The Sketching of Voice

The cantor, the clip, the genius-like tilt to his every sentence, I’m going to miss these most of all when Quiver comes to an end.

The “he” I’m referring to is the novel’s main character, Brevyn Steed.

Of course, it matters little his name, his backstory, his sexuality. This is about the way a man talks.

When creating a character, particularly one that runs through a series of novels, I think it’s absolutely crucial to find that person’s voice and latch on to it as if you’re writing life depended on it (which it does, I suppose, in some macabre, fatalistic manner.)

An identifiable cadence, a familiar meter to a character’s speech offers the audience something to grab onto themselves, especially as they traverse a book series.

I always try to make each player’s voice unique. For instance:

1.) The way they deliver a sentence… Do they start and stop with periods and full breaks after every little thought? Or does their thinking run together with commas only providing the needed breaths?

2.) Their word choice... Are they a walking thesaurus? Are they highly educated and enjoy showing off their mastery of language? Or do they have a limited vocabulary, offering more bang for their word buck? Do they curse? If so, how much and how far are they willing to go?

Oh, I’m sure there are a dozen other examples, but I think you get the picture.

The point is, and it is a rather selfish one today, I will miss writing Brevyn Steed’s voice. Rarely have I found a character that I simply harmonize with so well.

Ok, here ends today lecture. Back to the normal nonsense next time. *smiles*

Until tomorrow…

Chloe