On Nov 29, 2011, at 11:38 AM, Nat Russo wrote: > Ray, > > I'm curious if you have any exercises that you go through to find the "voice" > of a new character? I'm going through my first draft, revising what I have, > and finding some inconsistencies surrounding voice (basic questions that > bother me all the time, such as "would my character speak with a contraction > here, or would he never use contractions?", etc.) I've read about some > techniques writers use to find their voices, but I'm curious if there is any > particular one you favor?
I listen to people. I listen to people speaking around me, to characters in film and TV, anywhere. It's hard to deliver a rhythm and cadence of sound in print, but you can giver hints to the reader in framing, i.e. In a deep booming voice, Comedy Relief Guy shouted, "What have we here? . . . " etc. Very distinct voices can be shaded by how you have them speak, with Yoda being a classic example in the extreme. BTW, it appears there's a stage in language evolution where early cave dwelling man pretty much sounded like Yoda (not the part when you suddenly think you're hearing Miss Piggy). German maintains some of that linguistic structure. "Thinking you are, to run, fight, bargain?" as opposed to "Are you thinking we run, fight, or bargain?" Like any other aspect of writing, practice. Best,R.E.F. ---- www.crydee.com Never attribute to malice what can satisfactorily be explained away by stupidity.
