Finding Your Character's Voice

  With NaNoWriMo soon to be upon us, there are probably many of you out there looking at the overwhelming prospect of spitting out 50,000 words of a first draft. Though there are many, many things to think about in the novel writing process, one thing that often gets overlooked is CHARACTER VOICE. What is it and how do we find it? Continue reading to get my tips on the process!

  Before we look at how to find our character voice, we need to answer another important question, what is character voice? 

  According to a Google definition: Character voice refers to the unique way that a character in a novel or short story expresses themselves outwardly and inwardly. A character's voice can be communicated through a character's personality, a character's thoughts, and the way that character sounds.

  Now that we understand that, let's look at some ways we as writers can develop our character's unique voice...

#1. PERSONALITY TYPING

  One of my favorite ways to better understand my characters (or even people I know in real life) is through personality typing. My favorite system is Meyers-Briggs, but I also love the Enneagram. If you're not familiar with these systems, you can look up MBTI types here, and Enneagram types here. 

  An aspect of this that I find hugely beneficial is making sure I'm not just entirely drawing from myself when it comes to creating characters. I don't know about you guys, but when I write, there is often at least a small aspect of myself in the MC's, and of course that's hardly able to be helped, and not a bad thing at all, but I find it important to make sure I'm writing beyond just myself. Diving into other types can really help with this.

#2. DEVELOP A SOLID BACKSTORY

  While there's not necessarily a need to go overboard with this step, making sure you know your character's history as well as you know where they're going in the story is fundamental to getting a good grasp of their voice. A person's history is largely who they are, their experiences have shaped them, whether it's their parents, their hometown, their culture, scholastic experience, traumatic experiences, etc. All of this adds depth and layer to a person, and will only serve to strengthen the voice of your character throughout your novel. It will help you write them accurately, true to their self, and will give you direction when they come upon moments of action/reaction, helping you know where their responses are coming from and why. This is probably the most valuable aspect of the process, I really can't stress enough the importance of knowing your character's history!

#3. CRAFT SPEECH PATTERNS

  This is something that dresses up the top of all the other development work you will do. Once you know who a person is, where they come from, what their formative years were like, and the personality they have, how they speak comes easily. 

  For instance, someone who had a happy childhood in southern USA will sound very different than a hardened street kid from Brooklyn. Likewise, an elf from Rivendell will sound drastically different from an orc out of Barad-dur. These are obvious differences, but oftentimes, speech patterns and behaviors are much more subtle. People can even be from the same family and speak very differently. One sister might be very outgoing and exuberant, while another has always felt like she was in that sister's shadow, and is quiet and monotonous in response. Don't be afraid to develop your character's by how they play off of others too!

  Your character might also have specific phrases or sayings that they use often, these can be hallmarks and calling cards to help the reader identify them. BUT beware of overusing phrases or accidentally giving them to every character. For instance, you might have a character who swears a lot, but if ALL the characters swear a lot, then it's going to take away the punch of the one in particular who REALLY swears a lot. Balance is key!

#4. WRITE EXTRANEOUS SCENES

  I find it really helpful to write "beyond the story." Going back to write some backstory scenes that will never make it to the book's pages, or writing things that happened between the pages of the book, can really help you discover more about the person you're writing. The more you know, the more you can show through the subtlety of your prose. Exciting, right? 

  So don't be afraid to write outside of your manuscript. It's not a waste of time! It's an investment, it's practice, it's deepening your knowledge of not only your character, but your craft as well!

#5. ESTABLISH THEIR BELIEF ABOUT THE WORLD 

  Going right alongside tip #2, a major part of developing your character's backstory is understanding their fundamental beliefs about the world. Often false beliefs, or what they hope for the future, this gives your character direction not only in how they think and feel, and thus, how they will speak into the story, but also direction in the plot. What do they really want out of life? How do they really feel about the things that have happened to them? Answer these questions, and you are practically guaranteed to have a strong character voice!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Soft vs. Hard Worldbuilding

How to Outline a Fantasy Novel

Using Prophecy as a Plot Device

  LET'S TALK.

  How do you develop character voice? Do you find it easy or more like pulling teeth? Are you working on something for NaNo next month? Let me know in the comments below (and be sure to add me on the NaNoWriMo website @emundell97 if you are)!