Character Voices

I don’t want to talk too much about character voices in dialogue, because we all know every character should have his or her own individual speech patterns (but read on, I am going to get into it near the end of this post). Instead I want to talk about the narrative style in a novel with multiple viewpoint characters.

It’s rare that I find a novel where the narrative style really changes when the writer switches viewpoints. There are a few. I thought Adrian Phoenix (link to the right) did a good job with this in her debut novel, A Rush of Wings (I reviewed it in January on Fantasy Debut). But in many novels the narrative style (the writer’s voice) doesn’t change much from viewpoint to viewpoint, and yet that fact doesn’t really jump out at you as you’re reading (or at me, anyway). In a few, however, the fact that there’s no change really does kind of spoil the novel. For instance, in a mystery I just finished (notice I’m naming the good example but leaving the bad example nameless) the main viewpoint characters were a crazed psycho killer and the detective trying to catch him, with occasional input from two kids. But they all sounded exactly the same. The narrative voice didn’t change at all, I mean at all, when the viewpoint switched.

I think in a novel where the overall viewpoint is closer to omniscient you can get away with changing your narrative voice less as you follow different characters, whereas in a close third-person you’d probably want to change your voice more. But I wonder to what extent most novelists think about this. I’ve always written close third-person and relied on my intuition to make it sound like my characters, but I’m not sure if that worked. I think I need to be relying more on conscious decisions about their voices. After all, in one of my favorite short stories ever (of ones I’ve written, that is) I made some specific decisions about how the characters would talk based on who they were, and I think that’s part of why I like it so much (for the curious, my Saxon main character spoke English using as many English-derived words as possible, whereas for the Norman guy I used French-derived words and sprinkled his dialogue with occasional snippets of actual Norman French from the period, which was around 1070 AD in post-Conquest England). But I’m curious about the extent to which other writers plan out how their viewpoint characters will sound before they start writing from their points of view.

In a book with only one viewpoint character, it won’t be as obvious if the character’s voice is really the writer’s voice. But I still think the character should sound like himself (or herself). This is a topic that’s been on my mind a lot lately as I plot to add more viewpoint characters to my own works-in-progress (and by the time these babies are done they’d better be the best damn novels ever, because they’re sure taking me forever).

Now about the things you can do to distinguish your characters’ voices in both dialogue and narrative. A lot of it comes down to how they think, but some will be based on external matters such as where they grew up and what their educational background and social status are. Regionalisms are an aspect of voice I don’t see used too often. Then there are speech tics, like, you know, characters who like use certain words or phrases in like every sentence, you know (although that would get like really annoying to read, you know?)? One trick that Adrian Phoenix used was to have characters refer to other characters by nicknames even in the narrative. So the minute you see a character using that nickname for somebody else, you know you’re in his head. It was effective.

There are a lot of other methods. Sentence length and structure can vary based on how each character expresses himself or herself. The writing will still sound like you, the writer, but at the same time it will sound like the characters. One note of caution, though, especially for dialogue: DO NOT, do not, do not have every sentence by every character trail off half-finished. Do not do this. I think people do this in an attempt to… Well, I mean, it’s probably supposed to… After all, in real life isn’t that how people…

NO. People do not talk like that in real life, and even if they do, dialogue isn’t about how people talk in real life. It’s a simulation of how they talk in real life. Trailing-off dialogue, especially when it never gets to the meat of what the characters are trying to say, is a big turnoff, at least for me as a reader. I see more of it in scripts than I do in fiction, but that’s probably because I read more unsold spec scripts than unpublished fiction. If one character talks this way, it’s not a problem, because it’s how that character talks. If they all talk this way, it becomes a problem.

Now I have to go figure out how my characters should talk.

Agents and How to Get Them

In the interests of full disclosure, I have to say I don’t have an agent myself yet, so I’m really only qualified to give general advice like don’t market your work before it’s ready and never pay an agent to look at it. But here’s what I know about how to get agents. Some of this is just common sense. Some is stuff I’ve picked up over the depressingly long number of years I’ve been writing. Some I made up out of thin air… Well, okay, no, I didn’t, I promise.

