Hey friends! A month or so ago, a reader named Katy told me that she was finding my book Master Lists for Writers “brilliant with helping me not overthinking about specifics.” Yay! She asked if I had ever done a list of descriptions of voices. I had not!
I’m a huge proponent of engaging all of the readers’ senses, not just sight. It’s a good idea to help readers hear your characters’ voices. So this post is an addendum to the lists in the book. Thanks for the great idea, Katy!
[AdSense-B]
These are adjectives, but some of them can be altered into verbs (“braying” / “brayed”) or nouns (“rasping” / “his voice was a rasp.”)
Some of these more often describe a voice quality. Some of them more often describe how a character says something in particular—a tone rather than a voice.
You may not need to describe a tone of voice much of the time. The dialogue itself may make it clear. However, sometimes you might, particularly when the tone of voice does not match what the person is saying.
A few of these also suggest habitual speech patterns. As always, it’s not a complete list, and will probably make you think of other descriptors as well! Pin or bookmark the page so you’ll have it for future reference.
abrasive
acidic
adenoidal
airy
animated
anxious
authoritative
barbed
barely audible
baritone
barking
bass
big
blasé
bombastic
bored
boyish
[AdSense-B]
bitter
bland
bleak
blunt
booming
brash
braying
breathy
breezy
bright
brisk
brittle
broken
bubbly
burbling
calm
caustic
casual
cheery/cheerful
childish
chirping
choked
clear
clipped
cloying
[AdSense-B]
coarse
cold
cool
complacent
contented
contralto
cracked/cracking
creaky
croaking
crisp
crooning
curt
cultured
cynical
deep
devoid of emotion
discordant
dispirited
drawling
dreamy
dry
dulcet
dull
earnest
easy
falsetto
faint
feathery
feeble
firm
flat
fierce
[AdSense-B]
forceful
fretful
gentle
girlish
glum
goofy
grating
grave
gravelly/like gravel
grim
growling
gruff
guttural
hard
harsh
hateful
hearty
hesitant
[AdSense-B]
high/high-pitched
hissing
hoarse
honeyed
hushed
husky
immense
indifferent
insinuating
intense
ironic
jubilant
lazy
lifeless
light
lilting
lively
loud
loving
low/low-pitched
matter-of-fact
mellifluous
melodious
[AdSense-B]
mild
mocking
monotonous
muffled
musical
muted
nasal
nasty
neutral
nonchalant
obsequious
oily
piercing
piping
polished
quavering
querulous
quiet
ragged
rasping
raucous
raw
[AdSense-B]
reedy
refined
resonant
ringing
roaring
robust
rough
rumbling
saccharine
sarcastic
savage
scornful
scratchy
screeching
serene
severe
shaky
sharp
shrill
sibilant
silken/like silk
silly
silvery
sincere
singsong
sleek
sluggish
slurring
sly
small
smarmy
[AdSense-B]
smoky
smooth
snide
soft
solid
somber
sonorous
soothing
soprano
sour
spacey/spaced-out
stark
steely
stiff
stout
strained
strident
stony
suave
suggestive
surly
squeaky
squealing
sugary
sweet
sympathetic
tart
teasing
thick
[AdSense-B]
thin
throaty
thunderous/like thunder
tight
tender
tense
trembling
tremulous
trilling
uncertain
unctuous
unsteady
vague
velvet/velvety
warm
wavering
weak
weary
wheezy
whiny
wistful
[AdSense-B]
Making this list got me in the mood to write some dialogue! I hope it’s a good reference for you, too. If you enjoyed it, you might also like my post about things characters can do while they’re talking.
I hope you found this helpful! And check out Master Lists for Writers, which is full of lists to help writing go faster.
Thanks for reading, and happy writing!
It’s a comprehensive list. ‘Master Lists’ sits on my writing desk and is often referred to. It’s so useful.
Ahh thank you Anne! And thank you so much for sharing on Twitter! <3
Excellent!
🙂 Thanks!
I love tart – will have to find a way to use that now 🙂
Ha, that is actually my favorite. I don’t think I’ve ever used it to describe a tone of voice in a story!
I instantly saw the dowager from Downton Abbey in my mind – she can say something in a tart voice for sure LOL
Very helpful and have your book in my To buy list. 😀
Sorry I just now saw this!! Thank you! 🙂
Brilliant addition! Thanks 🙂
Sorry I’m late in the reply — glad you liked it! 🙂
Reblogged this on TheKingsKidChronicles.
