If you are a scriptwriter giving direction to a voice actor on how a character should be portrayed, it is important that you clearly detail how you wish for them to sound.
You may be wondering how to write in a way that a voice actor can clearly understand and create the character you are envisioning.
When writing a script for a voice actor, it is pertinent that you are very clear and creative with your voice descriptions. Knowing the components of a voice is crucial to successfully relaying how you want your character to sound.
If you are struggling to write effective descriptions for voice actors to easily portray, continue reading this article for some potentially beneficial information that may help put some life into your characters. As a result, you are also likely to get a better response from the targeted audience.
Table of Contents
Intended Audience
This article is directed toward those writing scripts for voice actors. However, many of the things discussed will apply to other forms of writing, such as:
- Fictional writing
- Film screenplays
- Theatrical scripts
The next section will go more in-depth on the components of a voice.
Components of a Voice
When we think of an individual’s voice, we generally just think about how it sounds. But what are the components that are making up that sound? The sound and tone of an individual’s voice can be greatly affected by many factors.
These factors can be brought to light by asking the following questions:
- Has your character experienced the world or stayed in their home town?
- How do they sound when they greet other people. What greeting do they use?
- Is your character from the city or country?
- Is your character generally optimistic or pessimistic?
- Is your character shy and reserved or an outgoing people-person?
- Is your character someone who speaks up or is silent when faced with problems?
- What does your character do for a living? Are they happy with their life?
- What does your character physically look like?
- What interests and hobbies does your character participate in?
- What is the age of your character?
- What is the quality of the relationships in your character’s life?
- What is your character’s general mood?
- What kind of child life or upbringing did your character have?
- What level of education has your character achieved?
- What obstacles has your character had to overcome?
- What style of speech does your character have, and how does their voice sound?
- What triggers certain emotions, such as happiness, sadness, anger, etc., for your character?
Once you have answered these questions, you can create a character that your voice actor can truly immerse themselves into so they can give the best representation of what you wish to be portrayed.
What’s in a Question
Some of these questions may seem a little off the wall. However, if you consider the answers to the questions, you will be able to truly describe a character’s voice. You may still be wondering how these questions will help you to give your character its best voice.
By answering these questions, you are able to establish a background and history for the character you are creating or trying to portray. The answers to these questions will help to create a tone of voice so the actor can envision the character without actually seeing them.
By answering the questions above you and giving depth to your character, you can give your voice actor the ability to depict the character in a way that will bring them to life and grab the audience’s attention before they change the channel.
Tones of Voice
A tone of voice is not defined by the words you say but rather the way in which you say them. A tone of voice can also refer to the way words are written to portray a certain image, whether it is for marketing a business or writing a fictional story.
If a voice actor is not given good direction when describing the tone of voice, they will not be able to portray the character as it should be portrayed, and you will fall short with a lackluster result that will probably lose the interest of your targeted audience.
When describing a tone of voice, you need to first establish the overall tone that you wish to use. Once you have established your overall approach, you can start getting more detailed and creative with your descriptions.
The next section will break down creative descriptive words for each category of tone.
Condescending
If you want your voice actor to portray the character as being condescending, use a variety of descriptive words to spice up your descriptions for your voice actor.
Remember, synonyms are your friend. They can help you get creative with your descriptions and help eliminate redundancy. If you are describing your character and get stuck, just look up some synonyms for the word you want to use, and you will be amazed at the creative options that will be revealed.
Try some of these on for size:
| Arrogant Bumptious Disdainful Haughty Highfalutin Holier-than-thou Know-it-all Lofty | Lordly Oleaginous Patronizing Pedantic Pompous Pontificating Pretentious Self-important | Smarty-pants Smug Snobby Snooty Stiff-necked Supercilious Superior Toplofty |
The next section will cover words you could use to describe a negative tone of voice.
Negative
The following words will help your voice actor depict a negative attitude of a character. Rather than just saying “so and so has a bad attitude,” you can remove the word bad and replace it with a word that will generate a better image in the voice actor’s head.
Here are some suggestions:
| Austere Bossy Croaky Dry Edgy Firm Forceful Frank Grating Growly | Hateful Hesitant Hokey Insincere Irreverent Mawkish Nasally Overbearing Petulant Sarcastic | Serious Snarky Snarly Soporific Sullen Tuneless Unapologetic Wavering Whiny |
The next section will cover words to describe a voice that has a nice sound to it.
