A writing group in Portland told me my characters all sounded the same

About two years back, I joined a small writing group that met at a library in Portland. I was really proud of a short story I'd written, but after I read it, one of the members, a retired editor named Carol, gave me some hard truth. She said, 'Miles, I can't tell your teenage hacker from your seventy-year-old gardener in their dialogue. They all just sound like you.' That hit me hard. I went home and really looked at my work, and she was totally right. I started doing character voice exercises, writing pages of dialogue for each person before I even began the story, just to hear how they'd talk. It felt silly at first, but it made a huge difference. Now I'm way more careful about giving each character their own words. Has anyone else gotten feedback that made you completely change a basic part of your writing process?

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3 Comments

emeryw166mo ago

Honestly, sometimes I think that feedback is overrated. If the story is good, who cares if the voices sound a little similar? Not every character needs a whole new way of talking.

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barbaraw106mo ago

Got told my dialogue was flat once. Started reading everything out loud in silly voices, felt like a total goof. But hey, it works, right?

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nelson.gavin5mo ago

Ha, yeah but reading them in a bad British accent is what really brings the characters to life.

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