It’s a commonly encountered comment, even on the most competent of scripts.
“The characters all sound the same” or “Everybody in this script talks like you.”
Part of a writer’s job is to checker the story with well-developed characters. The most surefire way to accomplish this is to give every character, no matter how small their function in the narrative, a unique means of expressing themselves — a voice.
Doing this makes a script clearer and easier to follow. A reader is able to distinguish a character through their dialogue and is less likely to get confused. Specificity makes characters interesting and unforgettable. At least part of that specificity can be found in the way a character speaks (or doesn’t speak).
Part of the writer’s job is to lay the foundation for a great role. Just as an orchestra sounds better when it’s not ALL trumpets, but rather trumpets, oboes, percussion, cellos, etc., writing characters with competing cadences results in more friction within scenes and the script as a whole. It creates texture, rhythm, movement…
Unique, fun, specific character voices are, in our opinion, something that sets an exceptional script apart from a merely good or serviceable one.
There’s an art to character development and part of mastering that art is mastering how different people sound — and being able to express that sound in the written word. Just as it’s easy to under-do it (wherein all the characters sound the same), it’s also easy to overdo it (wherein a character’s stammer or Bronx accent can be annoying to read).
In other words, expressing a character’s voice on the page is about balance, i.e. doing enough that the characters are distinguishable from one another, but not doing so much that the script becomes labored and there’s no room for actors and filmmakers to bring something to the table.
This week, let’s look at the subtle approaches taken in some of our favorite scripts…
BALL OF FIRE (1941)
Screenplay by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder
Story by Billy Wilder and Thomas Monroe
Specific character cadence is written right into the plot of Ball of Fire, in which a burlesque performer is essentially put into witness protection with professors who are working on a study of modern American slang.
It’s generally held that more educated characters use bigger words while less educated characters might be more creative with limited vocabularies. Sugarpuss’s speech is littered with streetwise quips and lacks big formal words, but there’s a confidence and originality in it. Potts, on the other hand, uses nothing but proper, academic language — and comes across as nervous and dull.
Note how their opposing speech patterns make for a verbal tennis match.
CLUELESS (1995)
Written by Amy Heckerling
Even though Clueless is about high school, Heckerling seems to give each character a profession to emulate in their speech.
Travis, as Mr. Hall points out, is like a politician giving a victory speech. Cher is obviously negotiating like a lawyer and this influences her careful word choice.
Notice how there’s not a lot on the page that suggests Travis talks like a skater dude or that Cher’s speech has a twinge of Valley Girl… This kind of thing can be supplied by actors and doesn’t usually need to be super explicit on the page.
CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2018)
Screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim
Oliver’s speech hinges on colorful fashion terminology. To a person uninitiated in that world, half the words he says might sound ridiculous. Peik Lin serves as emphasis or punctuation to Oliver’s over-the-top comments. She’s an emphatic character, whose statements are like an exclamation point, which is results in comedy. Notice here that she doesn’t speak in complete sentences.
Also, it’s sometimes funny on the page when characters only speak in reactive noises. Obviously, Rachel says more than “Oh!” and “Ahh!” in Crazy Rich Asians, but these reactionary noises make this scene more hilarious.
DOLEMITE IS MY NAME (2019)
Written by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski
We thought it might be helpful to include an example from a film about a real person. In this case, as a writer, you might have access to audiovisual examples of how the real person actually spoke and use them as a roadmap.
Here, Alexander and Karaszewski developed their script with Eddie Murphy’s involvement. Even if you’re writing a screenplay on spec, having a specific actor and personality in mind can help to mold the way a character speaks on the page. You can write with their voice in your head.
Also, note how Jerry takes himself very seriously and Rudy has unflappable confidence in himself. This influences the passionate salesman vs. skeptical buyer way in which they speak to each other.
GIRLS TRIP (2017)
Written by Kenya Barris & Tracy Oliver
Occasionally, defining characters’ relationships will give way to how they speak to one another.
Lisa is the disciplinarian to Sasha and especially to Dina, who is brash and immature. Note that Dina’s excessive profanity helps us to know (without seeing her name above her dialogue) that she is the one talking.
Lisa sounds especially mom-ish when she says “TIME OUT!” — so much so that Dina even replies, “We’re not your damn kids!”
We wanted to use this as an example of how to ensure the reader knows exactly who’s speaking in a scene with 2 or more characters.
REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES (2002)
Screenplay by George LaVoo and Josefina Lopez
Based on a play by Josefina Lopez
Here is an example of how a character’s attitude affects their speech pattern. Carmen is derisive and direct. She doesn’t mince words and speaks mostly in dry one-liners where Pancha is a little slow and sensitive, or the kind of well-meaning character that misses social cues and occasionally says inappropriate things.
In this case, each character’s cadence is shaped by their view on life.
ROCKY (1976)
Written by Sylvester Stallone
Under different circumstances, writing Rocky’s accent this explicitly might prove grating to a reader, but it works because it is 100% authentic to the character. Note the contrast in this scene between Rocky’s prizefighter way of talking and the subject about which he is talking. If he were bragging about being a tough guy, his pitted way of talking would somehow be less appealing. Rather, he’s going to bat for his pet turtles.
Also, it’s a simple thing, but Adrian doesn’t say much and that’s how we know she’s shy.
THE STRAIGHT STORY (1999)
Written by John Roach & Mary Sweeney
This scene is a great example of how to create a speech rhythm using punctuation. Rose’s struggle to get the words out is expressed with ellipses. This technique doesn’t become tiresome because she’s not in all that many scenes.
Similarly, the writers make Alvin a man of few words by literally axing the amount of words that he speaks. The fat is trimmed!
If you have questions about these or other scripts, as always send us an e-mail at library@wgfoundation.org.
Until next time, happy writing!