The Importance Of Character Voice

You’ve probably heard “show don’t tell” at some point in your writing career (and if you haven’t, now you have!), but what does that really look like? Like any skill, there are varying levels to it. There’s the most basic application of showing the reader the scene through the description, and then there’s the character's voice. Each level has a purpose and a place!

Today, we’ll get into it using one specific example: a blue desk.

Basic Description

The most basic way to describe the desk is exactly how it sounds. It’s a blue desk. There’s nothing wrong with this description, and it’s perfectly fine for any project you’re writing. The only reason this is separated from the other categories is because it could be more descriptive.

Other ways we can describe the object are “the old blue desk” or “the new blue desk.”

These add a bit more detail and remain simple enough that the reader won’t have to focus too hard to imagine it. This level of description is perfect when quickly describing a scene or when starting to write.

Show Don’t Tell

After working with students for most of my career, helping them develop reading skills and write short stories at all ages, this is the one piece of advice they struggle with most. The type of language that helps show a scene rather than tell it to a reader is vague without the right understanding.

For example, rather than our previous descriptions, showing our object would look like this: The blue wooden desk sat in the corner.

This description shows us more detail about the desk while also placing it in the room for us. One thing that I make sure to share with students is the order of adjectives (for the older ones that want to pursue creative writing). Adjectives are ordered by opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, and purpose. It’s not always shared, and it’s not always the first thing we think of, but knowing this list can help brainstorm ideas for how to show what the scene looks like!

Character Voice

Lastly, using character voice can greatly strengthen the image you’re creating. Each character has their own experiences, views, preferences, etc. whether you tell the story in first person or third. We can use this when selecting different adjectives based on their connotation!

For example, imagine our character cares deeply about their home and the office space they’ve created. We may describe the desk as “The well-worn desk with chipped blue paint and coffee stains carried my life’s work on the surface and my soul’s purpose in the wood grain.”

If our character hates the space the desk is in–or is bored of it–we might describe it as “That same old plastic piece of trash, in that sickening shade of blue that gave me a migraine, waited for me under the fluorescent lights of the office.”

Both of these are quite descriptive, wouldn’t you say? The difference between these descriptions and “the blue desk” is the connection the characters have to the item. An antique piece of furniture passed down in the family will evoke a different response in a character depending on whether they aspire to live up to certain expectations or if they live in the shadow of their relatives. These descriptions do more than just show you what’s present in the room–they show you who the character is and where they are emotionally.

Putting It All Together

Not every description needs to drip off the pages with character voice. Things that don’t catch a character’s eye or have little importance to the plot can use basic descriptions to set the stage. Knowing when to use each of these can help build out your characters and your story, taking it to new levels and adding depth to the narrative.

Fleshing out your characters is more than giving them a backstory–it’s about how they perceive and interact with the world around them. It just takes a little practice!