Writing Different voices for different characters

[Triskele_Lynx]

It occurs to me that people speak differently.

I'm not just talking about acccent and dialect, like a Texan MC and his Upstate NY lover, although that might be a place for me to start. I definitely want to use that beyond throwing in a few "y'alls" and 'yous guys." Okay, the latter is more Downstate and Jersey, but you get the point, I hope.

So, can anyone here point me towards some references on regional accents and using them in stories?

And when I get that down, how do I make my characters not all talk like, well, me?

 

[SailusGebel]

Not sure regional accents are the way to go.

 

[Triskele_Lynx]

Not sure regional accents are the way to go.

So, would that be the second or third option in the poll?

 

[Jerynboe]

Big agree on regional accents not always being the way to go, especially thick ones. They can turn into distractions, and should be used sparingly. Verbal tics, different vocabulary, overall tone, attitude, length of sentences, flowery vs terse. There’s a lot that goes into giving a character a different voice.

I’m currently writing an isekai where the MC is possessing someone that is still *sorta* present and I try to write the possessed elf rogue as more slimy and manipulative, and actively avoid incidental uses of modern slang. When the MC is fully in control he talks more like my natural voice. Making lots of small jokes, understating things, and being relatively direct when he tries to persuade someone of something. Just as an example.

 

[TsumiHokiro]

Different accents impart personality to a character, indeed. You're showing through an external characteristic that a character is different from others around them, or at least from the reader.
As #2 said, however, it is something that not everyone should use. It requires careful consideration of the setting you're going to use it. The reasoning shouldn't be so difficult to understand. People with thick accents can be nigh understandable inside the story, and worse, to the readers. On my story, I do use it, however, without any fear. Even thick ones. They have a purpose in my case, however.
Accents, however, are not limited to the way words are said. You can always have quirky ways of thinking/speaking. A character has a tendency of using words, of making certain mistakes (of language), of repeating words. It is what makes them unique in the end. It is also what an accent is all about. Not just the phonetic disposition.

 

[SailusGebel]

So, would that be the second or third option in the poll?

Fourth option. I think speech pattern is important, but I don't think you should achieve it with regional accents. I doubt a lot of people outside of US will understand it. What I think is the way to go is simply dedicate certain words, phrases, and sentence structures to chraracters. Character 1 starts his dialogue lines with "well" a lot of the times, and it's his or her thing. Character 2 refers to everyone with "pal". Some character always adds "In my opinion," some character talk as little as posisble, so the lines are always succint, and so on. I hope you understand what I mean.

Obviously, it's not some kind of rigid rule. If some character uses some kind of phrase or a word all the time, other characters can use it as well. But it is more of a one-off thing. Also, some character should sound similar.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

I think what is more important for giving characters personality is giving them their own approach and end goal in each conversation.
If they have their own angle in dialogue it will stand out.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

Yes, and anybody who says no should probably work on character writing. You don't have to do accents, but speech patterns are very important. Not only that but the words they use. You don't want a vampire queen to sound like a commoner.

Some characters just switch the order of words, and some are short spoken. All of those things are important to chracter development. That's why people remember characters like Yoda so well.

 

[TotallyHuman]

Some people talk in a concise manner, other people talk in a verbose manner.

Some people have certain verbal ticks, like using the word "certain" a lot. I say "oh well" when exasperated or don't have anything else to say.

I have never done it, but after writing a sentence a character says, think about the words that are unnecessary and remove them. Strip it to the bone and see all the ticks. Case in point:
I've never done it, but after writing a character sentence (a sentence that a character says -> a character sentence), remove unnecessary words (think about words that are unnecessary and remove them -> remove unnecessary words).

Ticks I found here: using "that" a lot to describe properties of objects.

Some people dance around the topic while others get straight to the point.

