The way characters talk to one another and even themselves is something that often makes or breaks the flow of a story. Dialogue is often a reflection of a character’s personality but also how they view and interact with others. It’s a way of illustrating how they view the world in a manner that is more showing the reader who they are as opposed to simply telling the reader how the character is. Not only that, but the way characters view the world, the story, and themselves as well. It can be a very difficult challenge to tackle, but it’s necessary to tell a powerful and effective story.
One of the core aspects of dialogue is to show the reader what kind of personality a character has. The way a character introduces themselves by their actions and how they talk informs the reader who they are and often what their role in the story is. It is a window into who they are, what they believe, and who or what is important to them. The key to this, however, is to alter the language used to hint or imply what they are like rather than telling the reader. For example:
“What the did you do?!” Joey desperately screamed.
“Tell me! God damn it, tell me what the hell did you do?!” Joey screamed.
While the former completes the goal of communicating the desperation in the character’s voice, the latter shows that desperation in the man’s words. The desperation mixing with the anger already present in the latter half emphasizes that Joey’s rage has overcome him more than the former does. Adding in the expletives gives more flavor to his personality that the reader can then infer. It’s a simple way of adding flavor to a character’s speech.
But character voice is more than just how they speak to one another, but also how they think and view the world. This is especially important in stories that have multiple perspectives. As simple as it may sound, it’s a very difficult aspect of storywriting that requires careful thought and consideration. As simple as it may sound, as you are writing the first draft of the story you’re often focusing on plot structure and flow it’s usually the case that the way the story is written initially would often be more matter-of-fact or stoic. It is in the editing phase, either in the second or third revision, that you would have the opportunity to add that character voice to the story.
But how do you add that character voice to the story as it progresses? How do you make one character’s perspective different and unique from another’s? Often times it requires careful consideration and understanding of who the character is and how they would view and respond to things. A good exercise is to take an object or a scene and consider how each character would describe it. A stoic may keep it simple and straightforward while an analytical character may go into more detail about what they observe. An anxious character may go off on all the hypothetical threats and dangers that could happen while a calmer and chill character might make a joke or make an allusion to something fun. It all depends on the character and the situation, but it adds more to the story and furthers the investment the reader would have in that character.
The danger in not making perspectives distinct from one another is that the story feels a bit too samey and unclear as to whose perspective the reader is viewing the story from. Each character will view things in their own way which influences how the reader perceives and understands the story. One of my favorite examples of this is The Shadow of the Fox trilogy by Julie Kagawa. Both of the protagonists have wildly different views of the world because of who they are and how they were raised that it gives the reader a different perspective on the same situation. Yumeko has a very kind and friendly perspective on the world and often wants to take a peaceful and kind approach to things while Tatsumi is very suspicious and untrusting of others, viewing everyone and everything as potential threats he’s ready to kill. It’s a good example of how different character perspectives adds to the story in a way that simple descriptions could not which also helps show how they grow and change throughout the story as these views change.
Character voice and dialogue are difficult aspects of writing to consider when writing, but it’s important in delivering the best story you can. I’ve found the best way to approach it is in the editing phase when the story is already laid out. It’s kind of like the idea of Discovery Writing where as you edit things to match the character’s thoughts and perspectives, it may become evident that a moment in the story should be changed because it’s actually an out of character moment. It is difficult, but it is always worthwhile in the end.
Hope this helps!
– Raphael
Raph's Cozy Musings 