Screenwriting : Hold Up...Is That My Voice, Or Yours? by Imo Wimana Chadband

There are tons of suggestions online and in book form. I used to read that stuff, but now, for better or worse, I just kind of wing it. A lot of times I'll develop a character's voice by distinguishing it from some other character 's voice so that together their voices clash like swords. Sometimes I'll base a character on some vivid real-life character I've known at some point in my life. Charles Dickens had a mirror in his office he used to imitate the faces of the characters he was creating and to make their voices. To each his own.

I find it’s sometimes an unavoidable part of getting the first draft on the page. It’s not enough to know how you don’t want them to talk, you have to know what they ultimately say and do, and that’s easier to answer when the story’s complete. I try to tune it out until I’m done with the rough draft, then like CJ said model them after someone I know or am familiar with.

In my experience, you truly get to know the story only when you begin committing to the page. As useful as such outlines are, everything changes when you start hacking a path through the wilderness, as it were. It may feel extraneous, but I think it’s thorough.

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Imo Wimana Chadband the toughest thing I run into is my characters won't say what I want them to say. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out something they will say. When writing a novel, I literally saw my character lean up on his elbow, look directly at me and say, "I wouldn't say that shit." Startling. I have been a willing dictationist since.

I don’t even think about that until I am revising I just get stuff out of my head. Sometimes it sounds like my, other times they sound each other.

Until I send it out I know it is constantly changing.

Imo, that must be learned. One early criticism I had was "they all talk like you."

The truth hurt.

I broke out of that when I purposely wrote a Samuel Jackson type character. The reviewer comment was “ Damn, that is so Samuel Jackson.” I got it.

I started using the voices of people I met or knew, equal parts imagination, memory and experience.

If you want a serial killer character, go check Mano Benjamin. If you want a cold blooded killer research Boysie Singh. There are tons of people who can be the kernel of one of your characters.

Imo, one trick I've learned in trying to give my characters their own individual voices- besides looking to relatives and coworkers- is to cast the screenplays in my head; be my own casting director. And I'd pattern most of my characters after the performers I'd envision playing those characters.

This would take a blog post to answer... quick notes: characters don't speak like regular people, all of the small talk gets cut out. People don't often say what they really mean, which is a mistake many writers make. Characters talk around a subject and what they really mean is buried in the subtext, which many writers take a long time to get. On a deeper level, certain thematic words are buried in conversation - like "family" in the Godfather - most writers miss this.

Welcome Imo!

In my opinion, it's okay if all the characters "talk like you". It's your voice that you're applying to your characters and helps develop your particular writing style. It's just a matter of creating distinctive character personalities. If you're writing a protagonist or main character that's more akin to how you would react or how you would approach situations, let that character be the primary reflection of you. As far as writing other characters in your story, draw from observations that you see in other people in real life. Take their unique personality traits and apply them to your supporting characters while at the same time maintaining your writing sensibilities and retaining your voice.

I worry less about character voice and worry more about character point of view. The cliche advice is every character sees themselves as the hero.

Rian Johnson said when he got notes for Knives Out, Readers said there were too many characters talking and “sounding” the same in the first 10 pages; But RJ stuck to his instincts. He believed casting with famous Actors, the audience wouldn’t be lost in the story.

It's not about how people "sound." When you get that note it isn't what it's literally saying. People in social groups tend to use the same language when communicating. It's not about how they sound, it's what they are saying and especially what they are not saying.

A husband coming home late from "work" that's "tired," but really hiding that he got laid off a week ago and has been driving around all day, isn't going to say the same things as the wife whose hiding she has a gambling addiction and has been forging checks around town since the bank account is overdrawn. He's going to complain that the food is dried out and she'll say it's because he's so late - but neither are going to talk about what's really happening.

And when she says that her sister has invited them over for Sunday dinner, he won't commit because he's afraid the topic of his employment might come up, but he won't tell his wife that, he'll come up with some other excuse like work around the house he hasn't done in two years.

Thank you all for your excellent comments and recommendations!

As Dan said, a character's "voice" comes mostly from their point of view on the world. How do you know your character's POV of the world? It's in that adjective you put before their occupation in a logline, e.g. a cynical clown, a hard-headed librarian, a tender-hearted MMA fighter, etc.

Hi Imo,

SInce you stated "I'm forcing the character to do what I would do in that scenario," do you mean how a character would act/react in your story line? If that's the case...then yeah....they all shouldn't act/react the same way to things. Don't use "Imo Logic" for all your characters, and really get "into character" when planning your story. Your characters have to act "true to character" after all.

If you're referring to their "voice" or their "personality"....then yeah again....they all shouldn't sound alike or be alike either.

I've never had a problem with how my characters would act differently, because I planned for them to be different, but in my early scripts, I did have a problem with some/too many of them sounding like me. In those cases for me, I had to become a better writer in that area - one of the many areas that I had to advance my skills in from day one. Re-writing, re-writing, re-writing. I'd imagine the same has happened to others.

Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Imo!

Reading these comments have got me excited to dive deeper into my writing! Definitely a bookmark worthy thread. Some really great advice was given. While I have gotten better at giving characters their own voice and reactions in situations, I must admit that sometimes I do find myself saying "no that's what I would do/say, not them." I'm going to adopt some of the techniques given here and apply it to my writing process. Thanks again for taking the time to share your knowledge guys. Ya'll the real MVP's.

Inside my just completed screenplay, I had to change the 3rd act, because I allowed the characters to write it for me into a great finished script.