Who's Talking?

Character Voices and Keeping Them Distinct

Time to take a break from the real world for a minute and talk about writing!

Have you ever read a multi-POV novel, and every character sounds the same? Do you have to double-check the beginning of the chapter to make sure you know who’s speaking?

Let’s presume I’m writing a multi-POV story. My goal is for the reader to know which character is narrating by the tone and structure of their sentences. A good example is Jenn Lyons’ fantasy novel, The Name Of All Things. Those characters have tone, attitude, and loads of personality. The same can be said of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows. Based on language and tone, you know that it’s Kaz, and not Matthias.

In my current project, I am attempting to write a dual-POV narrative. The problem? I think I lost MC #2’s voice. How will I fix that? The same way I did when I worked on a multi-POV story a few years ago. With journaling! I found that when I wrote a journal entry as a particular character, I could recapture their voice. Sometimes it’s before the events of the story take place. It could be during, or after the ending. How are they feeling in the moment of time you are journaling from? Not only are you going to find their voice, but you might end up with deeper insights into the character.

If this doesn’t work, I turn to prompts. At the recommendation of an editor, I purchased Alan Watt’s 90-Day Novel. I’ve mostly read it. What I really appreciate about it is the writing exercises. I’ve used them and written as the character whose perspective I wanted to use. (I’ve found that almost any prompt can be used like this.)

Watt gives guidance on writing stream of consciousness for these exercises, and I have enjoyed the suggestions. These pieces are likely not going to make it into your story, so don’t worry about structure or plot. Go where the character’s voice takes you. Hear their words. Complete the exercise, and hopefully, by the time you’re done, you’ll be able to make the voice distinct within the story.

Any other suggestions for keeping character voices distinct?

I had a disturbing thought. Could these exercises be used to give AI distinct voices/personalities? No, thank you - I’m not ready for the robot uprising!

What I’ve Been Reading:

• House of Salt and Sorrows, Erin A. Craig

• The Apothecary Diaries, Natsu Hyuuga, et al.

What I’ve Been Watching:

• The Pitt

• High Potential

• Heated Rivalry

• Star Trek: Academy

• Your Lie In April

• Taylor Tomlinson: Prodigal Daughter

What I’ve Been Listening To:

• Kygo

• sombr

• Sabrina Carpenter

• Taylor Swift

Learn about the land on which we reside:

• Whose Land

• Native Land Digital