Building a speech timer1/6/2024 ![]() What a character’s general personality will be: Are they sanguine/happy-go-lucky, melancholic, plodding and pragmatic, irritable and aggressive?.You can create full, detailed character outlines using Now Novel’s dashboard process. Include brief descriptions of voice when you are writing character sketches for your outline. What creates this effect? Are they loud? Soft-spoken? Confident? Self-doubting? Comical? Write down an adjective (describing word) that sums up their voice for you. Pause for a second and think of people you know well. Do they seem blunt and bolshie? Or is their voice gentle, kind and reserved? The personality that comes across in how a character expresses themselves.The actual way a person’s voice sounds to the ear (details such as pitch, volume, placement (is it nasal or throaty?) and tone.What do we mean when we talk about a character’s ‘voice’? ‘Voice’ in characterization refers to two things: Show characters’ unique personalities in their speech Read this post for tips on creating regional speech patterns without using stereotypes as a crutch. This is particularly the case when there are sensitive issues of culture or race involved. Trying to recreate how different groups speak in dialogue using written accents can create stereotypes. The third suggestion should be used in moderation. Make sure characters don’t use language more modern than their time period – if you’re unsure when a word was coined, Google its etymology.In the 60’s, for example, common slang terms in parts of the US included ‘old lady’ and ‘old man’ for a person’s significant other Use occasional language appropriate to the time period in dialogue.So how do you make characters’ speech show where they are in place and time? If a 19th century teenager speaks as though it is the 21st century, this can jolt your reader right out of the story. If your character lives in the 21st Century but speaks as though they’re living in 1700, this will confuse readers. For example, characters say ‘thy’ and ‘thou’ in place of ‘your’ and ‘you’.Įra-appropriate character speech helps to establish setting and context. In Shakespeare’s plays, we gain a strong sense of an older time through characters’ use of archaic language. One way to make dialogue effective is to have it reflect your characters’ place and time. Who is this person? Why do they speak this way? What odd curse words or phrases do they use that are particular to their era or home town? Dialogue executed well develops characters, adding rich texture to the personalities filling your story. Here are six ways to make characters’ speech colorful and interesting: 1. Make characters’ voices reflect their place and time Varied, entertaining speech takes readers into the heart of your characters. When you give each character an interesting voice and persona, it’s a joy to read their conversations.
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