You don’t want to reveal too much about your character in the first chapter. However, I am of the firm belief that if you write an excellent first chapter, the rest of the story will fall into place. Then, when you get into chapter two, you can delve into a character’s background and give little hints to the reader of what they are like in the story’s context.
Even something as simple as describing their voice can set the perfect scene in the mind’s eye of a reader.
It isn’t easy to describe a voice in a story without sounding cliché or overdramatic. So, I thought I would make a list of 41 possible words to describe a voice.
- adenoidal
- appealing
- breathing
- brittle
- croaky
- dead
- disembodied
- flat
- fruity
- grating
- gravelly
- gruff
- guttural
- high-pitched
- hoarse
- honeyed
- husky
- low
- matter-of-fact
- monotonous
- nasal
- orotund
- penetrating
- plummy
- quietly
- raucous
- ringing
- shrill
- silvery
- singsong
- small
- smoky
- strangled
- strident
- taut
- thin
- throaty
- tight
- tremulous
- wheezy
- wobbly
Stories are made unique by the voices of their authors. The way you tell a story, the words you use, the cadence, the inflection all contribute to the story. Think about the voices of the people in the story as the author. How do they sound? How do they speak? Do you want them to sound like you or someone you know? How do you want them to talk in the tone of the story?
In summary, I found these phrases exciting and will be using some of them in my works. Imagine using “honeyed” instead of “ingratiating.” For example:
“The sound of his honeyed voice made her skin crawl.”
This is the kind of thing that makes for good reading.
I’ll tell you why revision is the best part of writing in your complimentary 15-minute consultation.
— Guilliean Pacheco, your friendly neighborhood creativity concierge
