A person was eating a bagel in a coffee shop. A man and a girl entered the coffee shop, and sat next to that person. The girl asked the person to pass her a napkin, and the man read a newspaper. After several minutes, the person finished their bagel, and gave the waiter a small but fair tip.

This is how the above story was told*:

It's not like I didn't mind them, but for god's sake, when that girl and the trench coat man walked into the bagel shop, I had to fight not to choke on my cream cheese. I had to wonder if they were a couple; that would be the only explanation for the outfit she was wearing. As I attempted to clear bagel bits from my lungs, the two sat across from me. The man whipped out a crisp newspaper while the girl asked in a gratingly high-pitched voice for a napkin. I nudged the basket toward her, threw some money down on the tabletop, and bolted from the establishment.

This is how the above story was told:

So. I was in the Bagel Bastion, right? Just sitting there, minding my own business, when all of a sudden this chick comes in. Legs ten miles long, shirt six square inches. Tits like....if Jesus was a chick, those'd be Jesus' tits. Glorious! Anyway, she bends over cause she flaunting, and she's all like, "Hey stud. Pass me a napkin? I'm getting damp". And I was all "Sup". She was totally checking me out, too. I made sure to show off my guns when I got up, just to thank her, but I ain't lookin' for no sugar that day. I had places to be, dig.

This is how the above story was told:

I was getting breakfast, and this couple came in and sat right next to me. They really got into my personal space, and I was trying to ignore them, but this girl kept bugging me about passing her a napkin, and the guy kept turning the pages of the paper REALLY FAST, and it was making lots of noise, and I couldn't focus on my bagel because there was an explosion in Israel that day and lots of children died. I tried to focus on my bagel but now the jelly looked liked blood to me, so I left. I gave the waiter a tip, but I felt bad because the world was terrible and I only had enough on me to give him 5%.

This is how the story was told:

The city screamed beneath me, but I was exhausted. I was only human, and needed to eat and sleep and let the city burn beneath me because I wasn't strong enough. I scarfed down the rancid bagel and passed napkins and money to the mitosis professionals and pimps around me before stepping out. Someone out there knew what happened to my past. The thought nourishes me.

This is how the above story was told:

I ate a bagel.

*This paragraph has a different author, who chooses to go uncredited and who is not part of the OHR community. The rest of the article is written by Momoka.

So, you've got your party. Perfectly balanced, each with a special and unique role, but none so powerful as to be mandatory. The player can choose whichever characters he likes the most.

Assuming he can tell them apart.

Distinguishing between party members in battle can be a challenging endeavor of trial-and-error gameplay and number crunching. Distinguishing between party members out of battle can be even harder. Sure, it's not overly difficult to have each character be introduced with a strong personality, but maintaining it for beyond the initial scene can be maddeningly difficult.

But with a little bit of foresight, knowledge, and half the brains god gave a goddamn caterpillar, even you, yes you, can write some of hard-hittingest, heartstring tuggingest, cigar chompingest characters. It won't be easy! It will be hard! Most of you will probably run home and cry on your livejournals how your mommies loved me more than you. But those few of you worth half the dandruff on your Fritos-stained Threadless shirt might just maybe write some characters someone, somewhere, might be bothered to cry about when they die, like no one will for you.

*cough*

So, let's start with the basics. You're going to want to think about your characters. Their voices and their personalities are intertwined, after all. Writing good characters is perhaps beyond the scope of a single article (Next month, maybe; we'll call it a prequel), so we'll assume you have some ideas thought out already. Here are some techniques to help distinguish your characters from one another.

Word Choice/Vocabulary/Lexixon/All the slime you say

You may be aware of the concept of the "synonym". Synonyms, said your English teacher, are two words that mean the same thing.

This is a lie most damnable

There are no two words in the English language that can be used together interchangeably. None. Words have more than meanings, they have connotations. You're probably aware of this, even if you don't consciously think about it. Consider these ways of greetings a young lady:

* Greetings, Madam. * S'up, ho. * Hi, Darling. * Excuse me, miss? * Hey, Becca. * Good morrow! * Yo. * SUPER GREETING HUG! * Top of the morning! * Mrrn. * (Don't say anything) * (Molest her)

Identifying the connotations of every single word in the English language is rather daunting, and well beyond the scope of any article or even book. But when you write dialogue, it's important to look up some synonyms, and think about how they're different.

Note also the nonverbal greetings. Sometimes characters say more when they don't say anything.

Different characters say different things

What the character mentions, and what they don't mention, is also a vital part of dialogue. When seeing your entirely original villain, do your characters talk about his absurdly long katana, his great magical power, or the fact that he totally looks like a girl? Maybe they won't mention him at all, if he doesn't do anything to stand out at first.

What your characters notice, what they find important, and what they choose to reveal are important indicators to who they are, and a good way of making them distinct (so a character who hoards knowledge, for example, wouldn't give much up, and would ask a few important questions if they're supposed to be serious, and constant streams of questions if they're silly or five years old).

Consider Context 

How do you talk to your mom? How do you talk to your teacher? How do you talk to you co-workers? Your characters aren't static, and how they react to the plot, the villains, and each other is a good way of bringing out their personalities. It also gives your characters a bit more variety in what to say. Most of the characters who told the story near the top of this article would get very repetitive very fast. If they met each other, they'd end up having a lot more to say, and a lot more to distinguish themselves with, than if they kept talking about their "default" topics. Many first-time writers try to separate their characters by making them one-dimensional. "I like swords!" "I like being a hero!" "I like beer!", etc. But even these one-dimensional characters can evolve a second (and perhaps even a third) dimension from context alone. Consider these two one-dimensional characters.

1.) Beerbeard Thunderbooze, a dwarf who likes alcohol and fighting. 2.) Sylvidabra Katreebra, the elf wizard who likes studying and magic.

These characters are one-dimensional, and thus easy to write for (and indeed, are PERFECTLY FINE as minor NPCs, since you won't see them long enough for them to get annoying; not every random guy in a story needs deapth). Let's let them talk about their day.

Beerbeard: So I was at the Drunken Pillock for my mornin' binge, when in comes this son-of-a-bitch teetotaler of a cleric, tellin' us we needed to repent for our "sins", which is fancy clericy talk for rapin' and pillagin'. I walked right up to him and I said FIST. Well, I didn't say the word fist. My actual fist did mosta the talkin', really. Anyway, turns out the guy next to me's all "spiritual", and then all sorts of silly misunderstandin's later, I need a place to lie low until I bribe the fuzz to overlook this week's murder. I'll just sleep in yer sister....'s room.

Sylvidabra: I was in the library, enjoying my favorite light novel, the "Elven Almagated Encyoclpedia of Everything of Any Interest to Anyone Except Dwarves, Who of Course Can Bugger Off", when I was overcome by the queerest urge to practice my arcane talent; it had been some time since I last cast a magical spell, due to my retirement to the forest. I used the simplest of prestidigitations, the kind any talented child could do, to summon myself to an alternate dimension where chocolate candies rained from the sky. Not because I was hungry - I only eat natural foods of course - but as a mind mental exercise. After effortlessly dispatching the Eldritch Demons who lived in that dimension, I returned home and began studying magic. It was the most wonderful of times!

Both of these characters are likely to get very annoying very fast, right? It'd get repetitive!

Here's an exercise for you, the reader. Write for both of these characters in any of the following situations:

*Trying to impress a pretty girl *Giving the eulogy at a funeral *Impersonating the pope as part of a plan *Shoe shopping

PM your results to Momoka on the Slime Salad or Castle Paradox forums, and next month I'll include some of the best with my next feature.

Until then....ciao!