Some people speak in short sentences, yet others keep adding on and on to the base sentence when it would make a lot more sense to break the sentence apart into smaller ones like a normal person because it really helps to get your point across when you separate your speech into small digestible parts, but nooo, they just keep going and going, going and going amd it is so annoying, don't you think, though it may make the speaker seem like they rush when they talk, I guess, instead of taking their time to talk, at least to me anyway.

Some people will explain what they say in an exhaustive manner and others will end it where context is still lacking.

Try to say "I ate chicken for dinner. It was delicious" in several ways.

 

[Absolution]

These days I try to think about the rhythm of my writing and dialogue. Every irl person has a kind of tempo and tune to their speech, regardless of stuff like accent, word choice, education level etc. It also helps to imagine the voice and face of the speaker when youre writing dialogue.
John Jermaine DeJames from Brooklyn might say "I went to the library saying I came to read but actually, I'm there cause I need'ta get that library girl's number" and you kinda get an idea of what he's like
Now, when Stewie MacDewey from Bumcrack Tennessee goes to say the same thing he will be like "Y'know that heifer from St. Bibbidy's Library down on Skibidy street? Gertdang's she good, I might just come and read some of that newfangled plap-fiction ifyaknowamsayin hee hee". You immediately understand the difference between these two characters.
It doesnt have to be as silly as this example either G R R Martin for all his faults does this pretty well

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

On this topic there is a piece of advice I can give if you want to write a typical superhero vs supervillain story. Keep the hero's dialogue short and concise, and make the villain's dialogue longer. People want to see a hero shut the villain up through action.

Note that this is the most basic formula for typical super hero stories. Of course there are other things like talk-no-jutsu for Shonen's.

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Another thing I will say on this topic is that the Japanese have actually done this really well, even if you think it's over done. Obviously the different forms of "I", such as 'watashi, orewa, boku, etc.' make it easier to characterize in that language. But they do other things as well, like their archetypes for characters.

What is a super memorable line for tsunderes? "B-baka", this is usually followed by them hitting the main character. It's not just this one word though, another common characteristic is stuttering due to being excited. Main character excites them > they stutter and retaliate due to embarrassment.

What about kuuderes? They have short lines most of the time, and are often very mysterious until the MC peels apart that outer shell.

 

[Triskele_Lynx]

Fourth option. I think speech pattern is important, but I don't think you should achieve it with regional accents. I doubt a lot of people outside of US will understand it. What I think is the way to go is simply dedicate certain words, phrases, and sentence structures to chraracters. Character 1 starts his dialogue lines with "well" a lot of the times, and it's his or her thing. Character 2 refers to everyone with "pal". Some character always adds "In my opinion," some character talk as little as posisble, so the lines are always succint, and so on. I hope you understand what I mean.

Obviously, it's not some kind of rigid rule. If some character uses some kind of phrase or a word all the time, other characters can use it as well. But it is more of a one-off thing. Also, some character should sound similar.I

I'm not thinking of trying to phonetically write the pronunciation differences, if that's what you're thinking. That would be hard to do and hard to read, I think.

I'd do it more at the word choice and phrasing level. Ya'll or yous, pop or soda, how y'all are or how you doin', median or neutral ground, etc. Two of those are more Louisiana than Texas, but you get the idea, I hope.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[LilRora]

Speech patterns are extrememly important, but make sure not to force them on your characters. Most of all, changing up words depending on accent isn't necessary, it's more than enough to use/not use some words, sentence structures, or phrases (which is more or less what Sailus wrote above).

Edit: god damn, I actually read it and realized I wrote the same thing. Welp.

An important thing though, when you're trying to give a character a unique voice, try to focus on their qualities and quirks, not birthplace or something, because that's irrelevant to most people. For example, make a quiet, introverted kid speak in short sentences with a lot of interruptions. If you want to show where he lives or lived, you can add some small quirks, but, outside special cases, this shouldn't define his speech.

