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Q&A 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, ...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by repomonster‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:46:38Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/41865
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar repomonster‭ · 2019-12-08T10:46:38Z (about 5 years ago)
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)?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-02-02T18:13:39Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 14