How To Give Your Characters Unique And Compelling Voices
Have you ever felt a little underwhelmed with the characters you write?
For a long time when I started writing, almost every character I wrote had the same personality types, made all the same jokes, and liked all the same things. A lot of my own traits made their way into the characters too. To a certain extent, this is okay: we’re often told to write about what we know, and our own lives are what we tend to know best. However, without variety, our stories risk becoming less interesting; after all, no two people are the same in real life.
A strong and individual character voice is one of the most important parts of making a character stand out in a story. They should think in their own ways, for their own reasons, to meet their own goals.
It can also make readers feel more strongly about them: they may relate to their troubles or feel inspired by their determination; or on the other hand, they may await the downfall of a despicable villain they love to hate.
Characters with the most powerful voices may even make a reader feel like they truly know them, giving them an attachment to your story which will keep them reading.
How to Start Building your Fictional Character
It can be helpful to start with a single word, like ‘sassy’, or ‘shy’. This can form a great foundation for your character to grow from. From there it can help to ask a few simple questions, so you have a stronger idea going forward of who this person is:
How do they speak? Are their sentences short, or long-winded? Do they mutter and stammer, or are they loud and self-assured?
What kind of language do they use? Do they prefer to say hello, hi, or hey?
What do they do while idle? Do they stand around with their hands in their pockets, or pace restlessly? Maybe they’re a nailbiter, have a habit of fiddling with things or do they mutter to themselves?
Questions like this can seem trivial at first, but they add up to form all of a person’s quirks and will make them feel more real. They may even give you ideas for your story and plot.
How to Cultivate a Fictional Character
Once you have a starting point for a character, you can start fleshing them out. There are lots of ways to do this, and the method you prefer will depend on what kind of writer you are.
Backstory – If you’re an “architect” writer who likes to plan everything in advance and outline every detail, it can be a great idea to write the character’s full backstory up to the point where your story will begin. This is a good opportunity to think about what their family and childhood friends were like, what kind of upbringing they had, and what key events impacted them in the long term. Considering these things may impact the actions they take in the story and the way they react to other characters’ actions, so bear them in mind. We’ve all got a backstory; characters are no different. Even if some of it doesn’t make the page, it helps you craft characters with depth.
Scenarios – Alternatively, if you see yourself as a “gardener” writer and prefer to plant the seed of an idea to watch it grow, you may want to use your character as a writing prompt. You may have an opening scene in mind, or an idea for an ending. Put your character in this scene and see what happens. For some of us, letting our characters naturally do their own thing will let us develop them much easier.
Most people find themselves somewhere in the middle of those two, but whichever you prefer, consider trying both approaches. A combination of the two may even surprise you as you write. You know your character is really coming into their own when you don’t know what to expect from them!
Deciding on Your Character’s Voice
One of the hardest things to get used to while developing characters is getting them to think differently from ourselves. It’s easy to get wrong: after all, everything we write is ultimately written from our own perspectives. But by making characters do things we don’t agree with ourselves; we allow them to stand up independently from us and speak with a voice that isn’t our own.
Whenever they would do something, think about what you would like to do in that situation: would the character do the same thing, or the complete opposite?
How could you make their individual personality shine through more with their actions? Don’t be afraid to exaggerate a little; if it’s too much, you can rewrite it later to sound better.
If your character is inspired by someone you know, what do you think that person would do in a given situation?
Sometimes it can even be interesting to try imagining yourself having a conversation with your characters in your head. How much do you agree on? Would one of you give the other an angry lecture? Come back to this regularly as you write your story, as the outcome may change as time goes on.
One of the most effective ways you can make a character’s voice really shine is by pairing them up with someone they won’t always agree with: a foil. These disagreements really draw out a character’s emotions and do so in a dynamic way that doesn’t just involve them monologuing to the reader – the classic rule of “show, don’t tell.” In addition, situations where those two characters do end up agreeing on something will have more meaning by the contrast.
Have you ever wondered how to make your characters come to life and jump up from the page? What about creating memorable characters, people your reader wants to spend time with? We know how important characters are, but how are they created? This PDF workbook will show you how.
Create Unique and Compelling Characters
A character’s voice can be one of the hardest things to get right. Even when you’ve got a character you’re satisfied with, it’s still important to keep putting yourself in their shoes to keep them on track, both as a person and as a part of the story you tell with them. Doing so will help you create interesting and memorable characters that truly feel alive, and will encourage your readers to come back and read your story all over again.
What’s your preferred way to give your characters unique voices? Do you like to plan them out thoroughly, or let them do their own thing? We’d love to hear from you, so please get in touch and tell us what you think!
This post has been written by Jackson Leech. Jackson Leech is currently a student at the University of Derby, studying Creative & Professional Writing. He has been writing fiction since the age of 8 and has been obsessed with telling stories ever since, with a particular focus on fantasy and character-driven narratives.
