Hey all! Lately as I have been looking over some writings, I wonder about ways to not have all my characters sound exactly the same. It's something I struggle with, but am learning little by little. Sometimes I read certain conversations in my dialogues and I can see how it may be easy for a reader to lose track of who is speaking, which isn't good. What are some good ways to keep dialogue from one character different from another character? This is a bit difficult for me.
I had the same issue. What I did was to think of personal qualities in the characters which would manifest themselves in the way they spoke. One character could be impatient, always keen to move on to the next thing and giving short, blunt answers to questions. Another could be insecure, giving elaborate justifications to every opinion they express. Another could be bossy, assuming they know best and telling others what to do and think. Another could be sceptical, suspecting much of what they're told is wrong.
It's all about personalities and emotion in the moment. You need to know your characters inside out, how they feel, how they react, all of that. If they don't have separate personalities, there won't be any way to tell them apart. After you figure out who each of them is, dialogue will become much easier on so many levels, including differentiating between them. Also try giving them different voices in your head. Depending on their origins, you might even try working with accents. Everyone has their own little verbal ticks too. They don't have to be eccentric, just unique to the character. Add colloquialisms appropriate to age and region. Add favorite cliches and phraseology. And remember, there are a thousand ways to write multiple characters and keep them unique, but the best way to learn dialogue is to listen. Pay attention to conversations in real life and note how differently two people express themselves.
Read some books by writers who have really mastered dialogue. Stephen King, Michael Connelly, Brett Easton Ellis and British crime writer Peter James do it for me. Keep a notepad by your side as you read, make notes about how they distinguish a character's speech or any other devices which work for you. You dialogue will improve if you study books with good dialogue rather than just read them.
Thanks! While I have some information about each character written down, I may need some more depth. Verbal ticks is something I have difficulty coming up with. Probably what I struggle with the most. I'll have to probably look over what I have for my characters and see what I can add.
That could be xD when I edited through, I attempted to shorten some dialogues that were long-winded because it was easy to lose track of who is speaking. While I was successful at most points, there are still some longer dialogues in there. I will have to read them over again to see if that's the problem.
Chat-based roleplaying games online are a brilliant resource for character voice. You may have two dozen characters, portrayed by two dozen players, present in the same scene. Each of them talks with their own voice, crafted by their unique players with vastly unique out-of-character voices.
Hmm, interesting. I never thought about checking out the online RP for some ideas! That might be fun and useful
