Your character’s voice is the reader’s guide through your story. Readers hear your character in their head before they see them in their mind’s eye.
A well-developed character voice stays with the reader long after they finish your book. When the voices aren’t unique, you’ll know…
- You can’t tell whose speech is whose without dialogue tags.
- Your beta readers are confused.
- Every character sounds a bit like you—just wearing a different name tag.
The Six Ingredients of Character Voice
When character voices aren’t differentiated, breaking the voice down into its ingredient components can reveal why.
- Emotional default. The emotional state of your character at rest.
- Diction. The words this character chooses and uses.
- Syntax. The order they put their words in.
- Rhythm and pace. The speed at which they speak. Their urgency or hesitancy.
- Formality register. How formally or informally this character speaks.
- Catchphrases and tics. The words, sounds, or phrases this character repeats, particularly under stress or in moments of high emotion.
Emotional default is chief among these. Everyone you meet has a different emotional default. Some people are curious, some are humorous, some are anxious or righteous or analytical. Your character has an emotional default, too, and it informs the rest of their voice.
An anxious character might choose shorter words, shorter sentences, and speak more quickly. They might speak with great precision, afraid someone will misinterpret or misunderstand them. A curious character might ask more detailed questions, speak more slowly, and use longer, more complex sentences to convey their thoughts.
So how do you use the six ingredients to create an unforgettable character voice?
The Power of Backstory
Your character’s backstory informs their emotional default. These two things together give you everything you need to know to perfect your character’s voice.
A character’s upbringing and life circumstances shape their emotional default. An only child has a very different foundation than the eighth child of ten. A child of blue-collar workers speaks very differently than a child of college professors. Social class; education level; cultural and religious background; and activities, passions, and hobbies all determine where a character falls along voice spectrum.
When you sit down to figure out the unique makeup of your character’s voice, ask yourself how their backstory informs each of the six ingredients. No two characters in your book will have the exact same ratio of the six. Even identical twins will have differentiated voices.
Case Study: Six of Crows
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is a master class in character voice differentiation. Bardugo uses six point-of-view narrators in rotation and keeps all their voices distinct and memorable. Let’s see how she does it using the six ingredients to dissect two of her voices: Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa.
Kaz is cerebral. His thoughts are strategic. Inej is sensory. Her thoughts are tactical, reporting on what she sees, hears, feels, smells.
When Kaz speaks to himself, it’s in terms like deals, profits, and leverage. He speaks to himself in statements.
It’s time to pay your debts, Kaz. You never get something for nothing.
When Inej speaks to herself, it’s in questions. She’s reasoning out what she’s sensing and what it means.
Inej could hear panic pulsing against his words, the startled wing beat of a frightened bird. Why? Moments before he’d been all bluster.
| Element | Kaz | Inej |
| Emotional Default | Cynical. | Quietly hopeful. |
| Diction | Uses economical, transactional words and phrases like “What business?” “leverage,” “fortune.” | Uses sensory words like “sheen of sweat,” “tang of gunpowder.” |
| Syntax | Fragments, short clauses, and punchy sentences: “I don’t hold a grudge. I cradle it. I coddle it. I feed it fine cuts of meat and send it to the best schools.” | Complete sentences, often poetic or proverbial. “The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.” |
| Rhythm & Pace | Speaks quickly; businesslike, efficient. | Thinks before she speaks. Trails off, pauses, gathers her thoughts. |
| Formality Register | Crude or jovial when performing as Dirtyhands. Cold and precise when he’s with people he knows. | Formal with those she doesn’t know, thawing a little with those she’s close to. |
| Catchphrases & Tics | Uses Ketterdam slang liberally, like “mercher,” ”parley,” “Barrel scum.” | Calls upon the Suli saints or repeats Suli proverbs to herself |
Kaz and Inej have similarities in their backstories. They both lost the family they loved, endured a traumatic experience, and found their way to the Dregs. But despite the similarities in backstory, their different emotional defaults guide the rest of their voices so they sound nothing alike on the page.
There’s more than one way to cook. You may do it by feel or you may do it according to a carefully measured recipe—both are valid. But if you’re having trouble with a character’s voice, try the carefully measured ingredients approach and let what you find diagnose the voice problem.
How does backstory inform your character’s voice?
Tell us in the comments.
Quick Recap: Character voice is a differentiator between a vibrant cast and a group of forgettable cardboard cut-outs. This post breaks down the six elements of character voice and how to combine them to create unique, memorable voices.
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Catherine Forrest (she/her) is a writer, editor, and longtime publishing industry professional from Baltimore, Maryland. She is a science editor by day and moonlights as the author of Shelf Life, a newsletter on writing, editing, and publishing. Catherine currently lives in the suburbs of Baltimore with her partner and several furry and feathered pets. She is principal and founder of Editor’s Desk. Her workbook, The Character Voice Lab, is available for download on Etsy.