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
In case you’re running out of words ???
Exactly what I needed today! Thank you!
Oh, so glad it helped! 🙂
Brilliant. 😀
😀
That’s saying a mouthful. 😀
Thanks for supplying even more useful information!
I see what you did there 😉 Thank you John!
This is very useful. Thank you.
So glad you liked it!
Reblogged this on Musings on Life & Experience and commented:
Helpful for describing characters.
Thanks for sharing!
Reblogged this on Writing and Music and commented:
This is an excellent reference for writers. Use it! Don’t be stuck with the same voice tags throughout your story.
Thanks for the kind words — and for sharing!
Thanks so much! I’m currently writing a fantasy novel and I’m having trouble with describing my characters, but not so much that the reading becomes boring. This helps ’cause a voice can tell a lot about a character.
Thanks for the nice comment — so glad it was helpful!
This is another really great list. I’m pinning it! Thank you! (she says heartily.)
Hi, I got the Master Lists for Writers, and it is very helpful. I was wondering if you have the Master List of Facial Expressions and Master List of description for voices in a book that could be purchase?
Hi, Constance! I’m so glad you found the book helpful! The facial expressions list is in the book, but the voice list is not. If I ever do an updated edition (and I might!), I’ll put the voice list in there 🙂
Thank you for this list. Help me to expand m ideas. I note this list have “tone words” and “speech words” altogether. For example “alto” is for the voice and “ironical” is for the speech – but really funny to imagine a character who always have an ironical voice…
So I can make two sublists from this : one for the physical aspects inherent to the character and the other one for the tone used by the character to convey the message.
Hi there! Yes, that’s a good point: there’s a difference between someone’s voice quality and how someone says something in particular 🙂 Thanks for the kind words!
Nice list! Hey, do you think it’s possible to write an entire book without using any visual descriptions? The entire story could be narrated using descriptions of sounds and textures or something. I just think it would be interesting to write an entire book filled with imagery that blind people could relate to.
Hey, thanks! I’m sure it’s possible. Most of us are very visual, so it would feel very different. In All the Light We Cannot See, the scenes from the blind girl’s point of view are of course like this, and it’s pretty interesting!
Thanks!
Hi Bryn, I bought your book master list for writers the other day. It’s excellent. Great reference, gets my wheels turning again if I’m stuck. You’re very talented, thanks, Sal
Hi, Sal! Thank you so much for getting the book — and even more for the kind words! I really appreciate it. Here’s to more and more success with your writing!
Velvet and Stiff are my fovourite while reading a book, it’s like I can hear the tone in my head..!
Yeah, I really like those, too!
OF COURSE you had a masterlist for this. I don’t even know why I didn’t visit your blog directly when I went to search “how to describe voices”. Thank you!
Also, your latest plot masterlist, the one for mystery story, has helped me get back on a story that had stalled since early spring. I didn’t take any of your prompts directly, but it made me think of all the ways I could add more conflict. Now I’m excited about that story again!
Hahaha, hi Noémie! I’m glad you found what you were looking for! Ahh, and I’m so happy to hear the mystery list was helpful. I always think they can work that way sometimes…just by spurring other ideas. Have fun with the story!
I use Mater List for Writers almost every day. It’s extremely helpful for finding just what I need. I can’t recommend it enough.
Lynn I am so happy to hear it’s helpful! That makes my day.
OH I am so happy I found your book! I just got it actually like a day ago, (Pintrest advertising worked for you! ) Anyway is this list in the book? I love everything I’ve seen so far!
Hi, Erika! Oh, thanks so much for getting the book — I hope it’s useful for you! This list isn’t in there…it’s one I thought of after the book came out! 🙂
WHEW! I thought I was losing it. I mean I started looking and I would get side tracked so I thought I was just missing it. I love it. You’ve done a great service to writers all over.
Would it be possible to have short definitions for each of those voice types/descriptions?
Please add short descriptions for those words pLeAsEeEeEeeE..!
Go to this site (or any other Synonym thesaurus site) and type in any word you want and you will get several other words that have the same or similar meanings.
Very useful!
When one is learning anything means something. I am learning. Your list is worth a lifetime for me. Thank you so much!
Hi Vic! Thank you for the kind words. I’m so glad you liked it!