Ensuring that character dialogues sound like they are coming from different people
I am wondering if I should make the female characters speak in a different way compared to male characters, and I am wondering how to make sure they all sound different.
What are some strategies, techniques, and ideas authors use to make character dialogues sound unique? I feel one way is to show a character's idiosyncrasy by saying things like "I will drink until I pass out", "I want beer!" and the like, but it feels cheap and like bad style. You could also make a character really dumb, but that also is really bad style and most good novels really don't do that.
How do you make it so that each of the 100 characters in a novel doesn't sound like a crazy person having a monologue with himself in a asylum (dark humor)?
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The way I make my characters' dialogue unique to them, is by considering what makes them unique. But that's best explained by examples. So here we go.
Female character is nervous, worries about everything, and is a bit old fashion. "Oh, dear no. I understand equality and all that, but really? You want to be out there in the war? Bullets flying everywhere, people being shot? Think of your poor dear mother. Do you think my heart can take knowing her only daughter is out there?"
French playboy talking about helping a woman relax. "Oh, but mam'selle. It would be a sin to not offer."
A gamer complaining about rush hour traffic. "This is worse than loading screens!"
A posh gentleman that feels like he should have been born in Victorian England. "Is this what society has come to? Vagabonds prancing about, declaring themselves gentry. Politicians speaking ill of women. I'll hear no more of it. Not a word. Good day, sir."
A shy nervous wreck that apologizes for everything. touches teapot "I'm sorry!" friend gives them a curious side glance "It's okay. Sorry, I. This isn't. I'm sorry. Really. Sorry. Uh. I should go."
Look for things the individual character values, or things that make them stand out. Give them verbal quirks as well as personality ones. Gender can play a role in this, but isn't usually the defining factor. You can have a tomboy that talk like 'one of the boys', or a more genteel man speaking in a far more reserved or indirect manner.
Typical traits to pay attention to are: cultural heritage (Scarlet o'Hara in Gone with the wind), socio-economic standing (posh rich girl versus trailer park girl of same geographical area), archtypal behaviour (tomboy versus goth girl versus geeky girl).
Note that you should avoid stereotypes as best you can. Some stereotypes are unavoidable, and often true. But if you have one representation of that social group, you could be called out on writing from stereotypes. Easiest way to get around that i to only call on stereotypes you understand, and then contrast them with others from the same social group (example: the flamboyant gay, just have three gay men and have each act differently; no one will deny that some gay men act like that, but it's far from all).
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41870. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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The way a character talks reflects their social class, their level of education, where they come from, what kind of people they are and how the see the world. The last one in particular is key - if all your characters appear to see the world in exactly the same way, it wouldn't matter that they happen to be using different idiosyncrasies.
Some examples:
I glanced at him, and cocked my head to one side. Distantly, but quickly growing nearer, I could hear haunting, musical baying, ghostly in the midnight air. "Holy shit," I breathed. "Hellhounds."
"Harry," Michael said sternly. "You know I hate it when you swear."
"You're right. Sorry. Holy shit," I breathed, "heck-hounds. (Jim Butcher, Grave Peril, chapter 5)
One of the characters in this scene is religious, and doesn't swear. The other has a specific sense of humour. Both elements are reflected in the way they speak.
‘I am sure you have given me all the heaviest stuff,’ said Frodo. ‘I pity snails, and all that carry their homes on their backs.’
‘I could take a lot more yet, sir. My packet is quite light,’ said Sam stoutly and untruthfully.
‘No you don’t, Sam!’ said Pippin. ‘It is good for him. He’s got nothing except what he ordered us to pack. He’s been slack lately, and he’ll feel the weight less when he’s walked off some of his own.’
‘Be kind to a poor old hobbit!’ laughed Frodo. ‘I shall be as thin as a willow-wand, I’m sure, before I get to Buckland. But I was talking nonsense. I suspect you have taken more than your share, Sam, and I shall look into it at our next packing.’ (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, book 1, chapter 3 - Three is Company)
Sam is of lower social class than Frodo and Pippin. This is reflected in how he speaks (both in his language, and in how he addresses the others), as well as in the way the others speak to him - Frodo here is a benevolent master, responsible for his servant's welfare. Pippin teases Frodo, marking them as equals, but also the two display different character traits: Pippin is more light-hearted, he's the one teasing, whereas Frodo speaks in a more lyrical way - "thin as a willow-wand".
The differences between the characters are subtle, but they are enough that over time we learn to recognise them. Listen to your friends and family, and you will observe a similar thing: you do not need idiosyncrasies to recognise that only person X would say phrase Y, whether because of its content, or because of how it was expressed.
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By treating each of your characters as individuals.
Gender is an important characteristic, but it's not the only one. If all your female characters speak one way and all your male characters another, that is going to be one boring novel.
Many characteristics will change a person's way of speaking: age, level and place of education, field of work/study, social class (both current and childhood), immigration status, number of languages spoken (and which ones), amount of travel in life and to where, and so many more I can't even list them. If it affects personality, it affects how you speak.
Spend some time hanging out in places where people talk but don't mind if you're there listening. Coffee shops, college dorm lounges, parks, playgrounds, supermarkets, bars, etc. Pay attention to how people speak and what they say and take note of what differences you can figure out about them (at least what you can see: ethnicity, gender, age, etc).
Spend time talking with friends, family, and people you don't know. Even among people with similar characteristics, there are differences in how they talk. Take note of them. Imagine if your aunt was one of your characters and your sister another (or any two people you know well). How would they each speak? Different from each other, right?
Imagine each character as a fully-formed human being in a particular stage of life. Ask yourself, what are their life experiences? their hopes and dreams? their disappointments? Once you know their personalities, their ways of speaking will be clearer as well.
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