A workshop leader told me my characters all sounded the same

I was at a small writing workshop in Austin about six months ago, and I read a scene with three people talking. The leader, a woman named Sarah, stopped me and said, 'Jason, I can't tell who is speaking without the dialogue tags. They all have the same voice.' That hit me hard. I went home and looked at my old stories, and she was right. My gruff detective and his teenage daughter used the same sentence patterns and vocabulary. I started keeping a notebook for each main character, jotting down phrases they'd use, words they'd avoid, and how their background would shape their speech. Now, before I write a conversation, I review those notes. It adds a step, but the dialogue feels real for the first time. Has anyone else gotten specific feedback on character voice that made you change your process?

2 comments

2 Comments

adams822d ago

That workshop leader had a point... it's tough when everyone talks the same. My wife reads a lot of those mystery novels, and she'll put one down saying all the cops and suspects sound like the same person giving a lecture. Makes you realize how good writers give each character a little verbal tic, like one person who never finishes a thought and another who answers every question with another question.

hugo372d ago

Oh man, that's so true. I got stuck on that same problem with my own writing. What helped me was just listening to real conversations, like at the grocery store. I'd hear someone say "you know what I mean?" after every sentence, or another person who started everything with "honestly." Started putting stuff like that in my dialogue and it felt way more real right away.