Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - V is for Voices #MFRWauthors #voices #writing

V is for voices. When you're writing this means the characters' voices. I've read some books where the dialogue of the characters could be said by any of the story people. When you're writing dialogue try to hear the character speaking in your head. Suddenly the characters take on specific tones and the character sounds just like you imagined. There are a number of ways to do this. Perhaps you have one character who rambles on and on. Another speaks in clipped sentences. There could be a third who constantly makes jokes. Or one who has mastered every cliche in the book. This is all right in dialogue but keep cliches out of your prose. Some characters have a favorite expression. Some character's voices resemble their careers.

Listen to the people around you carefully. You might realize every one of the people you know has a different voice. This is what you want for your characters. There's also a fun thing to do with a character's voice. Have the character say aloud one thing but have the inner dialogue be something completely different. I don't often use this technique but when I do a touch of humor is added to the story.