#dj writes

Thank you! This is such a huge compliment--voices are always something I worry about. I never want characters to all sound the same...

I would say I go about developing a character voice in a few ways.

interviews are good for getting a baseline for their tone of voice, what kind of vocabulary they use, how much they pause, their common filler words, etc. i usually use them when i'm first starting to think about writing someone. the more casual the interview, the better. it also helps with accents, especially if they're not native english speakers, because they might phrase things in a different way than your average native english speaker. i had to refresh myself on victor's way of speaking more than stephon's, for example.

for rpf, although i may use other stuff i know about them like the way too much i know about lamelo from years of ball in the family... i develop a lot of my characterization on how they play basketball. to me, that's more interesting than trying to duplicate how they actually are in life (because how would i know that?). i write ausar as a little reckless but genuine and Doing His Best because that's how he comes across on the court. so, when i'm writing them, i have to keep in mind what matters to them and what drives them, because that will influence everything they say.

i also think about what i'm trying to get across in the story. with the area 51 i just posted, i wanted to explore stephon admiring victor and developing some Feelings, but he's kind of held back by his own insecurities (that he won't even admit are insecurities). What he says and thinks in the 3rd limited perspective are influenced by how he would process those situations and also bring the reader along with him. there are a lot of things he would not admit to, so i can't force him to say them in the story just because it would be cute or nice or whatever... a lot of it is about what a character would not say. i've had to delete and rewrite things many times because i pushed the character beyond what he would say and beyond what i was trying to get across in the story. you have to trust your readers are smart enough to pick up on what's not being said based on what you've built up.

somewhere in the middle of stephon's second year in the league, he realizes he finds victor intimindating... and some other things, too.

that video of lamelo and moussa has been going around, and moussa keeps bringing it up.