Did you know that Moe, Chief Wiggum, and Apu from The Simpsons are all voiced by the same actor? Each has his own accent, mannerisms, vocabulary, inflection, and catch phrases. When we hear them speak, they all sound distinctly individual. Moe has a surly, gruff overtone with an underlying sadness. Chief Wiggum is daft, bumbling, and humorous. Apu is stereotypically foreign. How can such diverse characters all come from the same person?

Writers struggle with the same question: how can my characters all come from my voice yet not feel like they’re all clones of me? How do I disguise my voice and transform it into the unique voices of my characters?

Do You Want to Build a Background?

First, we can construct a character’s background. We don’t need to write an entire origin story, but we should have answers to some basic questions: Where is the character from? What’s his/her family like? What groups is the character part of (religious, political, professional, etc.)? These personal histories greatly affect a character’s everyday interactions because they shape his/her personality and language.

My brother used to carry in “bags” of groceries when he lived in Illinois. Now that he lives in Iowa, they’re “sacks” of groceries. Nonna used to make “gravy” for her pasta. We called it “sauce.” Does your character drink “pop” or “soda?” It should depend on where s/he’s from.

If the character is multilingual or foreign to the setting, this will also have an effect on his/her language. “Look at me when I’m speaking to you!” is something I often heard as a child. This is a very American mindset. In some other cultures, direct eye contact is considered haughty or rude. Keep in mind the societal expectations of your character’s culture, how aware of these norms s/he is and why, and how important manners are—or aren’t—to him or her. Ask yourself: How chatty or taciturn is my character? Why? You don’t need to explain the “why” to your readers, but making the connection for yourself will help you get into the character’s mindset and write his/her dialogue more naturally.

For example, a phone conversation with my dad lasts five minutes maximum. One with my mom lasts at least an hour. Dad is a mechanical engineer, so it’s essential for him to communicate concisely. Mom is a caregiver, so she spends most of her day bringing people to doctor appointments and providing company. My parents’ career backgrounds have influenced the way they interact. My husband can tell which one of my parents I just spoke with on the phone solely based on the length of the conversation. These seemingly insignificant idiosyncrasies can play a large part in the personalization of a character.

Ms. Mannerisms

Now that we’ve painted the broad background strokes, it’s time to fill in the middle ground. Siblings, for example, could share a similar history, but they won’t have the same personalities. What makes them behave and respond differently? Intrinsic qualities and personal experiences. Perhaps one has social anxiety, so she isn’t as comfortable standing up for herself and thus tends to stutter and even flinch in confrontational situations. Her brother might speak in shorter, more confident sentences. Maybe he joined the Army and picked up military jargon. She might have traveled to France and now peppers French expressions into her vocabulary. Jargon, foreign language, color vocabulary (Is the shirt “purple,” “violet,” “lavender,” or “aubergine?), filler words (“um,” “er”), physical tics, and swearing (or not) are the types of details that add dimension to a character

A good test of whether you’ve achieved a unique voice for your character is this: Try removing a few lines of dialogue from your manuscript without including dialogue tags such as “Jack said,” “she asked,” et cetera. When you read the character’s speech in isolation, can you or one of your readers figure out who’s speaking? If so, you’ve accomplished your goal.

Relationships, Not Passing Ships

The last step to achieving realistic characters through speech and mannerisms is to put the characters together and have them actually interact with each other. We need to consider each conversation within its context. Think about your own behavior. Do you communicate the same way with your boss as you do with your friends? Do you swear in church? Are you confident when you’re on a first date? Realistic characters, like humans, adjust their mannerisms according to the social situation they’re in at a given moment.

If a character is multilingual, s/he may even switch back and forth between languages, depending upon the other speaker’s comfort level with a given language. Changing language depending on audience—whether it’s switching from Spanish to English or academic, professional language with a coworker or person of authority to casual, informal language with a friend—is called “code-switching.” We’ve all code-switched at some point. I used to be a teacher. At school, my language was buttoned up and professional. Even my greetings were more formal. So were my clothes. When I came home, I loosened up and spoke more freely. Sometimes, I even…swore. Don’t tell my students! As far as they knew, I was starchy and rigid, and all I owned were dresses and cardigans. Characters will naturally do the same thing, which can make for a humorous situation if they do it to the extreme and forget or are seen outside of the usual context. Perhaps your villain baby-talks to his hellhounds when none of his henchmen are around or your sweet little heroine suddenly becomes vicious whenever anyone messes with her friends. These fun twists can make readers laugh and add depth to a character.

Once we’ve fleshed out the character’s background, mannerisms, and relationships with other characters, we can combine it all together to form natural, interesting interactions. The main thing to remember is we don’t want our characters to sound like a robot army. They should feel real and unique, and their dialogue should be a response to who they are, where they’ve come from, and the situations they’re in. Characters are one of the strongest points of connection to readers, so well-rounded, believable personalities are more likely to attract a wide audience and make your book memorable.

The Application Process

Here’s a simple list of steps you can take to help you apply the ideas from this post to your writing.

1. Observe. Be nosy, and listen to the people around you. Not only will it be entertaining, but it’ll teach you a lot about individuality. You’ll notice the uniqueness of each person’s expressions, pacing, and verboseness. Watch body language, too. Not everyone has a crooked smile or runs a hand through his/her hair in frustration, but each person has nuances of nonverbal communication.

2. Read. Copy out some of your favorite lines of dialogue from books or movies you enjoy. Try rephrasing it to figure out why it worked, and pattern some of your own practice dialogue after those examples.

3. Research. Know your character’s background, and if it differs from yours, study it! Immerse yourself in the world you’ve built. Talk to real professionals who are in the character’s field. Make sure you use jargon correctly.

4. Personalize. Build individualized language for each character. Consider the following: Does s/he swear? What are his/her pet phrases? What words or expressions are so horrifying to the character s/he could never utter them? What senses matter most to him/her? Where is s/he from, and what languages does s/he speak? Who might s/he soften in front of, and to whom might s/he speak more cautiously? What gestures might accompany the character’s dialogue? Does s/he use a lot of slang? Does s/he tend to say things like “yes,” “yeah,” “yep,” “yup,” or nothing but a nod?

5. Consult. Have someone critical read your work and point out what you may have missed. Beta readers, editors, and author coaches are all great, unbiased resources. It’s difficult for writers to catch repetition or overlap between characters because we have the whole context in our minds. A neutral reader, however, has only the words on the page, so those words will stand out more.

Written by:
Jennifer M.
Deputy Editor