Gail, as a writer, how do you remember how to write each character and not feel like you're writing the same person with different powers/abilities each time? I find myself absolutely stuck and it feels like all my characters are the same versions with dif

I’ll be honest, this is a pretty essential skill to have if you want to be a writer.

It’s entirely possible that the voices sound more similar to YOU than they do to the reader, so I would have some people read your work cold and then ask them if they got the impression that the characters spoke too similarly.

But I do have some advice. First, make a conscious effort to give each character a significant trait. What is the character about, what defines them? Are they smart? Flirtatious? Sarcastic? Obtuse? Any of these traits and a thousand more will define them differently from the other characters. Not just in their speech, but their behavior.

Second, think of their background. People make fun of actors asking, “what’s my motivation?” for bit part roles, but that’s what a writer needs to ask constantly. And also, where is this character from? Are they poor, rich, straight, gay, from the East Coast, from the West Coast, all of how they live should be at play in their dialogue.

Third, LISTEN. Go out and listen to real people speak. You will hear instantly how differently people convey the exact same thought. I’m not saying you should repeat or emulate how real people talk, that is normally pretty dull soup. But develop an ear for dialogue that HOOKS the listener. My biggest pet peeve is dull dialogue, it’s just inexcusable.

Which leads me to my last bit of advice, which is, REWRITE. Seriously, this is easier than it sounds. Write your story, go through it and don’t worry about getting the dialogue perfect. Most writers use ‘place-holder’ dialogue at some point in their scripts, that’s dialogue that you are putting in until you think of a better line later. You can do that with your entire script. Go through another pass, focusing ONLY on the dialogue of one character at a time, and make their voice SPECIFIC. And fix all their dialogue so that they are individuals. Do that as many times as it takes.

I know this sounds like a lot, but it’s essential. And it gets easier, I promise. It’s a skill that can be honed, not all of writing can be trained, but this is something that definitely can be trained and learned and mastered.

GOOD LUCK!