Creating characters' voices

Lycoplax said:

What the OP was looking for was advice on making two unique voices stand out from each other, that just happen to be different genders.

Your examples are extremely stereotypical. 'Gender typical' is one of the biggest farces. My husband dances with me and sings 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Is that romantic, or focused on sex? Hell, to be candid, because of his work schedule, many times I'm the one asking him, and he turns me down because he's too tired.

Even hobbies aren't gender specific. I know girls who like guns, and guys who arrange flowers.

Characters who follow this 'gender typical' model you've suggested are in danger of being very dull and cliche. Real people are so much more varied and complex than that.

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Love it and agree. You said it better than me. My husband often complains that he's the romantic in the marriage. (Well, maybe somebody has to be.) He's also the moody, introspective sort of guy. (Yet ruggedly handsome with a full beard, tall, dark eyes.)

As for the op: to make two different voices, try inhabiting the character. I mean do it like an actor works when using 'method acting.' Walk around the kitchen with a cigarette in your hand, saunter, or move like the guy or girl you're writing. Or pause nervously. Or check the door to see if it's locked. Just inhabit that person for a few minutes.

Then do the same for second character. Experience how she or he feels. Isn't this what a lot of us did as children, when we played 'make believe' or 'pretend?'

I sometimes feel as though writing is like being a little kid playing 'make believe.' When I create a new character, no matter what pov I'm writing, I sort of feel like I'm in his or her skin. I don't get up and play-act unless I need to, which is rare, but sometimes I do. I need to be alone to do this, however. My family thinks I'm odd enough as it is.

dawinsor said:

I'd like to write my current YA WIP in two alternating first person POVs, one a boy and the other a girl. And I'd like to give each of them a strong enough voice that a reader could identify which one was narrating even if I didn't say. So I'm looking for advice on how to do that well.

This is fantasy. They're from two different parts of the same country, and of course, there's the gender difference. How can I use that (or something else) to build different vocabularies and maybe different things they pay attention to? Has anyone done this, and if you have, can you give me some concrete things to think about? I feel like I know theoretically how to do this, but it's hard to translate that to words on a page.

I've read alternating first person, though the only one that comes to mind right now is Will Grayson/Will Grayson and that's by two different writers, so different voices probably came naturally.

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I do love this alternating perspective thing, and have used it before with two different gendered characters. Everyone has certain phrases that are associated with their personality; for example I've received texts from a friend and not known if was her but suspected from the tone that was so distinct. The way people speak, not just colloquialisms but what they talk about. So, some people are more observant about surroundings, others perceptive of people's emotions.

One of my characters was incredibly cynical, always mentioned objects and materialistic things. The other always related things to food because they were poor.