The Character's Voice Takes Over (FBB #1)

First Book Blunders #1

The character's Voice Takes Over

This sounds counter-intuitive: calling this a bad thing. Your character's voice is supposed to take over. Right? Well, to an extend, this is true, but it should be natural.

I am currently reading a book -which shall remain unnamed- that has a very distinct character. The way she talks is really interesting, and I like it for her, but I think the author went too far in milking the voice from the girl. Every sentence is dripping with this voice to the point where I become confused at some points. I know this isn't the author's normal voice either. I've read her other things. It's similar, but it's much more forced.

You should let your character decide what their voice is. Consider how they were raised, what kind of people they like, what kind of education they have, what they like to do, etc. But you also need to keep your own voice. If you find yourself having to open a thesaurus every time your character speaks, it's going to sound forced.

This can also sometimes stem from authors trying to imitate other authors. They look at their favorite author and say, "Hey! I want my book to sound like Emily Dickinson wrote it!" (Which wouldn't happen, because she wrote poetry... but just an example.) Or "You know who my character kind of sounds like? Tris from Divergent! maybe I should write it like Veronica Roth!"

I don't want to kill your hopes here, but I have to say it.

If all you do is copy, all you'll do is fail!

Sorry, but you were going to find it out the hard way if I didn't warn you. And it makes sense when you think about it. Would you come home from a five star resturaunt and say, "I'm going to make our family dinner tomorrow look exactly like dinner at this fancy, five star restuaraunt even though I've never cooked professionally!" Okay, maybe some of you would, but I'm sure you'd find quickly that your cooking wasn't quite up to par with your expectations.

The point is, let your characters decide your voice, but don't let them control it unless it feels natural, because if it doesn't feel natural to you, it won't feel natural to the reader.

What is FBB?

First Book Blunders are mistakes that I notice in many first books. I call them mistakes because they may jar the reader, confuse them, or give the writing an amateurish feel. Many times, if you see these mistakes, they are in the debut novel written by the author, so I've grouped them together under this name. I have yet to see anyone else do this, but since I am myself trying to find these so I may avoid them in my own fiction, I thought they may help some of you.

Please check back in soon for the next FBB!