Writing Character Voice: Part One

So, character voice. What is it? The answer may depend on the manner you wish to write your story. In short, it is the tone, style and voice of the character your story is being narrated by. This includes the way the world is described, the way characters are described and the character’s way of speaking.

Of course, if your story is written with an omniscient perspective, the character voice will be considered the narrator voice. This article pertains more to stories written with a limited perspective, like first-person or third-person.

So, let’s get into it. What do you need to prepare in order to establish a great character voice?

Step One: Understand the Message

The message of your story is its purpose. You may have come up with your story idea based on a scene, a trope, a feeling, a character or a setting, for example, but as the story develops, the reason for its persistence is the message or themes you want to explore through it.

Brainstorm your themes and recognise what you want your perspective character to learn once your story hits its climax. You may be wondering why message and theme are involved in the process of creating a strong character voice, and my answer is because character voice can help you further explore and convey the message of your story. The message, in a typical narrative, is the lesson the character learns at the end of the story, whatever it may be. Since your readers are placing themselves in the story, they too are learning the same lessons as the character.

So, once you have your message and themes, you can see how the character’s person and journey will be impacted by the storyline. This will help you see how the character must develop over time.

Step Two: Establish the Tone

Tone is an extremely influential element of storytelling. It influences the reader’s experience much like songs do. Some are uplifting while others are melancholic, and as an audience, we select the type we feel like listening to at the time. Though, songs are typically three-four minutes long, and obviously, a novel is a lot longer than that. So, when we think about tone in a story, it is not only useful to keep the character and message in mind, but to keep the audience’s experience in mind, too.

Do this by identifying firstly which genre you will be writing, the time period in which the story is set, and the overall emotion you want to convey. All of which play an important role in the dynamics of your narrative—like arranging together the instruments of a symphony—while also influencing word selection and stylistic technique.

With the tone of your story established, you will be able to consistently capture the ambience, thus enriching the reader’s experience. By doing so, you will either also be establishing the tone of your character voice, or allowing your character voice to stand out as it may juxtapose the story tone.

Step Three: Learn About the Character

Here is where most of the work is done. To understand a character, you have to learn what they went through to get to who they are at the beginning of your story. Their upbringing would have made an incredible impact to the character’s perspective on life. It would have shaped their thoughts and paved their desires, and overall, would have moulded their personality.

With the understanding of both previous steps, you can now learn all about the character you will be using to narrate the story while keeping their influence in mind. What I recommend you do is dot point your answers under these four headings:

1. Upbringing

2. Personality

3. Thoughts

4. Desires

Create your character; imagine what they’re like, what their opinions would be about the world around them and their experiences. Remember, character voice is another instrument to the symphony that conveys your message. The voice should also play an intentional role in exploring that message while showing the character’s personality.

After you have completed all three steps, you may use the information gathered to intentionally create a well-established character voice. Your character may take on the tone of your story, or it might oppose it to benefit the message you wish to convey.

Thank you for reading. I hope this helped you on your writing journey.