In a post on Writers in the Storm, Lynette Burrows offers advice for turning your characters’ dialogue into a symphony. “Are your characters two-dimensional? Do they all sound like you and only you?” she asks. “Tune in to the music of character voices, make them sound more like the different instruments of a band or orchestra.”
But how do you create those unique voices? It starts with understanding your characters. “When a writer is told they’re too young or haven’t lived enough life to write about it, it’s often because of a lack of understand the basics of character or even life,” Burrows says. “A general understanding of psychological personality types will go a long way to helping you create varied and interesting characters.” Multiple online tools can help, including Psych Central, Psychology Today, and The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
Then, go deeper. “Most people have morals, values, or other belief systems that guide them in their choices,” Burrows adds. “It’s the reason they choose B over A when A and B are equal. Call it an inner guidance system, their pitch.” Consider your characters’ religion, morals, and other belief systems. “A person with deep beliefs in one of these systems will believe in different taboos and different words, actions, or events will trigger feelings of repulsion or guilt,” Burrows writes.
Next, consider texture. “There is a spark in most people,” Burrows says. “The spark influences the way they see the world. It influences the way they interpret people, places, and events. They also gravitate toward people with similar sparks and away from those with extremely different sparks.” Consider what sparks joy in each of your characters and how they differ. Whom do they gravitate towards and whom do they avoid?
Finally, listen and capture how real people talk to capture their rhythm. “Create your characters with their own cadences of speech, body language, and movement,” Burrows writes. A Southerner, midwestern farmer, suburban mom, and single woman in the city will all speak differently from one another. Observe and leverage those differences to create characters with unique ways of speaking.
