Hi everybody, it's Julie.
Today we're gonna talk about finding your character's voice.
You may have seen some publishers and editors and agents talking about how they really want
their stuff that's being submitted to them to be more "voicey," to be, to really nail
the voice of the characters, and that that's really what they're looking for, a certain
flavor, and some newer writers or people who don't have a whole lot of experience writing
in their genre may be a little bit intimidated by that, because they're not really sure where
to start.
And I've talked to more than one person recently where they felt like they had an idea of what
their character does, and what their plot is like, but maybe just don't know who their
character is or how to have them act.
They feel like they're not really ready to jump in and have them interact before they
knew who their character was.
So I'm going to offer you a list of ten exercises and little projects you can do to try to get
to know your characters if you're having trouble nailing your voice.
Suggestion 1: Have your character write a letter to another character or a group of
characters.
If that's something you can imagine, what would they say, do it in their voice, have
them say "Dear So-and-So," and figure out what they would write to another character.
It doesn't have to be anything plot-relevant, it can just be about what's been going on
in their life, and just try to figure out what kind of letter would they write and how
would they write, what would they sound like.
Would it sound more like they're passing notes in class, or would it be soulful and long,
would it be involved, would it have a whole bunch of song lyrics in it, you know, get
an idea of how your character would write a letter, and you may be able to start your
quest of understanding how they write and how they talk.
Suggestion 2: Picture what they see every day.
If your character is different from you in a certain way, even if it's something silly
like they're shorter or they're taller, if they have a different way of using their eyes
than you do, like if they're nearsighted and you're not or vice versa, if they're partially
blind and you're not or vice versa, you know, you can think about what that character would
see walking around your house, walking around your school, walking around your workplace,
and try to figure out what would they see differently from you?
Kinda start a running inventory in your head, would they be able to see the top of this
thing that you can't see, would they see the dust on top of a high space, or even maybe
if your character is from another time or another place, what would they find strange,
what would they be thinking about what they see around them.
Take a walk around places that are familiar to you and see them through unfamiliar eyes,
and start making mental notes about what that character would take note of and kind of get
into their headspace and that can help you figure out who they are.
Suggestion 3: And this is a longer-term one, but try starting a blog in character.
You don't have to make it so anybody can see it.
You could even make it private if you'd prefer.
Or you can just kinda role-play your character and talk on the blog about things they would
think about politics, current events, what they think of certain music or television,
you know, just what would they blog about, what would they think, write about their day
as if they have a blog and just start to try to get into the groove of how they talk and
what they would talk about, what they would care about, and you know, what would make
them want to write.
If they're not really the kind of character who would have a blog, you can still just
kind of pretend that this is their thoughts in another format, but you can adapt to your
character's situation and just try this for a few weeks or months and see what kind of
things come to mind.
That way you can maybe make a schedule and try to engage with your character's thought
process on a regular basis until it starts to feel natural.
Suggestion 4: Try doing an anonymous chat in character.
This might sound a little bit shady, like because you're literally pretending to be
someone that you're not, but a lot of times on these anonymous chats, they're not really
expecting to have an in-depth, truthful conversation, so you can go to something like Omegle dot
com and you know, get matched with a stranger, find somebody who can have a conversation
and then pretend you're the character.
Talk about what's going on in your life or your story, or just try to get a feel for
the personality, get a sense for what it's like to converse as them so you can figure
out what is their word choice like, what kind of subjects would they cover, do they use
punctuation or don't they, do they spell well or don't they, you'd be surprised the sorts
of things you start sliding into these habits that you can pick up and understand and learn
that will change for you if you just try to make this mental shift and talk as them, interact
as them, and do it in this kind of judgment-free, anonymous atmosphere, so you can try to figure
out who they are in situations that you're not necessarily planning yourself.
Suggestion 5: Do a character dream journal.
What kind of dreams does your character have?
Figure out two, three dreams that they might've had.
They don't, again, have to plot-relevant.
In fact, I think it's actually better for just figuring out character stuff if they're
not plot relevant.
You may be able to understand some relationships the character has with their family or their
friends, you know, what they're worried about, what their anxieties are, what their past
is like.
Things may come to you while you're trying to write about a dream that the character
had that you didn't know otherwise, especially since dreams don't necessarily tell you who
a person is, so why would they tell you who a character is.
You may be able to figure out you know, some alternate aspects of how they think, what
matters to them, what scares them, and you may try to either just write a dream or you
may write as if it actually is the character's dream journal and write about what their reaction
was to it, how they felt about this dream, or if they thought it was weird, or if they
thought it was revealing, if they thought it was prophetic, you can do a lot of stuff
with dreams.
And it doesn't have to be a work of art, because, I mean, just think about what you dream about,
what were the last few things that you can remember dreaming about, see if maybe you
can bounce off those experiences and figure out what they would be for your character.
Suggestion 6: Write your character a dating profile.
Now I do not recommend actually making it live, because dating profiles are, they're
invented to attract somebody and you know, you don't wanna be that jerk who interacts
with another person hoping to form an intimate relationship and they they find out you're
faking it or you know, you can--you can really stumble into some messy situations if you
do that.
But if you go to a dating website and copy out the questions that are the prompted categories
that dating sites like OKCupid ask you to fill out.
And figure out how your character would describe themselves to make themselves appealing for
a date, for romance.
