Is That You? Developing Voices for Different Point of View Characters

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Unique, stand out characters have unique, stand out voices, so it's important to consider how every character in your book sounds. 

Voice is important in a novel, and there’s more than just your author’s voice. Characters have voices too, and making those voices distinct in multiple point of view stories helps readers keep track of who’s who.

It’s also a good way to develop those characters into solid personalities, as knowing what they sound like can help you determine who they are (and vice versa). 

The Sound of…Someone 

Crafting character voices for a multiple POV story isn’t that different from creating the voice for a single POV tale. Everyone has their own speech patterns, favorite turns of phrase, physical reactions or gestures while speaking. But what really shows off a character's voice is their internalization.

(Here's more on how to write non-POV voices characters)

Creating a Character's Internal Voice 

How a character thinks and what they notice, from their internal thoughts to the narrative itself, is where a character's voice thrives. The always-distracted scatterbrain is going to see the world differently from the detail-oriented observer, and their voices are going to reflect that. For example:

Kate ran down the front steps, purse jangling at her hip, scarf tangling in the purse. Crap, my keys. On the table, of course, next to that thing she had to do later for that guy in accounting. Or was it marketing? She could never remember—wait, why is that woman staring at me? Is she the new neighbor in 1B? She smiled at the old woman glaring at her from the sidewalk, then dashed back to the apartment.

Katie ran down the front steps, purse thumping at her hip, scarf tucked around her neck. Who is that? An old woman lurked by the bushes at the edge of the stairs. She didn’t seem lost, so she probably wasn’t someone’s senile grandmother who got past the home nurse. It didn’t appear she was out for a walk, either, since she wasn’t moving. She was just staring. At her. Perhaps she’s the new neighbor in 1B. She smiled at the old woman, then hurried past with a quick “good morning” nod, just in case.

Same basic scene--a woman leaves her apartment, sees a strange woman on the sidewalk in front of her building. But they each notice (or not) particular things and their internal thoughts help show their personalities. It’s clear that Kate and Katie are very different people. Let’s look a little closer at exactly where the voice is and how it was accomplished.

Kate ran down the front steps, purse jangling at her hip, scarf tangling in the purse. Crap, my keys. On the table, of course, next to that thing she had to do later for that guy in accounting. Or was it marketing? She could never remember—wait, why is that woman staring at me? Is that the new neighbor in 1B? She smiled at the old woman glaring at her from the sidewalk, then dashed back to the apartment.

Blue: The author’s voice. I’m going to write the way I write no matter what characters I’m writing (as most authors do), and that will be most evident in the basic narrative. But when I chose what details to use, I picked ones that complemented the scatterbrained nature of this character. I used words to help reinforce this: jangling and tangling, smiled paired with glared, dashing back.

Green: Kate’s speaking voice. This is how she talks. Since this is internal dialogue, it’ll sound just like her external dialogue would be. I used words that implied interruption: Crap, wait, is that?

Red: Kate’s internal voice. The “voice” of the POV character. It’s the text that covers what’s going on, what Kate sees, how she feels about it, but it’s all in her POV, not the author’s. It’ll be similar to her speaking voice, but it won’t have that immediate present tense spoken feel. It’s internalization. The sentence structure is choppy, with one thought blending into the next to show her scatterbrain nature.

(Here's more on how to find your character's voice)

Look at the difference in Katie’s voice:

Katie ran down the front steps, purse thumping at her hip, scarf tucked around her neck. Who is that? An old woman lurked by the bushes at the edge of the stairs. She didn’t seem lost, so she probably wasn’t someone’s senile grandmother who got past the home nurse. It didn’t appear she was out for a walk, either, since she wasn’t moving. She was just staring. At her. Perhaps she’s the new neighbor in 1B. She smiled at the old woman, then hurried past with a quick “good morning” nod, just in case.

Blue: The author’s voice. Very similar, but I used thumping and tucked this time, because Katie isn’t a girl to leave the house with her scarf and purse askew. She’ll have her things in order. Same with her decision to smile and nod, just to be safe. Deliberate actions and words to show her deliberate nature.

Green: Katie’s speaking voice. Katie asks a question (who is that) and then proceeds to try and figure out the answer, ending with her assumption (the new neighbor). You can imagine that when she talks to people, it’s with purpose, and she probably doesn’t have a lot of frivolous conversations.

Red: Katie’s internal voice. This reinforces her deliberate nature. She’s trying to figure out who this woman is and why she’s there. She notes details (old woman, bushes) and gauges the most likely reasons for her being there (wandering grandma, out for a walk) before settling on her final choice (new neighbor), Even the sentence structure is more deliberate. More complete sentences, proper grammar (mostly), complete thoughts.

(Here's more on developing your narrative voice)

Creating Your Own Character Voices 

When you create your characters' voices, think about the types of people they are. Point of view is critical in a multiple POV story, because those different perspectives are what allow you to show the different sides of the tale. If every character saw things the same way, you’d have no need to use different POVs. Things to think about:

• How much do they notice about the world around them?
• What are the kinds of things they’d notice?
• What do they think about?
• What types of words best fit or exemplify their personalities?
• What type of sentence structure best fits them?
• What is their dialogue like?
• How can you capture that same dialogue feel in their internalization?

Some elements of who you are as a writer will naturally seep in (which is good, as your own voice is important), but each of your characters will have different personalities and see the world in different ways. Just like you use the right verb and the right noun to craft a well-written sentence, use the right worlds and phrasing to craft a well-developed character voice.

Do you think about your characters' voice before you start writing, or does it just happen?

*Originally published in March 2011. 

Find out more about characters, internalization, and point of view in my book, Fixing Your Character & Point-of-View Problems.

Go step-by-step through revising character and character-related issues, such as two-dimensional characters, inconsistent points of view, too-much backstory, stale dialogue, didactic internalization, and lack of voice. Learn how to analyze your draft, spot any problems or weak areas, and fix those problems.

With clear and easy-to-understand examples, Fixing Your Character & Point-of-View Problems offers five self-guided workshops that target the common issues that make readers stop reading. It will help you:

• Flesh out weak characters and build strong character arcs
• Find the right amount of backstory to enhance, not bog down, your story
• Determine the best point(s) of view and how to use them to your advantage
• Eliminate empty dialogue and rambling internalization
• Develop character voices and craft unique, individual characters 

Fixing Your Character & Point-of-View Problems starts every workshop with an analysis to pinpoint problem areas and offers multiple revision options in each area. You choose the options that best fit your writing process. It's an easy-to-follow guide to crafting compelling characters, solid points of view, and strong character voices readers will love.

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

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