. Whether it’s mispronounced words, accents, or even incomplete sentences, write the dialogue how you hear your character. Your character shouldn’t always sound like you, but instead like “him or herself”.

Now sometimes, especially in speculative fiction (fantasy, paranormal, horror, sci-fi) there may be characters who intentionally have perfect grammar- that’s fine, because in a way, it serves as its own accent. The point is to have your character’s voice be intentional. 

2. FLESH OUT YOUR CHARACTER. 

Going back to my previous post on backstory, you need to truly know your character in order to truly write your character. Helpful exercises for this can include: Character interviews, writing scenes of your character, character questionnaires, writing out a summary of their backstory, etc. All in all, whatever gets you into the head of your character is what works. There is no “right way.”  

3. TALK TO YOURSELF. 

Ok, I know that sounds weird, but it can help. When you mimic the way you want your characters to sound out loud, it can help you think through how best to write them. Sometimes verbalizing your thoughts can help your brain process them. This is also true with writing a character’s voice. When you hear it, you can better think on how to write it. 

Tip: Don’t do this in a public setting, people might think you’re crazy…

Writing First Person Narrative

As first person point of view (POV) grows in popularity, the need to make your character’s voice stand out grows as well. This will not be as extreme as texturizing your dialogue, but it needs to be unique to your character. If your MC is sassy, include some sass in your prose. Is your MC a smart, British Professor? Then you need to fasten your prose to fit that character. You should never try to squeeze your MC into the prose, instead you should tailor it to fit them. A good way to learn how to do this is read books in first person POV and look for how the author brings out the MC’s personality through the prose. One of my favorite books,  Mercury on Guard, is in first person POV. Part of why I love it is because of how the author, Steve Rzasa, brings out Mercury’s character through the prose. We quickly see that he’s funny, snarky, prideful, and kind of reckless. We quickly love this character because of how his voice carries into the prose. Just like he’s snarky, the prose is as well. Steve Rzasa has created a character that I will remember for a long time. 

Readers remember characters with unique voices. 

Think about your favorite character of all time, whether from a novel, movie, comic, etc. What made them memorable? I’m willing to bet, it was their personality and how they expressed it. Through actions and through speech. A character does not have to have a radically different dialect to be memorable and unique. Your character just needs to be “him or herself”. They need to reflect who they are, not who you are. 

Who is a character that has won you over? Drop a comment below and tell us what about this character that resonated with you! AND don’t forget the character questionnaires that I have provided for you!