style of speech for individual characters

Never mind your age, lots of writers have this problem.

We tend to speak the dialect of our surroundings--if you're with friends, you use the same slang, lines from jokes, etc. so that can seem as if everyone sounds the same.

I noticed that when I went to the south--Tennessee and Georgia from Connecticut, I went from a clipped tone to a drawl, saying 'y'all' instead of 'you all', for example. When I went to Scotland I found myelf saying 'Aye' instead of 'Yes'. I didn't do it deliberately, it just seemed natural to speak the way I heard. For the record, anything other than English variants I suck at. (I do speak fluent Cat but I have no idea what I'm saying.)

Do bios for your characters: sex, age, growing up, current family situation, financial status, education, professional training, lifestyles, beliefs, favorite things, etc.

All these would shape a person's dialogue from the rough stevedore dockworker grunts and four letter invectives, to a Wall Street guru who has a passion for Caesar's bio, to a bookstore manager who quotes dead poets, a mother who trains her daughter to the care and feeding of her gryphon, a reluctant princess who slips away to live with thieves, etc.

Our speech changes with our situation: more subservent to those with power over us, casual to compatriots, more authoritative to those serving us. We use technical jargon when explaining work, family slogans and misnomers that the children made up become part of our use, so does frequent saying by friends and lovers, as well as favorite lines from ads, TV, films, theatre, etc.

Only if they're identical twins would two people sound alike, finishing each other's sentences still, one would be dominant.

Conversation reflects personality - in the kind of things people say - maybe one character is an optimist another a pessimist. Different people use different phrases - not just catch phrases - some people will never use one word when the could use ten and vice versa. Some people favour complicated sentences or begin in an unusual place (like Yoda only not as bad)someone with an educated backround will use different diction from someone who never reads a book. Someone with a background in architecture may use technical word to describe buildings, a keen gardener might talk about specific types of flowers rather than in generalities.

So you can think of: Temperament ( exciteable?phlegmatic) background ( specialist knowledge/limitations in knowledge), attitude ( optimistic/pessimistic, sarcastic,enthusiastic etc etc) diction (type of word) syntax ( type of sentence), location ( geographical area/ country of originand upbringing) age ( type of slang, expression, use of courtesy titles) etc.

You can cheat and add in local words/accents, favourite expletives, stammers, odd accents, speech impediments etc etc but it is easy to go over the top with those so unless you want a comic effect, it is better to treat those with care. IMHO

Do bios for your characters: sex, age, growing up, current family situation, financial status, education, professional training, lifestyles, beliefs, favorite things, etc.


This is a really good approach that works for many people. I just feel obliged to point out that we don't all do bios in order to get to our characters. Sometimes the voice comes first and you then may or may not work out why the characters talk the way they do.

You don't have to know everything about your character to write them well. It's a bit like method acting versus the older kind - it doesn't matter how an actor gets to a performance as long as the performance convinces.

Bios can work very well but I think it's important to remember that just because the writer knows a lot, it doesn't follow that the reader will too.
The only work that matters is the work on the page. IMHO of course.

I think people do generally speak the way they always have and only alter slightly when in other company. But you could introduce an annoying sniff (why don't you use a tissue, Angela?) or a different pronunciation. From the north of England someone would say 'one' as 'wun' or a New Zealander would ask for 'sex chups' (six chips). As long as it isn't overdone, it can individualise one or 'type' a group of characters.

Google 'group dynamics'. This can give you insight on how hierarchy forms and break, actions and persuasive behavior for 2 or more people. Some will be leaders outright, some will rule from behind the throne, some will always go along, others will ask what if something bad happens, etc.

Ex: take a group of 6 kids in high school who hang out together. Tad is quiet but he has good ideas and the others listen. Jamie always offers her house to hang out in because her mom always stocks good snacks and isn't hyper about a little mess. Kev is the first to ask 'what do you want to do' and he's restless, the last to leave because his folks are divorcing and he hates being at home. Cate is stocked with tissues, aspirin, etc and really cares how people feel because her beloved grandmother is dying and she is more sensitive to health issues. Alan laughs the loudest coming from a loud boistrous family and acts as the big brother protector. Lanie changes her hair and clothes all the time, not for fashion but for art and she has wierd ideas that make from interesting if silly discussions.