Nice Sounding Voice
When you want your voice actor to portray a character in a pleasant or perhaps sensual way, you need to use words that bring a specific image to their head as they are reading your description of the character.
Saying that your character has a nice voice is all fine and well, but it does not give much depth to the image and leaves a lot to the voice actor’s imagination. If you want a certain voice quality portrayed, as with the previous suggestions, you must use creative descriptive words.
These words will bring life and energy to your character:
| Bright Captivating Comforting Deep Ethereal Euphonic Feathery Fruity Hypnotic | Insouciant Lilting Luscious Mesmerizing Modulated Musical Provocative Regal Rich | Romantic Sensuous Sexy Silvery Smoky Soothing Succulent Sweet |
The next section will cover words to help describe a positive or happy tone of voice.
Positive
If you want your character to have a positive image that portrays happiness and no negativity, you need to use words that will bring a distinct image to your voice actor’s head.
These words are examples that you can use to describe your character’s voice:
| Authoritative Caring Casual Cheery Conversational Enthusiastic Formal | Friendly Humorous Informative Matter-of-fact Nostalgic Passionate Playful | Professional Respectful Sympathetic Trustworthy Upbeat Witty |
The next section will cover words to describe your character’s singing voice.
Singing Voice
Describing what a character will sound like when they sing can be a difficult task because there are so many ways to describe a person’s singing voice.
These words may help take the guesswork out of your description:
| Alto Angelic Baritone Breathy Countertenor Delicate Dulcet Euphonious Falsetto | Fantastic Harmonious Hauntingly beautiful High Lovely Low Lyrical Magnificent Majestic | Melodic Multi-octave Powerful Range Scratchy Screechy Tenor Tuneful Warbling |
The fact is, many of these words are also appropriate to use when you want to describe a person’s speaking voice.
To that point, the next few sections will cover words to describe the sound of a character’s voice.
Sound of Voice
If you listen to a group of people talking, you will start to notice that each person has a different sound to their voice. Sometimes it can be hard to find the right word to describe those different sounding voices.
This list will help you identify the sound you wish to describe for your voice actor:
| Breaking Brittle Cacophonous Coarse Flat Gravelly Gruff Guttural High-pitched | Hoarse Husky Low-pitched Mellow Monotone Plaintive Raspy Resonant | Rough Scratchy Squeaky Squawky Stilted Strong Trembling Tremulous |
The next section will cover words to describe the volume of your character’s voice. Is he going to be a blustering buffoon or perhaps a meek whisperer? Let’s find out.
Volume
There is more than one way to describe the volume of a person’s voice. Although it may be challenging, it is important to be creative when describing your character’s volume when they are speaking.
These words may help you create a better description for your voice actor:
| Bloodcurdling Blustering Boisterous Booming Caterwauling Ear-splitting Faint Feeble Frail | Loud Lowered Orotund Penetrating Piercing Quiet Raised Raucous Ringing | Screeching Shrill Soft Soft-spoken Strident Varied Weak Whisper |
The next section will give examples of different phrases you can use to add depth to your character’s description for your voice actor.
Phrases that Add Depth to a Description
Sometimes you cannot describe something with just one word. That’s when it helps to use descriptive phrases that give the voice actor a vivid mental image of what you want them to portray.
These descriptive phrases are examples that you can use as they are or use them to give you the inspiration you need to create your own phraseology:
| At the top of one’s voice Barely above a whisper Brimming with glee Bubbling with enthusiasm Cold with anger Could make a dog howl Could shatter glass Echoing in my ears | Finding his/her voice Great set of pipes Honks like a foghorn Hurts my ears Impossible to hear Like a used car salesman Like an angel Like nails on a chalkboard | Like the beat of a drum Likes the sound of his/her own voice Music to my ears Sing like a bird Spoken in an undertone Sweet a sugar Under his/her breath |
Brand/Product Voice
If you are writing a script for a voice actor who will be portraying a character as a part of an advertising campaign, it is especially important that you nail the voice descriptions.
When creating advertising, it is critical that your audience become familiar with a particular brand or product’s voice. When a voice is successfully portrayed, the audience will be able to identify the brand or product being advertised without physically seeing what is being discussed.
With that in mind, it is important that you write descriptions that allow your voice actor to portray a character that the audience can connect with on an emotional level.
Marketing is all about playing on a person’s emotions. If you can find a way to connect on an emotional level with your targeted audience, you will be successful in any mission you undertake.
