I'm always afraid that the characters I write about are, well, out of character. I try to come up with things that I think they would say and put them in my style, but I always hear myself talking, not them. Do you have some advice?

Ohh this definitely pushes a button for me because i hate the hewouldntfuckingsaythat-ication of fanfiction. How that concept has poisoned the minds of writers so they keep second-guessing and become insecure and afraid. I think writing fic should be a celebration, a hobby where you write what you want, an indulgence.

So to readers i say: cope. He would say that simply because the fic writer makes him say that 🤷‍♀️ fics are little free gifts!

But as a fic author to another fic author: i understand. You want to stay true to how they sound. To how you see them. I have some tricks up my sleeve.

1. Work with a beta. Someone who reads your work for you, encourages you, and pays extra attention to how the characters ‘sound’. If your beta is a writer too whose characterisations you like, you’ll know you’re safe.

2. Rewatch canon a lot. Rewatch short scenes before writing so you get how they sound fresh in your mind again (this is a tip i stole from @gingiekittycat )

3. Think of little words or phrases your characters say often in canon, and insert them into your fic. For example for aziraphale it can be “dear” or “my dear”. Or for crowley “nknkgnk” or some variation.

4. Say it out loud. “Act” like them, say their lines as them.

5. Do one round of editing of your fic focusing ONLY on the dialogue. Ignore all the rest but just reread your dialogue and really work on it.

Also, please know, your mind lies to you. Of course it sounds “like you” because you are you, especially after you’ve worked on a fic long. But that doesn’t mean it’ll sound out of character to your readers. They’ll go along with more than you think.