StoryCraft Novel Challenge Day 20: What about character voices?
We’ve done a bit of exploration of your personal literary voice, but the next step is to figure out the voices of your characters. This quality will be partially your voice, and partially born from all the work we’ve done building out character backstories and personalities.
Every character in our novels should have their own distinct voice, especially if we’re using a dual perspective or showcasing the story from multiple POVs. Just like every human has their own mannerisms and outlooks, so must our protagonists.
As writers, we notice the world around us, and in order to create great characters, we have to study the people around us. How do they speak, act, and behave? What kinds of quirks do they have, and how do they manifest in their personalities? We need to know our characters so well that everything they do or say makes sense from a character perspective and is showcased through their voice.
For example, Elizabeth Bennet should sound very different from Katniss Everdeen, both from their personalities as well as the worlds they inhabit.
When you’re developing the voices of your characters, pay attention to their distinct personalities and allow that to shine through.
A great exercise we use in the StoryCraft Workbook is character monologues. This is a short, first-person exploration of each of your POV characters. They can recount a moment, a memory, or an opinion, but pay attention to how different they sound from each other. If their voices blend together or sound the same, they might not feel like authentic characters to your readers.
Finally, pay attention to how your favorite characters sound. What is unique about the way they speak, and how did those authors pull it off? When we take into account everything the character does, from how they dress to how they speak, we can convey so much more story, which makes for the most engrossing reading experience. Explore this question in your favorite films and televisions shows, as well as those in books.
What have you learned about your characters? Share your progress with hashtag #StoryCraftNovelChallenge
Next week, we’ll be getting into the nitty gritty: perspective, tense, and pacing, so buckle up! We’re well on our way toward the final stages of building our novels!
Happy Writing,
Jess and Theo