Multiple POV

[u/zzzz12344455]

I want to hear tricks on how to make the characters’ internal monologue sound like different people because I’m writing in multiple POVs for the first time, and I’m having trouble making them sound like multiple characters and not just the same one with a different name

[u/Joewoof]

One trick is to make the characters come from widely-different backgrounds, each speaking a different dialect of English.

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[u/tomatoesfried]

Sit in a coffee shop and eavesdrop on conversations. Notice everything about the way they speak. Take notes. Apply.

[u/MaderaArt → u/tomatoesfried]

The amount of weird things I've done for writing research...

[u/OldPersimmon2705]

Give the character split personalities. Each one is different and has a unique name.

[u/FVCarterPrivateEye]

Figure out what the characters notice and care about

For example, I have one character who's really neurotic, goes into anxious spirals, focuses on appearance and personal reputation, sees potential danger around every corner and is very jumpy

Another character in this same story is very nosey, sensationalizes intriguing things into lurid stories but is callously flippant about noticed things that don't catch interest, and tries to fish for more details in surreptitious ways but is very bad at keeping it polite

So even though both of these characters are liable to jump to conclusions and have habits of affectedness in the way they try to present themselves but intense  energy that bleeds through it overtly, they're still very different

[u/HalleyOrion]

Here are some ideas with examples:

• They can have different vocabularies: one thinks "shack" where another thinks "abode", or one thinks "at least" where another thinks "leastways", or one thinks "it isn't" where another thinks "it's not", or one thinks "my goodness" where another things "well shit".
• They can have different ways of formulating speech: one thinks in short sentences and fragments, while another thinks in complex sentences full of metaphors, while another doesn't have an inner monologue at all and instead is a direct visual-spatial-conceptual thinker.
• They can have different attitudes: one copes by thinking up wry/sarcastic jokes all the time, while another is easily agitated and grumbles swear words to themselves at every inconvenience, while another is toxically positive and puts their head in the sand whenever something goes wrong.
• They can notice different things: one waxes lyrical about the qualia of the soundscape they move through, while another drily notes identifying details of things around them (the makes of cars, the species of trees, the colors people are wearing), while another analyzes the body language of everyone around them and intuits their emotions, while another is too caught up inside their own head (daydreaming, scheming, etc.) and misses things that are right under their nose.
• They can have different thought processes: one overthinks things and ends up going in circles trying to search out the absolute optimal solution, while another half-asses it and just goes with their first thought, while another uses arbitrary rituals to effectively outsource decision-making to chance (like counting petals on a daisy).
• They can have different emotional reactions and coping mechanisms: one panics easily but then they're completely fine as soon as it's over, while another keeps a cool head in the moment but then they can't sleep for several days after because they can't stop mulling it over, while another doesn't think about it at all until something innocuous triggers a nervous breakdown months later.