Yes, My Characters Talk to Me—and Yours Should Too
Listening to Your Characters and Following Your Story
When you’re truly in tune with your story, your characters . . . start talking back to you 👀. Yes, you read that correctly.
To someone who doesn’t write fiction, that might sound odd 😅. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably a creative person so this can make sense. Let me expound.
What I mean is that you really might not be in charge of the narrative you’re writing. I’m the author, but at some point, I don’t feel like I’m necessarily creating the story. I’m following it.
It almost feels spiritual 😊—the way I listen closely, keenly observe, and transcribe what’s happening to the characters and how they’re experiencing it.
Characters often come to me with a certain energy and live in my head rent-free. That’s good. It means I’m naturally curious enough to capture who they are and what they do on the page.
You should treat your characters like they’re actual human beings, not figures you’re creating. Because when they feel real to you, they will feel real to the readers and resonate with them long after they walk away from the story.
💡 Think about the fictional characters you love. We remember them because they feel true.
To hear your characters clearly, you have to spend quality time with them. I believe that you should already have a baseline idea of who they are (think character development notes) before you start writing.
But the real knowing comes in the drafting. Whether I outline or not, I rarely know how a story ends, so going down that journey is both exciting and nerve-racking. The characters and the story will reveal themselves to me as I go. My job is to follow the path, pull the thread, and see what unravels 🤩.
🤔 This is just like with real-life relationships: the more time you spend with someone, the more comfortable they become, the better you get to know them.
Here are 2 ways to listen:
📖 Reread your draft and note your characters’ patterns, motifs, and commons words and phrases that they say or that you use to describe them.
📷 Record yourself pretending to be the characters. You could record a voice note or a video to hear how they sound and watch body language. It might feel ridiculous at first, but it will be worth it.
All of this will help you uncover more of your characters’ identities. The clearer they are to you, the better you write them the way they want to be written and the neater you can tie it all together in the rewriting stage.
This is why I think many writers are introverted and very observant. 🔎 We naturally pay attention to details, signs, and truths. And this isn’t just a writing skill, it’s a reading one, too.
Because when we really see someone—even a fictional person—we deepen our well for empathy. And to me, that’s the whole point of fiction.
So, remember:
👂🏾 Listen closely to your characters to get to know them better.
🚶🏾 Follow your story. Don’t force it.
🤝 Fiction deepens our empathy.
— Josie ✍🏾💻
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