How do you keep in mind your characters' individual voices when writing from different POVS

[Leyelle]

Does anybody ever accidentally make their new leads voices sound too much like another characters voice from another story? Mostly when writing "Rigamarole" Leia's voice naturally stood out differently from Alicia's in "Damsel in the Red Dress." But occasionally some of her speech patterns will sound a little Alicia-ish, so I have to go back and rewrite it in Leia's narrative voice.

[skidiggy]

This might sound really weird, but I'll tell you how I do it...
You know the old Scooby Doo show from the sixties/seventies? The old one, with the goofy villains and the celebrity guest stars? Remember watching the gang walking together with Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Daphne, and Velma?

Each of the roommates in Apparent Secrets was assigned one of their walk cycles. No joke.
When I'm writing for Byxx, I think of Fred, confidently walking with broad chest and big strides, pumping his arms for speed. When it's Khazmine's turn, she swivels like Daphne. Zayzann bobs and sways like Shaggy. Iris is careful and closed off like Velma, only looking at what's directly in front of her.

When it's time to write for one of the roommate's POV, I'll take a lap around my place like the character would. It puts me in the same headspace as the character, and I write more organically with their style and rhythm in mind. I hope that helps.

[Leyelle]

SOooooooo, yeah probably won't help, but that'll certainly sound good in master classes when you're famous.

[skidiggy]

Hahaha. I feel that. It's weird, but it works for me, lol.

[Leyelle]

Everyone has very different methods lol.

[Leyelle]

Another method I occasionally use is to listen to a song that fits the emotion being felt by the person narrating the chapter.

Unfortunately I don't know many songs where the emotion is 'dead inside' enough to be of much help with Essence, but it can be nice to do for chapters where characters are feeling stronger emotions, or emotions period rather.

[skidiggy]

That's a tough one. I search for "sad classical music" on YouTube and find something suitably morose to get through the tough chapters. I start with either Chopin's "Raindrop" or Mozart's "Lacrimosa" for a good sad. Tchaikovsky's "Valse Sentimentale" also gets a good sad going for me.

[Leyelle]

For sad I usually use James Arthur. For sweetly romantic things like "Sunday Crossword" by J. Maya

[Leyelle]

Working on my new story "A Dozen Morning Glories" has meant learning to speak in an entirely new narrative voice that is very different from Alicia's. It was pretty tricky at first honestly, because I naturally lean toward the more poetic and flowery, but it doesn't suit the character of Essence, which makes sense as she's basically the polar opposite of Alicia in nearly every way.

I got suggestions from quite a lot of people, including my editor (forever grateful to him) for how to make the narration suit her character best, but I hope it won't be too much of a shock for the people used to "Damsel in the Red Dress."

[Leyelle]

I think answering lots of different little Q&A and random questions as my characters really helps me almost like a sort of role play, or filling out a personality test as my character to help me figure out new things about my characters. often I'll learn something about them during the process that I didn't know about them, even if it's as simple as their favorite meals, but other times it will spiral outward to me learning more about their lifestyles because of these things. Perhaps a character whose favorite food is salad is a really awful cook, had a small appetite, or never has any time, things like this. other times it just helps me figure out how their personality can be represented through more parts of their lives, or the ways they can have nuances I wouldn't otherwise expect.

Just answering the question 'favorite song' from the perspective of my female lead in "A Dozen Morning Glories" who doesn't care for most things made me realize that she would still gravitate toward specific styles of music for her own reasons that have nothing to do with enjoying them.

[Leyelle]

working on a new story means new mindsets/headspaces. how long does it usually take everyone to adapt to writing a brand new character's mindset or to be able to fully write from their pov?