Getting an agent basically boils down to you giving them something they think they can sell. It’s a lot like working with a recruiting agency, except that agents don’t go trolling for writers on Monster and call them with prospective jobs. But basically Writer A submits his resume (=query letter) to Agent B, who knows what all her publisher/prodco/studio/etc. contacts want and uses that knowledge to accept or reject Writer A as a client. However, if Writer A has demonstrated an alarming lack of anything resembling writing ability, then he’s pretty much out of luck unless he’s a screenwriter with a hugely high-concept premise who can be booted off the project so someone who actually knows how to write can be brought on board to do a page one rewrite keeping only the premise. In short, get some qualified people to tell you your writing is decent before you bother with agents. Don’t blow it by trying too early. The agents aren’t going anywhere.

Always be professional. Never tell off a prospective agent no matter how much you want to. After all, you never know when you might want to work with them later on. And keep in mind that just because you get an agent doesn’t mean they’ll be able to sell your work. In some cases if they can’t sell your stuff pretty fast, they may lose interest in you.

Do a lot of research before querying agents. If you’re writing books, Writer’s Market has agent listings (you have to pay to use the site, but I assume they still publish their annual door-stopper which can be found in libraries or browsed in the coffee shop kindly provided by your neighborhood Borders or B&N… er, I mean, you can buy it at one of those stores). The Association of Authors’ Representatives has a searchable database and also requires its members to adhere to a canon of ethics, which is always nice (although maybe not if you’re an “agent” looking to scam people). Check the acknowledgments in books you like in your genre to see if your fave writers have thanked their agents, whom you might then query. Read blogs by agents like Nathan Bransford and Kristin Nelson. A friend has recommended Agent Query Connect, but since I’m not a member I can’t comment on how good that site is (well, I could, but my comments would be worthless). If you’re writing a novel, finish it before querying agents. For non-fiction you can query with a proposal and sample chapters.

If you’re a screenwriter, keep in mind there are the Big Five agencies (CAA, ICM, Endeavor, UTA, and William Morris) and then there are smaller agencies. Lots of contact info for folks in the entertainment industry can be found in the Hollywood Creative Directory (another pay site; not sure if the print version is still around). For a new writer, a lesser-known but hungrier agent may be a better bet than someone established who already has big-name clients and may forget you exist, especially if they can’t sell your stuff or get you work right off the bat. In the world of screenwriting, it’s also a good idea to have more than one completed script and several pitches ready for when they want to know what else you’ve got. Keep in mind a script isn’t completed just because you typed FADE OUT. Most scripts require several drafts before they’re market-ready (so do most novels, for that matter).

Probably the best way to get an agent is through a referral from another writer. But unless this writer is your BFF, don’t insult them by asking them to pass along anything sub-par. In fact, no matter who they are, don’t ask them. If they’re willing to read your work and they really think it’s great, they’ll offer to pass it on to their agent. If they think it sucks or would never sell or isn’t what their agent is looking for, they won’t. It’s that simple.

The best way to avoid being scammed is to know what’s going on and who’s who in your chosen sector of the professional writing world. Follow the publishing news. Read the trades. Read blogs. Read message boards (Done Deal is a good one for screenwriters, for all writers there’s Absolute Write, and at both sites you’ll find a mix of pros and raw newbs; for schmucks with Underwoods, there’s a site here where you’ll find fewer established pros but some good knowledgeable people and more cussing). Also, a lot of professional writers and screenwriters have blogs and/or websites. The Artful Writer (Craig Mazin’s blog) has a forum where a number of pros post (no guarantees as to the quality of what they post, but they post). Chatrooms such as the one at AbWrite or the one at Artful can be good places to schmooze with fellow writers.

That’s about it. If anyone wants to comment with more details or things I left out or personal stories about agents, you know where the comments section is.

Do Not Work for Exposure

I think I should set up a new category called “rants.” Today’s rant is about the folks who want writers to work for “exposure” or credit or want to pay $5 for a 400-500 word article. Or folks who want you to do a quick proofread of their work for minimal pay, assuring you the job shouldn’t take more than an hour or so (it will invariably take longer because their work will be full of elementary errors). Sorry, folks, pros like to get paid something reasonable. Because, you know, they’re pros.

I think there’s a perception that writing is easy. I mean, it is, right? You just sit down and bang out some words. Sort of the way I’m banging out this post. Bam, bam, hit save and you’re done. People who can’t do it assume they shouldn’t have to pay you more than a pittance for something so easy. Or maybe it’s just an employer attitude. There are certainly plenty of employers looking for highly qualified folks to take on huge responsibilities for a few dollars more than minimum wage.

The bottom line is you get what you pay for. If you want free content for your website, write it yourself. If you want to pay someone to write it for you, you have to offer a rate a professional is willing to take. Otherwise you won’t be getting a professional.