Tips for Creating Your Character’s Voice
When done properly, creating a character’s voice not only gives the audience a mental image of what the character may look like but also an idea of the character’s personality and who they are as a person.
Reginal Colloquialisms and Accents
This is where the background questions really come into play. Review the questions you asked yourself about the character whose voice you are creating.
Some of the answers to your questions will help give your character its voice by allowing you to get creative by adding a particular dialect or accent.
For instance, if you are writing directions for a voice actor that will be representing a business or product, giving your character a dialect or accent that is local to the area they are advertising in can help the audience relate to the character better and keep them engaged longer.
Watching and Listening to People
Start paying attention to and watching people everywhere you go. Listen to how they speak in large groups versus smaller and intimate conversations. Notice the patterns in their voices and the rhythms they use as they speak.
Notice their body language as they are speaking. Do they get more intense as they lean forward or more even-toned when they cross their arms?
Pay attention to how their voices change depending upon the conversation topics. Are they light and airy when they’re talking about their children or perhaps reserved when discussing their mother-in-law?
Focusing on the details and mannerisms of people as they speak will help you become a better writer. The more you study people’s speech patterns and mannerisms, the easier it will be to create awesome voice descriptions that are spot-on each time.
Think of Your Characters as People
This reiterates what was mentioned above about asking questions to fill in the background and history of the character you are trying to bring to life. It is important to think of your character as a person with thoughts and feelings.
Try to put yourself in the character’s shoes as you describe them for your voice actor. Relating with the character you are describing will help you to write more thoughtful and vivid descriptions that will truly bring your character to life.
For example, someone who has had a long hard life and had to struggle to succeed may have a different tone and outlook on things than a younger twenty-something person who has been fortunate and lived a life of ease.
Consistency
It is important to be consistent when writing your character’s voice description. You want to be sure that it flows and that you are not using words that don’t fit with the rest of your theme.
The best way to check your writing is to read it out loud or have someone else read it to see if it flows.
If you are reading along and have to stop or stutter because a word does not fit, then you need to make some changes and find alternate wording so your voice actor can give you a flowing performance that portrays the character in its best light.
Using Similes and Metaphors for Best Descriptions
Another way to bring life to your description and give your voice actor a better mental image of what you wish them to portray is to use similes and metaphors in your descriptions.
Here are some great examples from some notable authors who used similes and metaphors for descriptive purposes:
- A gruff voice, like the creaking of the gallows chain. – R.D. Blackmore
- A voice as sweet as the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the corn. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- A voice like a broken phonograph. – Anonymous
- A voice like a strained foghorn. – W. W. Jacobs
- A voice like the whistle of birds. – Arabian Nights
- Delicate voices, like silver bells. – Nikolai V. Gogol
- Her voice is like the harmony of angels. – Beaumont and Fletcher
- Her voice was like a bagpipe suffering from tonsillitis. – Anonymous
- His voice is like the rising storm. – Lord Byron
- It was a voice so mellow, so bright and warm and round as if a beam of sunshine had been melted into sound. – Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen
As you can see, these descriptions really give you a more vivid mental image of the character you are describing. The great thing is you can create your own with a little thought and creativity.
The next section gives a few more things to think about when writing and describing your character’s voice for a voice actor.
Skip the Fluff – Focus on Prominent Details
When describing your character, it is all about the details. For the best description, choose the most prominent features and qualities of the character to give the best overall mental image.
Begin by creating a brainstorming list of the features and qualities you want to use to describe your character. Once you have your list, simply go through it and choose the most defining details. This will help hone in your character’s voice even more.
Other things to consider when creating and describing your character are:
- Do they have any mannerisms or other telling features that set them apart from others?
- Do they have any other features that make them stand out, such as piercings or tattoos?
- Do they have any skin blemishes, scars, or birthmarks?
- Do they have good teeth? What kind of smile do they have?
- Do they wear makeup, jewelry, or other defining accessories?
- How do they carry themselves? Do they stand up straight or slouch?
- How do they have a particular scent that they put off? Do they wear cologne or perfume?
- What are their facial features like? Do they have a soft, round face or a strong defined jawline?
- What color is their hair? Is it soft and flowy, coarse or curly?
- What is their body type? Are they a mesomorph, ectomorph, or endomorph?
- What is their skin tone; are they dark or lighter toned?
- What is their skin’s texture? Is it smooth and supple, or perhaps it may be tough and leathery from long hours in the sun?
- What style of clothing do they like to wear?
