I'm in the midst of drafting a backstory for my third character, Matilda, and it's been quite a fun challenge. I'm actually working on the second draft... yes, for her backstory. The thing is, nobody will probably read this beyond myself. But I find it a great way to nail down her Voice, which is something that I've usually not paid any attention to in my earlier writings.
I developed my creative writing by starting out in Fan Fiction, and I was pretty proud of myself, for writing several multi-chapter stories involving my most beloved characters. Creating unhinged and insane plots and filling in the age gaps that the original writers refuse to do is quite satisfying. But, I never truly gave much thought about the vocabulary, the tone, or even accent, beyond a couple of choice words.
However, this being my first original story, I want to ensure every character DOESN'T sound like me. Matilda was an aristocrat in what would later become Germany. I am neither of noble class nor German, so writing Matilda in her voice is quite the challenge. I'm having to research the vocabulary that the Wealthy use. Like, I know there's a difference between will and shall, but I don't quite understand when one is appropriate over another. Us common folk aren't educated on those little nuances. I'm actually learning some German via crash-course (I'm actually going to study a bit of Latin as well, because it's tropey in terms of anything Magical. Besides, I like the way it sounds when casting a spell.)
But the vocabulary is only one aspect of a character's Voice. I've also got to keep in mind Matilda's accent. I need to remember her German (actually Thuringia) heritage (and this is cool, because I'm learning so much about Germany too!) This is accomplished by integrating German words into Matilda's dialogue. For example, her Bazooka, Venichter, is obviously a German word meaning Destroyer or Annihilator, but it's not pronounced with a V. In German linguistics the V is pronounced as an F. Therefore, when I first introduce her weapon of mass destruction, I have to phonetically sound it out for my audience as fair-NIK-ter, and although I know this now, whenever I re-read her dialog, my brain insists using the V sound instead of that F sound that I just learned. So then I have questions. Should I just translate the name to the phonetic version whenever she's speaking, or do I leave it spelled correctly? Phonetically, would help my readers stay in Matilda's voice, however, it's improper.
Finally, there's a bit to a character's Voice that extends beyond the sound quality or vocabulary used. Personality comes into play, and I absolutely need to remember to keep that consistent. Matilda is a condescending, sarcastic brat, who's been tempered by nearly 500 years of living on Earth. She's easily bored, and is psychotic, which makes her a very terrifying 11-year old to witness. Her youthful appearance disarms people, but her mind is nearly ancient in the wisdom that she's lived through, and despite all those years of living life, her Prefrontal Cortex never developed to include emotional regulation, decision-making skills, or advanced cognitive functions, important things like multi-level or time delayed consequences, never became a part of her life. Granted, this isn't about dialogue, this is about action beats, plot points, and mannerisms.
This is important, because when writing, I often don't think about how a child would react to some situations. My adult, fully formed Prefrontal Cortex tends to naturally think consequences through, and I end up writing as how my adult self would respond, and it's usually automatic. Like I don't even think about it, and while that's great for getting words down on paper (first draft), it suffers the actual story. And I feel this is where a good Second Draft comes in handy, or perhaps a Third Draft-- maybe I'll create a DraftList topic so we can discuss that aspect of writing...
Anyway, ignoring how your character would truly react based on their personality can dramatically change the story, and because this is a story from Matilda's perspective, I need to remain within her Voice.
I developed my creative writing by starting out in Fan Fiction, and I was pretty proud of myself, for writing several multi-chapter stories involving my most beloved characters. Creating unhinged and insane plots and filling in the age gaps that the original writers refuse to do is quite satisfying. But, I never truly gave much thought about the vocabulary, the tone, or even accent, beyond a couple of choice words.
However, this being my first original story, I want to ensure every character DOESN'T sound like me. Matilda was an aristocrat in what would later become Germany. I am neither of noble class nor German, so writing Matilda in her voice is quite the challenge. I'm having to research the vocabulary that the Wealthy use. Like, I know there's a difference between will and shall, but I don't quite understand when one is appropriate over another. Us common folk aren't educated on those little nuances. I'm actually learning some German via crash-course (I'm actually going to study a bit of Latin as well, because it's tropey in terms of anything Magical. Besides, I like the way it sounds when casting a spell.)
But the vocabulary is only one aspect of a character's Voice. I've also got to keep in mind Matilda's accent. I need to remember her German (actually Thuringia) heritage (and this is cool, because I'm learning so much about Germany too!) This is accomplished by integrating German words into Matilda's dialogue. For example, her Bazooka, Venichter, is obviously a German word meaning Destroyer or Annihilator, but it's not pronounced with a V. In German linguistics the V is pronounced as an F. Therefore, when I first introduce her weapon of mass destruction, I have to phonetically sound it out for my audience as fair-NIK-ter, and although I know this now, whenever I re-read her dialog, my brain insists using the V sound instead of that F sound that I just learned. So then I have questions. Should I just translate the name to the phonetic version whenever she's speaking, or do I leave it spelled correctly? Phonetically, would help my readers stay in Matilda's voice, however, it's improper.
Finally, there's a bit to a character's Voice that extends beyond the sound quality or vocabulary used. Personality comes into play, and I absolutely need to remember to keep that consistent. Matilda is a condescending, sarcastic brat, who's been tempered by nearly 500 years of living on Earth. She's easily bored, and is psychotic, which makes her a very terrifying 11-year old to witness. Her youthful appearance disarms people, but her mind is nearly ancient in the wisdom that she's lived through, and despite all those years of living life, her Prefrontal Cortex never developed to include emotional regulation, decision-making skills, or advanced cognitive functions, important things like multi-level or time delayed consequences, never became a part of her life. Granted, this isn't about dialogue, this is about action beats, plot points, and mannerisms.
This is important, because when writing, I often don't think about how a child would react to some situations. My adult, fully formed Prefrontal Cortex tends to naturally think consequences through, and I end up writing as how my adult self would respond, and it's usually automatic. Like I don't even think about it, and while that's great for getting words down on paper (first draft), it suffers the actual story. And I feel this is where a good Second Draft comes in handy, or perhaps a Third Draft-- maybe I'll create a DraftList topic so we can discuss that aspect of writing...
Anyway, ignoring how your character would truly react based on their personality can dramatically change the story, and because this is a story from Matilda's perspective, I need to remain within her Voice.
