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Character voice. It’s something writers often ask about, if the number of “how-to” and “so many ways to find/unlock/define your character’s voice” articles are any indication. But character voice can be difficult to nail down. That’s because it’s an iceberg, where the little bit that makes it onto the page is supported and informed by a massive amount of detail that is often never seen by the reader. Let’s take a closer look at the hidden aspects of character voice and how you can develop it in your stories. But first, a definition.
What is Character Voice?
One of the best definitions of voice that I’ve heard comes from author Sacha Black. She defined it as “that person’s personality, as it shows up on the page.” September C. Fawkes further defined it as “what a person thinks or talks about and how they say it.” To rephrase, voice (whether character, narrator, or author voice) is made up of what the readers see (the tip of the iceberg) and what they don’t. But what the readers don’t see—the character’s background and so on—informs what they do see. So in order to really nail a character’s voice, we have to look at the part of the iceberg that sits beneath the water.
Personality
This one plays a large role in how your characters speak, but it goes beyond the four letters from MBTI tests. That’s a great start, but it leaves the unique expression of that personality out. For example, someone with introvert tendencies won’t always be the silent one in the corner. Sometimes they will be the most talkative. But when they will be garrulous depends on their unique interests, who they’re with, and so on.
Personality can also encompass a character’s default attitude. Do they tend to be cynical? Condescending? Pessimistic or optimistic? More neutral? Do they have a sadistic streak? Are they narcissistic? Sweet-tempered? Trusting or mistrustful? Many of those things are informed by the character’s past experiences, and these things do affect what they think and talk about as well as how they do it.
Background
Where and when someone grew up will influence their speech patterns and word choices. But that’s not all you need to consider when thinking about the character’s background. What type of relationship did/do they have with their parents? Their siblings? Authority figures? Did they go to school? What type of education did they have, and what level did they achieve? How did their teachers treat them? Were they popular among their peers or just left out? What was their socioeconomic status growing up? What jobs have they had?
All these factors and more affect how an individual views themselves and their relationship with others. In turn, those things affect their attitudes, what they are likely to think about, and how they are likely to speak. Someone with a university degree is more likely to use formal and “correct” English than someone who only received a basic education. A person’s work experience influences what they are likely to notice as well as what they are likely to speak about or reference. Hobbies and interests also affect what someone is likely to think and talk about.
Age
Authors of young-adult fiction know how important this is when crafting authentic character voice. For characters to be appealing, the readers must connect with them. With the young-adult age group, part of this includes knowing what words and phrases the youth of today are using. More than that, it includes knowing or finding out what they are interested in and what current bands, songs, actors, and movies they are listening to, watching, and following (if writing a contemporary story). Being able to accurately use pop-culture references goes a long way to making the story true to life.
The same principles apply to adult fiction, though they are less vital to the overall success of the story. Rather, paying attention to these things adds color and flavor to the story. What is an elderly Englishman likely to reference? What phrases will a middle-aged mother of three living in Canada use? Even if you are writing speculative fiction, these things can play a role as older characters reminisce on the “good old days” and the younger generation follows the latest entertainer.
Locality
People tend to pick up speech habits from those around them. This is why it is possible to identify where someone comes from based on how they speak. I’m not just talking about a person’s accent. No, I’m talking about the way people put words into sentences and the words and phrases they tend to use.
If you are writing a story that covers large areas or even have characters that are from a different area to everyone else, then it is likely they will have different catch phrases (phrases unique to them) and use different words to everyone else. This can be a really fun element to play with, but it can also be hard to pull off if you are not familiar with where the character is meant to have come from. Fantasy and science fiction writers have this one easy: they simply make it up. For those writing in a contemporary, real-world setting, this gets much harder as you may have to research what words and phrases (if any) are unique to an area and how to use them authentically.
Religion
Believe it or not, what your character believes will affect how they speak. But again, this goes deeper than just their religion. The level of respect they have for their beliefs will also affect the way they speak.
Think about it. You can tell how committed someone is to their religious beliefs by listening to them talk. Someone who firmly believes their religion is truth will speak of it. Those who are afraid of their deity will have fear in their voice when speaking of it, while someone who loves their gods will speak of them in ways that shows this.
While we’re on the topic of religion, notice that where a religion is not respected, the deities’ names are frequently used as swear words and phrases. Where the religion is deeply entrenched in a culture and reverenced, however, the deities don’t feature in expletives. Rather, they will be used to call down curses on reprobates and enemies.
All this will filter into your character’s voice. Their beliefs and their relationship with said beliefs will influence the words and phrases they choose to use, particularly when they are emotional. Further, their perception of themselves within that religious system will color their voice, as someone who is on the wrong side of the gods might be concerned with impending judgment while someone who believes themselves in the right may be more carefree or more critical of others.
Bringing It All Together
We’ve looked at a few things that make up character voice. Now it’s time to see how to bring these together to develop a unique character voice.
First, get to know your characters, especially your point-of-view characters, very well. You will notice that a lot of the things mentioned here are what traditional character questionnaires cover. Those are useful, but they do have their limits. Your goal is to get inside each character’s head so that you will know what choices they are likely to make and how they are likely to speak in each situation. This is difficult to discover by simply answering generic questions about eye color and place of birth. Often, you need to see the character in action and hear them speaking before you discover their unique voice. Which leads to the second point …
Don’t start with character voice. It is not something you should focus on in your first draft: the story is. You need to get the story down and be happy with the plot before you work on refining each character’s voice. But you do want to spend some time thinking about each character’s voice before you send your work off to your copyeditor.
Third, take a holistic approach to voice. If you just focus on your character’s cynicism, you might miss that they have a good relationship with their mom and their cynicism hardly ever features when they talk to her. Further, if you only think about their underprivileged childhood, you might miss the fact that they have read all Shakespeare’s works and tend to use large words and convoluted sentences. Just as you cannot use a single fact about someone to tell you all about them, you cannot use a single aspect of your character and use that to craft a compelling voice.
Next, remember that less is more. It can be tempting to give each character a very distinctive way of speaking. But if every character has an entirely unique way of speaking, readers will get tired or frustrated. They might even put your story down for something that is more readable. If you’re going to have someone who speaks in such a distinctive way in your story, then rather keep everyone else talking normally. Also, it is better to use only one or two distinctive patterns, phrases, and tendencies for each character, and keep to that.
Make a note of your decision for each character’s voice. This can start as early as the first draft, and it will save you in revisions as you won’t have to remember how each character should sound. Also, your copyeditor might ask for this or want to discuss it, and being able to share your notes with them will help immensely.
Lastly, be flexible. Numerous factors affect how a person speaks in any given moment, including who they are speaking to, how they are feeling, and what is happening around them. The same should be true for your characters. They will have tendencies, words, and phrases that generally inform how they speak, but if they break the mold and there is a valid and believable reason why that character would do it in that moment, then let them. Your character will be more rounded and believable if you do.