Your Writing Voice–Part Two–Character Personas

     And what if she should die? She won't die. People don't die in childbirth nowadays. That was what all husbands thought. Yes, but what if she should die? She won't die. She's just having a bad time. The initial labor is usually protracted. She's only having a bad time. Afterward we'd say what a bad time and Catherine would say it wasn't really so bad. But what if she should die? She can't die. Yes, but what if she should die? She can't, I tell you. Don't be a fool. It's just a bad time. It's just nature giving her hell. It's only the first labor, which is almost always protracted. Yes, but what if she should die? She can't die. Why would she die? What reason is there for her to die? There's just a child that has to be born, the by-product of good nights in Milan. It makes trouble and is born and then you look after it and get fond of it maybe. But what if she should die? She won't die. But what if she should die? She won't. She's all right. But what if she should die? She can't die. But what if she should die? Hey, what about that? What if she should die?   

       The doctor came into the room

      "How does it go, doctor?" 

       "It doesn't go," he said.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

                                Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms pg 342

Writing in the persona of a fictional character – the character telling the story – is a technique that will be of tremendous benefit within your life writing. But, because ‘voice’ is so closely related to pouring your thoughts into your writing, you’ll find that your voice will be at its most confident when you write in that very personal voice. So how do you create a new voice, for a new character, without forcing your own voice to sound false, or abandoning it altogether?

Creative fiction requires the skill of creating empathetic characters you’ll write about. Being able to describe the emotions, the physical reactions and the thought patterns that occur during various situations you've experienced will stand you in good stead when you start a new character voice.

The voice (and style, and tone) of your writing will almost automatically change once you're 'into' your new character's persona. But how to get under their skin? Here are a few ideas to help this, followed by some exercise that will consolidate your progress in creating a voice for a character.

Examine your character so far, and ask, are they vibrant and vital? Real people have a vital  'life force' around them that is clearly missing, say in a mannikin. If your character is still flat on the page, their voice will be too. Think about:

• the sort of personality they have; extrovert? quiet? cynical? kind?
• Their physicality. Not so much what they look like; they can't be accountable for that! But what do they do with their looks? How do they walk (swagger, stumble?). How do they stand, sit, speak, address strangers?
• What about work? Are they good with others or better on their own?
• Also consider age, class, locality  religion or philosophy, job or profession. 
• In the exercises below, you'll write about their emotions. Think about how they deal with emotional issues: swiftly, reactively? Positively, fearfully? Head in the sand?
• When the heat is on (and in most stories, it should be on), how does your character react, especially in dialogue? Are they silent? Mad? Respond calmly? Flair up quickly then calm down? Apologise first? Hold the space? Be offended
• Think about––but not too many of these; don't over do this––if they swear or use slang, jargon, catchphrases or dialogue tics? 

Once you have some kind of idea of your characters’ personality and the emotions that lie beneath, and combined that with how you write in your voice when it's your emotions you're writing about, the best way to show a character's persona will come more naturally. Because you're not just describing what someone does or what they say, you're showing the reader how they're doing things, how they're saying things––the person they are inside. 

Make notes about all this, to help fill that notebook you bought just to work on this new main character. Once you've done that, move on to the exercises below. These will 'oil the machine' that will help you create a new character persona and their voice. Remember that when talking characters and particularly protagonists,  "voice" means "personality."  You've already started to create the personality of your main character. That's the foundation skill of writing fiction––creating characters that feel like real people––vital people with personalities.

When I first started writing my series about Sabbie Dare, a therapist living in Bridgwater, I spent a long time thinking about all the things I speak of above, and doing the exercises I offer below. Slowly over the course of the first draft, I began to know her well. Here is how I open her voice in the first Shaman Mystery.

I didn’t know it, but Cliff Houghton was already in police custody when I woke with a dreadful sensation at the back of a dry throat. It was too early on Saturday morning and I had the hangover to prove it.

Ivan was curled into his own hollow, back towards me, head deep in the pillow. I wrapped my body around him like peel round fruit. It had been a deliciously late night and I was too heavy-eyed to prevent the warm waves pulling me down.

'You’ll dream, Sabbie, girl, you know you will,' I warned myself. 'You always dream of horrid things when you slip back into sleep.'

I dreamt of the snarl of canine teeth, the fast flapping of wings, of being dragged, face down, through mud.

When I woke again, a cold but determined dawn was edging its way through closed curtains. 

                                    In the Moors, Nina Milton

Exercise: Analyse 'voice'

Take a piece of your writing – something already written around the character you're creating, for example. Stand up and read it aloud. Think about the following questions:

 • What’s the shape of the read?

• How does it roll off your tongue?

• Is there variety in the sentence lengths and structures, to make the voice interesting?

• What’s the tone of the voice?

Is it commanding? Questioning? Decorative? Humorous? Hyperbolic? Confusing? Clear? Do these tones reflect the character?

• Does its mood change during the piece? Does the mood reflect the character's mood?

• Has the voice entered the characterisation? If so, was that deliberate on your part? Has this improved the piece or confused matters?

• How well-rounded does the reading feel?

Experiment as much as you like. Create several experimental rewrites to help shape this new voice, which is springing out of your voice, like a new baby plant. Keep asking those questions.

Exercise: An emotional experience

Think back to a moment when you experienced one of the extreme emotions: the first flush of love, chilling fear, acute embarrassment, overwhelming joy, grinding hatred, unreasonable jealousy, pure pleasure, crippling indecision or total exhaustion.

You might choose to recall the time that you fell in love with the person sitting behind you in fifth form. What sort of physical symptoms did you experience? Did you experience loss of concentration, daydreaming, dry mouth, knotted stomach, loss of appetite or a constant desire to say the person’s name?

Freewrite around 200 words about your experience. 

Now rewrite it, moving into the persona of your character, 

 Exercise: Start a diary

This often help improve a new voice. Allow the character to have a diary they write in.  Perhaps start before the story does, and allow them to examine their normal life, before it drops into the mess you'll create for them. Let them talk about their day, and make sure they tell themselves the little secret things; how they really feel about their Mum; how work is getting them down, how they remember a lost love, even though they're happily married.

Exercise: The Bedroom

Describe a room that is special to the person. An under 18's special room is often their bedroom; a home worker might feel happiest in their office. Someone in jeopardy in their own home might retreat frequently to the attic. Someone who loves to cook is going to make their kitchen their heart-place. For some, it's a specific chair and the little table that stands next to it.

It might not be a room at all; it could be an area of garden, park or someone else's space, that they flee to when all goes wrong. An elderly man's special room might be the garden shed.

Don't forget wild areas; what does your character feel about them?

Once you're in the room, have a poke around. Try to do it when the character isn't there. They won't mind!

Start Writing!

By now, you should be itching to write your story. So go right ahead and enjoy the experience.