In a fiction story why should characters "sound different"?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Missy V
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Missy V

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What potential advantages does having characters "sound different" bring to the writer when trying to develop a character?

What does Anne Lamott mean when she suggests that dialogue "encompasses both what is said and what is not said." What does it mean (what is the result) for a writer to restrain the dialogue of her characters?
 
To bring them to life, friend!

How a character says something reveals so much about them. It reveals their upbringing, their culture, and their values.

Whether it's polite to say so or not, all writers must recognize that speech patterns often reflect the social status of the person. A rich white youth from a private school in Manhattan will phrase things quite differently from a young black man from a public school in Trenton, NJ, no?

If the question is posed "Did Shakespeare write Harry Potter?" If your character defends Shakespeare against writing something as low brow as Harry Potter, or defends the integrity of JK Rowling as the miraculous author of Harry Potter that says something about the values and education of the character!

Do you see, friend? What we say, and how we say it reflects our pasts and the pasts of our families, whether we realize it or not!

Good question!

Good Luck!
 
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