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Wrote 6 prompts in one sitting after a friend told me my characters all sound the same
My buddy Dan read three of my prompts at a cafe in Tucson and said every character I write talks exactly like me, which stung because he was not wrong. So I started giving each one a weird habit or a job that shapes how they talk, like a retired line cook who answers everything with food metaphors. Just finished 6 prompts in one go and only 2 of them sound like me rambling. How do you all keep your character voices from blending together?
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scott.olivia21d ago
Ouch, that "not wrong" part is the worst kind of feedback because you can't even be mad about it. Good on you for actually doing something about it instead of just sulking. The job angle is smart, a line cook who thinks in food is gonna talk way different than a nurse or a mechanic just from the words they reach for all day. I do the same thing with small quirks, like giving one guy a tic where he repeats the last word of your sentence back before he answers, and it forces his rhythm to break away from mine. Six in one sitting is a solid haul too, and 2 out of 6 sounding like you is honestly a win compared to where you started. Keep the weird habits, they do more work than you'd think.
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