Of course, there's the option of a blunt Spanish girl former gang member using Spanish expletives in every third sentence, or every single if she's pissed, but those are extreme cases you won't see in real life often.

I won't be able to help you with regional accents at all, but one thing I found helpful to make characters not sound like me is listening to or reading some media featuring a similar character. I don't think it'll help much with accents, but it's way easier to work with speech patterns after processing examples.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Make more friends and spend enough time with them that you can hear their voice in your head when they're not around.

 

[Sweetmeat]

I only use regional accents if the character's foreignness is an important part of their character. Less is more when it comes to that, you really only want to sprinkle it in subtly. However, I vary character voice a lot when it comes to word choice.

For example, I have a scene where there are two petty thieves from the slums shooting the shit with each other and then a nobleman comes up to them. The thieves swear, they use slang, they use contractions and shortenings like 'whatcha doin' rather than 'what are you doing'. Things like that can add a lot to show differences in social upbringing, status, and education level.

People also vary their language depending on who they're talking to. A character could be a loud mouth brute when talking to their peers, then turns meek and formal when their boss walks up. Something like that adds characterization for both the brute and the boss. It shows that first guy could be all bark and no bite, but the boss is someone that people are really afraid of.

 

[QuercusMalus]

I am still working on this. I agree with Envy-chan though that it is a important aspect of being a good writer. It's also my weakest, or part of, as dialog is were I struggle. I would like to get to the point where my characters can be identified by how they talk.
But it is a balancing act.
'Unique' voices are too often forced and feel gimmicky. Yoda talk is understandable but pages of it would get obnoxious. Trying to decipher a faux-redneck-scottish accent written phonetically makes me go cross-eyed and drop the story within a paragraph.

 

[BouncyCactus]

Trying to decipher a faux-redneck-scottish accent written phonetically makes me go cross-eyed and drop the story within a paragraph.

Oh, yes. If it is just a seldom-seen character, I don't mind, it makes them a little more memorable, but don't have that all over the story. It is not very easy on my ESL skills.

It is hard to make a good dialogue sound natural and easily distinguishable. If you ever see a transcript, you know that people use a lot of filler words, uhms, and all. I tend to also gravitate to using certain words more than others (Masticated vs chew), or (Grey vs Gray) due to how I was exposed to the language first. I do agree that less of the accent, and more of the tones, vocab chooses, and the flow of conversation.

 

[melchi]

Not everyone is Texas is y'all this and y'all that. Trying to use reginal accents risks coming across as discrimination.

This is less of a risk in another world.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

Not everyone is Texas is y'all this and y'all that. Trying to use reginal accents risks coming across as discrimination.

This is less of a risk in another world.

It's not discrimination. A lot of people in Texas do say y'all. If anything they would probably be happy to have their accent included if you do it right. It just depends on your audience. I made that Pepe story with Texas in mind that's why there are stereotypical phrases, and high noon and saloons get referenced.

 

[BouncyCactus]

Not everyone is Texas is y'all this and y'all that. Trying to use reginal accents risks coming across as discrimination.

This is less of a risk in another world.

It's not discrimination. A lot of people in Texas do say y'all. If anything they would probably be happy to have their accent included if you do it right. It just depends on your audience. I made that Pepe story with Texas in mind that's why there are stereotypical phrases, and high noon and saloons get referenced.

Not all, but most of us do. The urban population, not so much, unless you are in the more historic part of it, but ppl do say y'all and howdy in daily conversation and all. I don't have much of an accent due to me not originating here, but I do absolutely say y'all all the damn time. Howdy, not so much, it is everywhere here. It is short for "How ya do?" or "How ya day?", and I the shop greeter here use it a whole lot.

My two cents on doing a regional accent is that, as long as it is respectful, purposeful, and all, I'm all for it. Accents can help enrich the world, and it is perfectly fine to use it real-world template to build on. I mean, isn't that what slang are, technically speaking? A regional dialect or shorthand used by a local population?