A Guide to Creating a Unique Character Voice

Originally published Aug. 11, 2015 as “Can you recognize your character’s voice?” UPDATED June 3, 2024.

My last blog talked about point of view (POV), so it seems appropriate today to discuss creating a unique character voice for each of your book’s main characters.

Our voice is as much a part of who we are as is the shape of our face. It’s an aspect of our physical being that people come to recognize about us as they get to know us.

Just as we—as writers and as individuals—have a recognizable voice, the characters in our novels have voices, too. And they shouldn’t sound like you or like every other character in your novel.

Though the reader doesn’t hear voice in the usual sense, the reader can recognize it through the character’s personality, how he or she speaks, and the words that character uses. This is character voice and is as apparent in the narrative of your POV character as it is in the dialog of your characters.

Traits of Voice

There’s more to voice than simply the audible quality when one speaks. Also consider how those words are delivered. What is the…

• Cadence
• Diction
• Complexity
• Attitude

If your protagonist is a corporate attorney at a prominent Boston law office, the reader wouldn’t expect the character to sound like a cattle rancher. Nor would a reader expect an uneducated gang leader from the ghetto of LA to deliver his words politely and with perfect grammar (an interesting thought, but the reader will need background as to why).

In creating a unique character voice you need to know as much about your characters and their world as possible.

The Substance Behind Voice

The substance you’ll pull from as you create your character’s voice can include:

Upbringing: What was the home environment like? Nurturing, encouraging, empowering, dysfunctional, abusive, addictive? These will impact the character’s personality and view of the world, and thus how they communicate with the world around them.

Culture: By culture I mean “the body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group” and “the typical behavior or standardized social characteristics peculiar to a specific group, occupation or profession, sex, age grade, or social class : the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time” as defined by Merriam-Webster Online Unabridged Dictionary.

Communication styles can differ tremendously from one culture to another. For more, read this post.

Geographical Region: Dialects exist everywhere. Regional differences may also affect cadence. Does a New Yorker talk faster than a Southerner?

Education: This seems obvious, but if you don’t stop to consider it, then you are doing your character a disservice. How much education does your character have and how does it impact they way he/she communicates?

Temperament: Temperament affects a person’s communication style. Whether you use Myers-Briggs, Keirsey, DISC, or enneagrams, give your character a temperament. For more, read this post.

Job/Business: Many jobs have jargon connected to them as well as complexity. A doctor and a lawyer are likely to have more complexity to their voice, as would someone with a genius IQ. Use this to your advantage, but don’t overuse it. Let it give your character flavor without overwhelming the reader’s taste buds.

Yes, this takes thought. But readers fall in love with characters not plots.

Creating a unique character voice can help your reader fall in love more quickly with your characters and your own writing voice.

Questions or comments? Leave them below.