I'll never forget being at the Oregon Zoo and hearing people talk about how sad one of the chimpanzees looked. He was sitting on a log, his back to one of the viewing areas, hunched over. And they were saying "oh, he looks depressed, he must hate it here."
But then when you walked around to the other side, you'd see that he was simply busy beating his dick like it owed him money.
Character-voice is I think one of the hardest parts of writing and here's two charts to explain my thoughts on why.
The intention:
The thing I think is maybe happening which I have no idea how to check or prevent:
you know how kids tend to subconsciously adopt the mannerisms of their parents? i wonder how far back that stretches.
do i laugh like my great grandfather, because that's the way my grandma laughed, and my mom copied her?
does the way my dad make comedic sounds when he's driving actually originate with a distant uncle two hundred year ago, who made funny noises in the horse-drawn cart because it made his niece laugh?
i wonder which of my little mannerisms came from ancestors long passed, and i wonder which of mine will echo in family descendants long after i'm gone.
