A reader emailed me to say that her novel had been rejected and the editor in question had scribbled on the cover sheet that the problem is "weak character voice." She asked me what that is and how to fix it.
Weak character voice means that your character, usually your protagonist, doesn't stand out enough to capture the interest of the reader. It can apply to stories written in the first person or the third person. Your character doesn't have to be grotesque or overly quirky but there has to be something about them that makes us want to keep reading.
It may be that your concept of the character is strong but that doesn't translate to the page. When I was reading screenplays for a production company sometimes the authors would send along a page of character descriptions (which is not necessary or even recommended). Often the description would say something like "Ramona is a feisty, independent woman who will go to extremes to have her way"...but in the actual screenplay there would be little evidence of those traits.
What makes a character reveal what he or she reallhy is about? A challenge. The need to cope with circumstances that are new and/or stressful. A situation that calls for her to make a decision--not always between good and bad, but between good and good (or bad and bad).
It doesn't mean that the character has to express himself strongly via dialogue. It's much more effective to let us learn about the character by what he does, not just what he says or what others say about him.
How to fix it? A good place to start is to ask these questions:
* What does this person care about the most? Does your story force him to defend it?
* What is your character most afraid of? Does your story force her to confront it?
* What does your character not want to reveal? Does your story put him in danger of having to reveal it?
In rewriting, sometimes this means you have to tell a different story or a different aspect of the same story, but you'll end up with a character interesting enough for readers to care about.
(There are loads of useful, practical tips in my book, Your Writing Coach, and you can get it from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)
