Friend said my characters all talk the same, made me read them out loud

Was at a coffee shop last Tuesday and a buddy pointed out every character in my draft uses the same short sentences. Made me realize I write everyone in my own voice, not theirs. Anyone else have a trick to separate character voices?

4 comments

4 Comments

river_thompson1mo ago

Stories are just stories though, right?

garcia.wren1mo ago

Not when stories are all some of us have.

cora81318d agoTop Commenter

And honestly, @river_thompson, that's kind of the point - stories can be everything when you don't have much else. I've got a character who's basically been my coping mechanism for years now, like a friend I can always talk to even when no one else gets it. It's not about escaping reality so much as building a little space where things make more sense (even if it's just on a page). That kind of thing sticks with you, you know?

skyler_kelly691mo ago

Reading my dialogue out loud at home helped me catch my own voice bleeding through last month actually.