But hey, if there are any accountants out there who’d like to do my taxes for free, I promise to credit you on my tax form.

Where are all the ugly people?

We all know the drill. Detective must solve random mystery assisted by “beautiful female journalist” or “beautiful female lab assistant” or “beautiful female trash collector.” Or girl encounters “handsome stranger to whom she is inexplicably drawn” and must do whatever girls do in romances (fall in love with him, I guess). But I haven’t figured out where all these beautiful people come from. I mean, most people in the real world are not mind-blowingly beautiful. This is true even in LA. Where are the stories where the average guy gets the average girl? Or–take this one, writers of slacker comedies where the geek gets the babe–where are the stories where the average girl gets the movie star? Oh, and come to think of it, the movie star may not be all that hot when his makeup’s off.

Flawed people are more interesting than people without flaws. Beautiful female journalist? Blah. Female journalist with flaws and quirks and hang-ups and an ordinary face? I’ll take it (in any case, the detective probably has all those things too). If a character is going to be beautiful on the outside, I’m going to want to see some pretty deep emotional scars on the inside.

Part of the problem is “beautiful” means nothing. As character descriptions go, it’s as bad as “young.” Neither one tells a reader anything about who the character is. Sure, you can give the girl a slinky walk and a habit of wearing shirts that are too low-cut… then give her some cellulite and a good emotional reason for wearing the low-cut shirts (”she’s a babe and that’s what babes do” is not a good emotional reason). Then you’ve got a character. And that handsome stranger? Maybe he’s got a gut starting and he’s been working out like a maniac to keep it off. Make him something besides just handsome.

This isn’t really a rant about beauty. It’s a rant about depth. If “beautiful” or “handsome” is the most a writer can say about his or her character, that character isn’t ready to see the light of day. Er, and don’t add “young” to try to make it better.

How to Remain an Amateur Writer Forever in Ten Easy Steps

1. Make sure whatever you write is far longer than the desired word or page count. For a novel, plan to write at least 150,000-200,000 words. For a screenplay, never stick within the 100-110 page range. Keep in mind that 120 pages may sometimes be tolerated, so plan to hit the 140-page mark if at all possible. Alternately, you may opt to turn in something far shorter than the desired length.

2. Do not, under any circumstances, proofread your work. If you can manage as many as three or four typos or spelling/grammar/punctuation mistakes per page (or even more), you are definitely on the path to remaining an amateur writer forever.

3. Make sure that nothing worth reading happens in your work. Above all, do not include a plot. A good way to avoid a plot is to make sure your protagonist has no particular external goal or internal needs.

4. Steer clear of active protagonists. If you use an active, interesting, unique protagonist, you run the risk of someday garnering interest in your work. Make sure your protagonist never takes any action on his or her own and only reacts to events that happen to him or her. Passive protagonists all the way!

5. Use as many cliches as possible. If writing a fantasy novel, choose a farm boy for your hero and pit him against the Ultimate Evil (do not explain why this evil is evil; it just is). In a romance, your hero must be rich and decisive, your heroine a weakling who falls apart whenever he walks in the room. If you are writing a screenplay, make sure to begin with your protagonist waking up in bed and getting ready for the day.

6. If at all possible, refrain from having anything story-related happen in the first half of your book or screenplay. Definitely do not have anything intriguing occur on the first page.

7. Do not give your characters distinct voices. They should all talk like you. Do not do anything else to make them seem like individuals either. Never give them interesting quirks or unique traits, and above all do not allow readers to connect with your characters emotionally. Also have your characters constantly argue about inane and pointless things that have nothing to do with the plot (if there is a plot).

8. Try to avoid believability. Aim for contrived situations. Never let your characters do anything that a real-life person would naturally do in the same situation.

9. If you must provide a resolution at the end, stick to the tried and true. Never use anything original. If you have gotten your characters into a situation from which you cannot extricate them, do not look for a creative solution. Instead either stop before the end or use a deus ex machina.

10. Never do a second draft of your work. Continue to submit your first draft everywhere. If asked to make changes, change a few words here and there so you can say you complied. If given constructive criticism, become defensive and tell your critiquers they didn’t get it. Show them the error of their ways by explaining how much your mom loves your writing. If your critiquers are published writers, be sure to insult their published work. For a screenplay, don’t forget to add that your brilliant script is going unappreciated because Hollywood is creatively bankrupt.