Making Characters Sound Unique: 6 Practical Tips
To write unique dialogue for each character, start by anchoring their voice in thematic contrast to the protagonist. Also let vocabulary and speech patterns emerge from their behavior, background, and personality (dialogue is not decoration). Shape their phrasing and idiolect to reflect how they think and speak. Show their uniqueness through contradicting traits. Then bring it all to life through scenes that pair characters with clashing beliefs and expression styles.
This article is part of the Fix Your Dialogue guide, which covers everything from subtext to tension to how to reveal character with dialogue to draft revisions.
TL;DR
Anchor dialogue to each character’s thematic contrast to the protagonist
Make the character’s unique voice behavioral, not stylistic
Use background and personality to shape vocabulary
Give each character their own phrasing and idiolect
Give your characters contradictory traits
Reveal contrast through scene pairings
1. Anchor dialogue to each character’s thematic contrast to the protagonist
The most crucial way to make each character sound distinct in a meaningful way is to tie their uniqueness to the story’s theme.
Start by defining the protagonist’s thematic expression. Then give the supporting character a contrasting thematic expression, and let everything from their behavior to their dialogue flow from that.
Below is the internal logic. You can use this as a checklist for rewrites, or as a way to think about it:
Define the protagonist’s thematic expression
Define Character X’s contrasting thematic position
Give Character X a personality and background that suits that contrast
Define behaviors that reflect the personality and background
Write dialogue traits that emerge from those behaviors
Then write actual lines in-character
Do this well, and each character will pop.
➡️ See also: Reveal character with dialogue, and deep-dive into character creation [coming soon].
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2. Make the character’s unique voice behavioral, not stylistic
Samuel L. Jackson’s character Jules in Pulp Fiction once said: “You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in France? […] A ‘Royale with cheese’.”
This question isn’t quirky just for the sake of it.
Jules, a hired killer, really is dreaming out loud about a land far away; about a way of life that doesn’t have so much killing in it.
In other words, the line is style filled with substance because of the behavior it expresses.
Character voice is about how a character uses speech to get what they want, avoid what they fear, or hide what they can’t face (whether consciously or unconsciously).
A manipulative character flatters
A proud characer deflects blame
An anxious character rambles
Voice is behavioral: it arises from tactics and coping mechanisms, not tone decoration.
Avoid thinking of character uniqueness as style layered over character
Let speech reflect the character’s inner conflicts, goals, and blind spots
Ask: what are they trying to do with this line? Dodge, provoke, charm, retreat?
Let distortion, overcompensation, and omission creep into their speech
When you write with action verbs that reflect these desires — to justify, to distract, to confess, to dream out loud — characters stop sounding alike.
➡️ See also: Action-driven dialogue [coming soon]
3. Use background and personality to shape vocabulary
Don’t flood dialogue with backstory facts. Instead, convey the information through the words they choose and let the audience connect the dots.
Facts bore the audience, word choice immerses them. Vocabulary is largely shaped by two things:
Demographics (class, profession, age, region)
Psychographics (interests, lifestyle, values).
These influence not just what characters say, but how they talk about the same facts.
Examples:
When someone’s hurt, a nurse says “She’s bleeding out!” whereas the poet says “She’s unraveling.”
When someone slams the door shut, the teen gamer says “He rage quit!” while the boomer dad says “He stormed off.”
At first light, the pragmatic farmhand says “The sun’s up” while the city kid says “Ugh, shut the damn the light off.”
Word choice reveals more than exposition ever could.
➡️ See also: Write snappy dialogue, and How to use exposition effectively [coming soon].
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4. Give each character their own phrasing and idiolect
Once you understand who your character is, refine their idiolect.
This is the unique way they phrase things. An idiolect is a personalized dialect not based on region, but personality. It’s how a character's psychology gets filtered into speech. This includes:
Sentence rhythm (short and blunt? meandering and spiraling?)
Formality level (street slang, corporate jargon, poetic detachment?)
Signature vocabulary (euphemisms, cultural references, academic terms?)
Recurring tics (hedging, trailing off, rhetorical questions, repeated phrases?)
Be careful not to force quirks. Let the idiolect emerge naturally from behavior, worldview, and plot function.
➡️ See also: Create tension with silence [coming soon]
5. Give your characters contradictory traits
Flat characters sound flat. Great characters are conflicted, and this tension seeps out through their words.
From the example earlier, Samuel L. Jackson’s character Jules in Pulp Fiction has these contradicting traits:
1. He’s a hired killer for a crime lord
2. He’s a deeply philosophical man with a moral code
This contrast makes him pull his favorite bible quote before he rains bullets on someone (“The path of the righteous man…”). His character arc is to escape the hired killer lifestyle and ‘walk the earth’, which complements this contradiction perfectly.
How to do this yourself:
Create 1–2 contradictory traits in each character that needs it, and let that tension affect how they speak. If you can tie it to their arc, even better.
Examples:
A devout man who’s starting to question his faith
A proud leader who’s secretly insecure
A people-pleaser who sabotages relationships
A rule-follower who cheats on their taxes
A free spirit who’s terrified of uncertainty
Let that inner tension show up in interruptions, hedging, sharp turns, or avoidance. Don’t smooth it out; the inconsistencies are kind of the point.
And don’t be afraid to let other characters call them out on their bullshit.
And also don’t be afraid to “ruin” your character (aka be willing to let go of old ideas). These contradictory traits are pure gold.
➡️ See also: Reveal character through dialogue
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6. Reveal contrast through scene pairings
Dialogue comes alive when characters collide.
So make sure your scenes clash characters with opposing thematic expressions, personalities, beliefs, and speech patterns.
This moves scenes forward, emphasizes character uniqueness, and dramatizes your theme.
Pair the idealist with the cynic, the rule-follower with the rebel
Heighten contrast through emotional posture (e.g., one is evasive, the other blunt)
Let rhythm and logic diverge: one character rambles; the other snaps back
Pay attention to who changes whom in the exchange
When one character wants to cling to safety and the other wants to urge change, you cannot help but make them sound different.
➡️ See also: Create tension with silence, and Make dialogue drive the scene forward [coming soon].
FAQ: making characters sound unique
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Anchor each character’s dialogue in thematic contrast, and in their background and internal contradictions. Then build distinct vocabulary, phrasing, and behavioral patterns that match.
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Flat personalities, no contrast in scenes, and speech that doesn’t reflect behavior. Often it’s because the writer gives characters lines without grounding them in narrative purpose.
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Only if it reflects their background in a meaningful way. Don’t use accent or slang as a substitute for real personality or contrast. That becomes a gimmick.
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An idiolect is a character’s unique way of speaking: their syntax, word choice, rhythm, and verbal habits. It makes characters more vivid and helps the audience recognize who’s speaking without name tags.
Check out the full guide to fixing your dialogue.
For a diagnosis and suggested fixes for your script or novel, try our Writers Block Fixer tool!