When you are writing your character’s voice description is important to avoid writing just a list of characteristics and traits as that can become boring, and the voice actor may not be able to put as much life into the character. By taking time to answer these questions, you can provide your voice actor with a character profile.
This will allow them to understand who the character is and what they would sound like and do in a given situation. It is imperative that you use descriptive words that instantly conjure an image in someone’s head as soon as they hear the words.
This next section will give you words that you can use to describe a character’s voice in a way that the voice actor can easily portray the image you are desiring.
Quick Descriptions
Perhaps you are writing for an advertisement that will be read on the radio. Your voice actors may be playing certain general characters that may not necessarily need a whole background and history to be created in order to describe what you want to be portrayed.
The following 155 words and phrases can give a voice actor a quick and clear image of how you wish the character to be portrayed:
| Action star Airhead Alien Alpha male/female An old man or old lady Announcer Annoying kid or person Aristocrat Aspiring artist Athlete Attorney Auctioneer Baby Baby boomer, generation X or Y Banker Biker Boss Brat Buddy Bully Businessman or woman Car salesperson Carnival worker Cheerleader Chef Child Clown Coach Construction worker Country music singer Cowboy or cowgirl Criminal Damsel in distress Demonstrator Detective Devil Disk jockey Diva Doctor | Drill sergeant Drunk Dude Dwarf Elf Evil King or Queen Executive Fairy godmother Family man or woman Farmer Fashion designer Father Fighter pilot Flirt Frat boy Game show host Gangster Geek Girl or boy next door Gnome Grandfather Grandmother Grumpy old man Heckler Henchman Hero Hillbilly Hip-hop artist Hippie Hipster Hobbit Host Housewife Husband Impressionist Instructor Interviewer IT Specialist Jerk | Judge Lawyer Leprechaun Librarian Lower class Mad scientist Medical patient Middle class Millennial Mobster Monster Mother Motivational speaker Narrator Nerd News anchor Phone operator Pirate Plain Jane Playful Police officer Politician Preacher Presenter Priest Professor Prospector Redneck Regular Joe Reporter Robot Rock star Roman gladiator Salesperson Samurai Schoolboy or girl Scientist Singer Slacker | Smoker Snob Soccer mom Soldier Someone accepting an award Southern belle Southern gentleman Spokesperson Sportscaster Starlet Storyteller Student Superhero Surfer dude Teacher Teacher’s pet Teenager Television host Therapist Toddler Tomboy Tourist Troll Trucker Upper class Urban youth Valley girl Vampire Villian Vixen Warrior Werewolf Wicked Witch Wife Wizard Wrestler Yuppie Zombie |
The various characters and roles listed above are worded in a way that a voice actor can easily identify the voice they should use for a particular part.
Write as Though You are the Character
The biggest tip to take from this article is to put yourself in the character’s shoes. Think about how they may be feeling and what their hopes and dreams may be.
By putting yourself into the role that you are describing, you to be more clear in your writing, and the voice actor will be able to relay that feeling and connect with the audience more effectively.
Sources:
(https://kathysteinemann.com/Musings/voices/),
(https://nybookeditors.com/2015/11/character-development-how-to-create-a-consistent-voice/), (https://writinghelpers.tumblr.com/post/41621570418/55-words-to-describe-someones-voice),
(https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/tips-for-creating-voice-in-your-writing),
((https://www.writerswrite.co.za/cheat-sheets-for-writing-body-language/),
(http://inkandquills.com/2017/03/26/ultimate-guide-mastering-character-descriptions/),
(https://jerryjenkins.com/character-emotions/),
(https://allwritealright.com/a-guide-to-writing-child-characters-authentically/),
(https://barbaradelinsky.com/2011/11/05/how-to-describe-a-voice/),
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(https://www.brainlabsdigital.com/marketing-library/the-guide-to-finding-your-brands-tone-of-voice/),
(https://mariapellicano.com/four-types-tone-of-voice-in-communication/),
(https://www.brainlabsdigital.com/marketing-library/the-guide-to-finding-your-brands-tone-of-voice/#:~:text=A%20tone%20of%20voice%20is,%E2%80%93%20rather%20than%20spoken%20%E2%80%93%20words.), (https://www.nngroup.com/articles/tone-voice-words/), (https://www.semrush.com/blog/how-to-define-your-tone-of-voice/), (https://www.voices.com/voice-actors/role), (https://www.bartleby.com/161/3049.html),
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