Send us a text

Voices for your Characters

One important element of creating good dialogue is to make sure that each of your characters has his or her own voice.

Just for fun, in the Write for a Reason course, one of the assignments is to imagine telling a group of your family/friends some astonishing news (e.g. that you have bought a new car or are going on holiday to the Seychelles) and write a dialogue based on their different reactions.

It makes fascinating reading!

In just the same way as people respond differently to the same news, you need each of the characters in your novel to have their own voice. There's nothing worse than reading dialogue where all the characters sound the same, use the same tone, have the same reactions.

So, make sure you get to know your characters really well as individuals before you let them loose on your readers! Study how they think, how they feel, how they express themselves. Remember, too, that characters will respond differently depending on:

• Their relationship with other characters present. For example, a teenager might express himself different way to his mother and his friends. :-)
• Their dominant characteristics. Angry people will be angry, jealous people jealous, kind people will be kind...
• How open they feel they can be. A partner might wait until guests have gone to say what he/she really thinks!
• Their interests. If talking about a favourite hobby, even the quietest person can become animated.

Here's an exercise for you to try:

Get out your writing journal, and write a dialogue between a lad from a privileged background and a working class boy, about a mutual hobby. This will help you to remember when you are writing your novel, to give all your characters a distinctive voice!

P.S. Did you find this helpful? If you did, please pass on to a friend who would benefit, and encourage them to subscribe for themselves. Let’s share the blessing!

Support the show

Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while you write your novel?
Click on this link to find out more.

Oh, and do leave a review on your podcast app - it really does help a lot. Thank you! :-)