If too many characters speak & act the same, maybe you don't need as many characters. Maybe you can combine 2-3 into one.

Go to different places: listen to how assorted people speak and why do they do it. Are they rushed? Dealing with bosses? With babies? Are they well or do they look ill? Dressed to thrill or just off digging latrines? Why are they where they are? To place an order? To take one? To scope out the place for a job prospect or to rob it?

You never know :}

bio's for your characters are a wonderful idea- they give you a sense of background and life-experience that help when trying to decide how a character would speak and what they would say- I have one character that uses humor to cover his nervousness or fear, another that is a man of few words and uses his silence as a shield for insecurities and as a way to keep his anger at bay- another is a lawyer with roots in the Bronx- took him years to get rid of the accent but it still comes through in times of stress-
I think you get the idea- different backgrounds generate different speech patterns and a different syntax. Hope that helps

I think it takes some experimenting, and then going back and adding more of what seems to fit that character. I'm in the major rewrite stage on my current WIP, and that's one thing I'm focusing on. I realized one character had said, "You know?" a couple of times, and tended to ask a lot of questions, explain things. He thinks out loud, in other words. So in the revise, I'm building on that, and almost every one of his speeches is ending up being a couple of sentences long.

The other MC had a couple of great asides, and by adding more of those I'm able to highlight his sarcastic side.

In any story, characters are revealed by what they do and what they say. So I think you need to ask yourself, "What kind of person is this character? And how can I show that by how they say what they have to say?"

My talkative character is lonely. It makes sense, when he finally finds someone who will listen, that he says a lot. The other one is kind of scrappy, got himself into a bad situation because he didn't listen to his mother and now he needs to get out of it before she finds out, so it makes sense that there's a lot of bravura in how he reacts to things.

The first thing I think of is education and background. My MC's father is a professor of music and her mother believed strongly in education so my MC is a bit on the nerdy side. Her parents never talked down to her and encouraged her to explore. Her speech pattern reflects that. She doesn't use big words but she knows how to put words together in a sentence that makes her seem more mature than other kids she comes in contact with. But she also knows how to shift gears to fit the situation she's in. Now, her new friend isn't dumb by any means but she hasn't had the same social experiences my MC has and I try to show it by making her word choices a little simpler and sentences a little shorter.

After that I focus on personality. What one aspect of their personality would give them a unique way of speaking? For instance, I have a character who loves the sound of his voice and is very polite to everyone but tends to get side-tracked easily in conversation so his speech pattern is long winded, rambling and full of carefully chosen words.

Another older character has short choppy sentences because she's doesn't recall things easily anymore, loses track of her thoughts and reserves her energy for other things.

Anyway, that's just how I work. Others have suggested character bios and I would recommend it so you'll have a sense of who they are. Good luck.

Have you also considered writing stereotypes? Just as practice. To get a sense of what it is like to have really different voices. For example, have a cowboy talking to a british imperialist:

"Howdy pardner!"
"I say, hello!"
"That there is some fine threads."
"Why thank you my good man. I purchased them while visiting my mother in Chelsea."

etc etc.

Just to get the sense of writing two completely different voices.

Speech patterns of characters...

Often members of the same peer group and/or family will have similar (but not exactly the same) dialect.

In my current project I made subtle differences that would distinguish the characters.

eg. My MC (Evy, 11) has an advanced vocabulary for her age and tends to talk in wordy sentences and ask intriguing questions.

Evy's adoptive brother Pierre (14) is a boy of few words tends to give 1-3 word comments/answers and will sometimes use slang.

However, it is the content/opinions of the characters speech rather than dialect that do a better job of distinguishing them.

e.g. Evy's brother Kevin has a strong interest in music and frequently talks about school band activities. His conversations also show his lack of interest/frustration with academics.

Evy's grandfather believes she is capable of anything and strongly expresses this opinion (evident later in the book when she attempts to raise money to save a sick kitten).

I have seen some books where people try to rely to heavily on dialect to the point where it distracts from the story. (e.g a character who swears every few words or talks entirely in baby talk). In these cases, it is tricky to add that flavour of origional dialect without making a character annoying to listen to.