: Re: avoiding making all your characters sound the same We surely all have little quirks to our speech. Like my daughter once criticized my writing for using the word "surely" too much. (See, I

@Debbie451

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Spend more time with your character outside the book.

Have you ever seen those email questionnaires which go around
occasionally? What's your favorite toothpaste, Coke or Pepsi, Beatles
or Stones, ever been to Africa, what's under your bed, etc.? Get one
of those, blank it out, and answer it from the perspective of your
character.
Cast your character. That is, in the movie, is your college professor played by
Morgan Freeman, Nathan Lane, Queen Latifah, Benedict Cumberbatch, or Judi
Dench? Imagine the person talking. Really hear the voice.
Write a letter to the editor from your character about something
which the character is passionate about: global warming, gun control,
abortion, dangling participles.
Write an email/letter from your character to his or her best friend.
Mother. Spouse. Send the character on vacation and write a whole email exchange.
Nice bit of advice I saw somewhere: what does the character do in a
quarrel?

Once you've spent some time establishing the person beyond his or her place in the plot, it will be easier to write in that voice. You may well have to go back multiple times for multiple people, and you may have to tell your beta readers and editors "Make sure my characters don't all sound the same."

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