Inspirational voices?

[Aidan of the tavern]

Well as writers we all take note of the visual details we see in life, subconciously storing them away or taking note of them for a future description. But what about the sonic details? I'm thinking here of voices specifically. I don't know about you folks but I often end up hearing a distinctive voice, deep, smooth, accented, etc, and think "I have to have a character who talks like that".

What voices do you find ispirational in terms of characterisation, or that you could listen to for hours? For me its always changing, but at the moment I would love to have characters who talk like Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchete, or Morgan Freeman.

 

[JCFarnham]

I know exactly what you mean.

Cle Bennett has a good voice

 

[Caged Maiden]

<- Smooth deep voices send shivers up her spine and make her heart flutter.


You know, I've never thought on this too deeply before, but I would say that while most people have distinct voices, they aren't necessarily "different" enough to be recognizable as a book character... for instance, how much description would I have to go into to get a reader to hear Morgan Freeman's voice..... So I tend to only mention general particulars, and then only a couple times.

It's too bad that it's so hard to describe voices. Sometimes I have referred to the meter of someone's voice, or the harsh rasp..... but unfortunately, it's too hard to describe a voice if I have a particular one in mind.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

Hm, interesting question. I don't think I've ever done a deep dive into how my characters talk. There's a character here or there who has a "rumbling voice, like distant thunder" or a high-pitched squeal, but those are mostly shorthand for describing minor characters. My major characters don't usually have that; I let their speech patterns determine how readers think they sound.

 

[The Blue Lotus]

Transfering a sound into writing is not easy.

I have tried and ended up settling for something far less wonderful than what I hear in my head.

Good luck!

 

[Amanita]

I like to describe the effects people's voices have on other characters. No idea if that's good or not but it's something I'm likely to notice when meeting someone for the first time (unlike say eye colour), and therefore my characters do too.
For one of my female characters a male character's voice is one of the first things she's getting attracted to when meeting him for the first time.

 

[Ireth]

I hardly ever describe my characters' voices; I tend to let my readers make their own insights into how they talk. Occasionally a character will sound like a specific person, at least in my head -- Dominic Hawk, a supporting character in my novel Winter's Queen, was inspired by Boromir in Peter Jackson's LOTR, and thus to me he sounds like Sean Bean. That's about it, though.

 

[Telcontar]

Because I just finished watching the first season of Game of Thrones, a lot of those characters are on my mind (casting for that show was almost flawless, by the way). Peter Dinklage (Tyrion) and Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont) both have wonderful voices and delivery. Iain as Jorah has especially made me far more sympathetic to the character.

 

[JCFarnham]

I don't use inspiration voices as a way to fully describe my characters... they're inspiration. Well obviously haha. Hell if I know how to describe someone's voice in any more depth than "bass", "gritty", "sonorous", etc.

It the same kind of thing when I "cast" my stories. Its more for my own reference. I'm a visual person you see, and this way I don't get things mixed up. Helps with visualising.

 

[Aidan of the tavern]

<- Smooth deep voices send shivers up her spine and make her heart flutter.


You know, I've never thought on this too deeply before, but I would say that while most people have distinct voices, they aren't necessarily "different" enough to be recognizable as a book character... for instance, how much description would I have to go into to get a reader to hear Morgan Freeman's voice..... So I tend to only mention general particulars, and then only a couple times.

It's too bad that it's so hard to describe voices. Sometimes I have referred to the meter of someone's voice, or the harsh rasp..... but unfortunately, it's too hard to describe a voice if I have a particular one in mind.

Hmm, I wonder what it is about me as a writer that makes me pay attention to that sort of thing in a medium without sound. I do think its a shame though that voice descriptions remain comparatively so limited.

 

[Aidan of the tavern]

I like to describe the effects people's voices have on other characters. No idea if that's good or not but it's something I'm likely to notice when meeting someone for the first time (unlike say eye colour), and therefore my characters do too.
For one of my female characters a male character's voice is one of the first things she's getting attracted to when meeting him for the first time.

Really interesting point Amanita. I guess all it takes is to show how the main character finds a voice distinctive. He/she finds a voice really calming to listen to, that then becomes a signature thing for the reader to associate with the character.