cahn

Ugggh, if I could pick *one* writing skill, it would be giving characters distinct voices. I can give them personalities and different mindsets, so they think and say different things from each other, but they all talk like overeducated robots because that's the only dialect of English I speak. :P I can do formal overeducated robot or informal overeducated robot, but asking me to make characters speak differently is like asking me to write in German: I will have to find a source to crib off and think about every single word and it will take forever and *still* come out sounding highly unnatural.

I consider it the single weakest point of my writing and the least favorite part of rereading my own work. The best thing about reading other authors is when their characters have different voices! But the best I can do is make sure characters' thoughts and speeches contain different types of content. :(

But too many italics is arrgggh, I agree with you there, omg. At least I can avoid that.

Classics salon: do you know what the title "A Desolation Called Peace" refers to?