This post is all about how to find character voice.
It’s important to learn how to find character voice (and make sure it actually sounds like them, not you), as it’ll make characters more engaging.
There are two common struggles when it comes to finding your character’s unique voice. Either you find the character sounds too much like you, or too much like another character.
Either way, here are some tips that will help you make each character’s voice consistently their own.
How do you find your character’s voice?
First, identify what you don’t know.
Often, this struggle begins because there are things you don’t know about your character.
You may have thought you did enough brainstorming, but if you’re struggling to find your character’s unique voice, it’s a sign that you need to dive deeper.
Likely, you’ve thought about all the basics already: their personality, backstory, key identifiers like their age and where they grew up…but there’s so much more to a person than that.
How do they respond to stress? What are their deepest fears? Do you know their personality type? What are their core values that will never change no matter how much their character develops?
Let’s talk about how to find all these details.
HOW TO FIND CHARACTER VOICE
Character fears
Writers often think first about character motivations—which are super important—but character fears are directly tied to that.
Understanding your character’s deepest fears will help you also understand which events in your plot will raise the stakes the most—and how your character might react to these changes.
Are they afraid of losing something? Gaining something? Where does their fear stem from originally?
Your character’s fears will drive their actions and reactions, so understanding this on a deeper level will translate to helping you better establish the character’s voice because you’ll know what’s internally pushing them to make the decisions they’re making.
Stress response
How a character responds to stress is a HUGE part of who they are (and a huge driver of plot).
Two people can experience the exact same event and respond to it in completely different ways. Think about a family who suffers the loss of a dear friend or family member. The spouses may not see eye to eye on how they’re each grieving, and even the kids in the family may each have a totally different reaction—one internalizing their grief and another lashing out.
Knowing how your character responds to stress will make them feel more real. Do they internalize their pain? Suppress it? Or are they super expressive, gushing about their problems to anyone who will listen?
Personality type
A great way to understand your character—beyond their backstory and key identifiers you’ve already established—is to understand their personality type on a deeper level.
I often recommend writers try the 16 personalities test, taking the test from the perspective of their character. The questions will really make you think and make decisions about who your character is.
If you have my character workbook Real Characters, we take this a step further with some guided questions to help you apply the results of the personality test to your actual story for each character.
Core values
Core values are the values your character lives by that won’t change, no matter what happens or how they develop.
For example, if loyalty is one of your character’s deepest core values, this could impact how their character development shapes up in the event of a betrayal.
If faith is a core value, a situation that makes them question their beliefs may put them into a full-blown identity crisis that wouldn’t impact another character as much.
My workbook Real Characters walks you through finding your characters’ core values if you don’t know where to start!
Their unique speech and body language
Speech patterns, phrasing, and go-to body language are a huge aspect of who a character is.
Think about it: you’ve likely adopted some phrases or speech patterns from those you hang out with most. Or, maybe you’ve finally met a friend’s sibling and thought, “wow, they talk so alike.”
Make a list of signature phrases, words, or even descriptions of speech and body language that represents your character.
For example, Character A:
- Laughs when she feels awkward.
- Says “make sense” a lot when she doesn’t know what to say in a conversation.
- Never raises her voice when angry; instead, she gets quieter.
A helpful exercise
And once you’ve done all this digging, make a venn diagram!
A venn diagram can help you visualize the differences vs similarities between each character, or between yourself and your character. This will give you an easy reference point as you draft.
Bringing the pieces together
Once you’ve unpacked these aspects of your character, their unique voice, tone, and personality should come together naturally.
You won’t feel as much like you’re guessing how they’d react when you’re writing intense scenes. You’ll have a brainstormed list of ways they would typically respond or things they would say in a conversation. You’ll understand what makes them tick and what keeps them happy.
If you want guidance through brainstorming and planning all these aspects of your character, grab my workbook Real Characters. Get it once and use it for as many characters and stories as you want!
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