I understand that in some situations, like if you have a character who doesn't do those
sorts of things, or already is in a long-term relationship, this wouldn't apply, but you
may still get something out of figuring out how that person would describe themselves
to make another person start romantic interactions with them, or to make them describe themselves
appealingly.
Suggestion 7 is very similar to Suggestion 6: Take some personality quizzes on behalf
of your characters.
You can just Google up personality quizzes, and you can take anything from an IQ test
to elemental associations to Myers-Briggs.
You can look for things that analyze a character's character, and answer as if you're them.
And then the results will often tell you some things about your character that you may not
have known, or you may not have consciously understood.
If they are more in-depth, longer, more serious, you're probably gonna find out more about
them than if, say, you're taking a test to see which character on a TV show your character
would be, or which color describes your character.
You know, try to stick to the things that the output is actually gonna tell you something,
but you know, you might, you might be surprised by what you can learn, and also it does serve
the purpose of getting you to think like your character, and would they really know the
answer to this, or how would they respond to a question like this.
So that'll be good practice for you reacting as if you're the character, and giving you
sort of an emotional palette to work with, so that can be helpful.
Suggestion 8: Come up with or draw a character's outfits.
Figure out what would your character wear if that character was invited to a date.
What would that character wear if they were invited to a job interview or an evaluation
of some kind in their chosen field.
What would that character wear to do their favorite thing.
What would your character wear if they were just lounging around the house that day.
You know, figure out what's in their closet and what kinda clothes that they would choose
to look impressive or look slobby, and you may learn some things about their mental processes,
you may learn some things about their tastes, you may learn some things about how they present
themselves to the outside world.
Suggestion 9: Find some songs that remind you of your character.
You may already have a playlist, a lot of writers do this where they collect songs that
remind them of their stories or their characters, so find some of these songs that remind you
of your character or you know, seem to be almost about your character, and then put
yourself in a frame of mind imagining that you are the character, that you're about to
write as the character, and listen to the song.
And then write a paragraph or two about what that character thinks of the song, how they
feel now that the song is over, how they relate to it, what it made them think and feel.
And you know, refer back to that if you wanna understand your character's complex, nuanced
feelings about a variety of subjects and experiences.
And lastly, Suggestion 10: Pretend your character needs to get a job or go to an academic interview
or you know, do something to be evaluated, and they have to fill out some kind of application
to get in or be chosen for something.
A lot of applications, especially for things like jobs or admissions to school will ask
you to list your talents, will ask you to list your skills, will ask you to list your
strengths and weaknesses.
What would your character put in those blanks?
And you gotta keep in mind, of course, that the way the character may describe themselves
is not necessarily how you as the writer, who knows more about them, would describe
them.
They may think they have strengths that they don't have.
They may not realize they have weaknesses that they do have.
They may think that they have talents and skills that are not as great as they think
they are.
So, if you get into the head of your character and figure out how would they pitch themselves,
I guess very similarly to the dating profile, but for professional atmosphere, what would
they list as their good points, their bad points, their talents, their skills.
So that wraps up my list of ten exercises that you can try, but I will say there's really
just no substitute for diving in and try to write as the character.
Even if you're not writing in first person, which a lot of people do write in first person,
but third person, you still need to be voicey, you still need to be able to convey a sense
of place and time and character and personality through your writing.
So if you're still getting stuck after trying some of these things, try writing a scene
that you maybe haven't gotten to yet.
You don't have to start at the beginning, but pick out a scene, one of the scenes that
made you wanna write this story.
And practice writing it, practice writing it from a different character's perspective
as they see your character.
You can try a number of writing exercises if you're just too intimidated or too dissatisfied
with what's been coming out of your pen lately, try it from different angles, just try low-pressure
practice writing as these characters.
Try any exercise you can think of.
And if you come up with situations where you had to write something in your own life, think
about how your character would do that, and try to do those thing as your character just
as an exercise.
So those are all things that should get you started.
I don't have any specific instructions on specific voices, like, you know, good for
Young Adult, good for young boys, you know, I don't have any specific suggestions, 'cause
I feel like that would be too presumptuous for me to try to tell you what you should
be writing like or what kind of points you should be focusing on for different types
of characters.
It would just end up being kinda stereotypical.
I just recommend the exploratory approach, and you may be surprised what ends up coming
out when you immerse yourself, and try to think as the character in one of these situations.
And you should be on your way in no time.
Thanks for watching!
See you next time.
For more infomation >> Nunca volveras a toser en invierno con esta receta a base de platano - Duration: 2:20. 
For more infomation >> Artist Zayn Malik Live
For more infomation >> A boiling lake in Kuirau Park, Rotorua - Duration: 4:28. 
For more infomation >> 5 minutes Acne Treatment "Intensive" Right At Home By Taking Leaf Vegetable Market wired Apart - Duration: 13:08. 
For more infomation >> [FESTE] ♥ EXPLOSION CARD ♥ BIGLIETTI SAN VALENTINO FAI DA TE ♥ - Duration: 5:50. 
For more infomation >> Day 30 Total Yoga Body Challenge THANK YOU! - Duration: 1:28. 
For more infomation >> Sergio - Duration: 1:34:24. 
For more infomation >> Studs Terkel: Listening to America - Duration: 40:09. 
For more infomation >> H1Z1 Trashy Gameplay - Duration: 17:00. 
For more infomation >> Apostolado Courage Promo 2017 (Legendado) - Duration: 11:35. 
No comments:
Post a Comment