forum Writing voice vs Character voice

Started September 19, 2018 by @thehobbit

tune

So I am struggling. I am trying to give my characters a unique voice but it ends up sounding a lot like my typical writing voice that i'm using throughout the rest of the story. Any suggestions?

Are you talking about writing a first person POV story? Or just like general dialogue? In any case, here's an article that might be helpful https://www.nownovel.com/blog/talking-character-voice/

…… yes, both. Im writing it is first person and I feel like the dialogue feels to similar in voice to itself. I know a lot of it will come as I continue to develop the characters, its just frustrating.
Thanks for the article!

For dialogue, I would recommend trying to put yourself in the shoes of the character, thinking about how they feel in a given situation, and use dialogue (and first-person)accordingly. If you are really having trouble, try saying the dialogue out loud, and paying attention to how you say it. (Heads up, I didn't read the article, so I'm not sure if any of this is redundant). As well as this, first-person writing will not be that much different from the character's spoken words, as it is the thoughts of the character and/or themselves writing it - I like to envision a camera (a metaphor from my English teacher) and putting it in the head of the character, recording their thoughts, feelings, actions and dialogue (it can only pick up on things that the character can sense). Typically, characters think in a similar way to their dialogue, (though some thoughts may be withheld from speech), so you can use this to your advantage and try to imagine the character verbally telling the story to someone else (or writing it). All in all, picture yourself when writing first-person not as yourself, but as your character, and it might come smoother. Not sure if this helped, but good luck anyways! :)

Thanks for the advice! I will try it and see if it helps.