This month, the theme for my blog is writing using the senses, and I’m starting with using sound in our stories. Sound is probably the most used sense after sight, and I find I rely on it a lot. Below are some tips on using sound in our stories.
How Do Characters Sound?
For some reason, the quality of a person’s voice catches my attention. An unusually deep voice for a man. A high, piping voice in a child. When writing dialogue, I like to incorporate how a character sounds, if it aids readers in imaging that character. Here are some ways I use sound for characters in my Rae Riley Mysteries.
- My main character Rae Riley has a slight Southern accent, which is noticeable now that she lives in Ohio.
- Her friend Houston, who’s originally from Texas, speaks with that accent in a drawl.
- Her boss Barb speaks in a “crisp clip” when talking to someone she doesn’t like.
- Mal, Rae’s dad, has a voice that is a “penetrating” or “booming baritone”.
- Rae’s great-grandfather Walter has a “harsh voice … so deep it seemed to echo in his throat.”
Sounds Add Suspense
One reason sounds add suspense is that, as beings who rely primarily on sight, hearing something only, depending on the setting, can be scary. At the climax of A Storm of Doubts, Rae is caught in a storm at night. She has to rely on what she hears far more than what she sees, adding to the suspense. (I’d tell you more, but a ruined mystery is one of the saddest stories there is, and my publisher would not be pleased.)
Quiet Heightens Importance
I learned this technique from an old movie called The Uninvited from 1944. A brother and sister buy a home on the English coast that’s stood empty for 15 years. After they move in, they experience weird happenings and conclude two ghosts haunt their home. They dig into the past to discover why.
In one scene, the local doctor is flipping through the personal journals of the late doctor from whom he bought the practice. A journal entry reveals that the late doctor suspected a respectable nurse, who now owns a successful health retreat, let a patient die. There’s a moment of quiet as the local doctor, the brother and sister, as well as the audience, absorb the enormity of this fact. It lasts a couple of seconds, and then the housekeeper intrudes with a telephone message.
I wrote the literary equivalent of that scene in Storm. A woman has disappeared from the rural Ohio county where Rae lives with Mal, who is the sheriff. They are discussing the case with Mal’s sister, Carrie, a private investigator. Carrie thinks it’s possible the missing woman is dead.
Dad gave her a steady gaze. “That seems more likely with each passing day.”
Micah’s and Gram’s muffled voices drifted through the floor as I clutched myself and the harsh light picked out the concern on their faces.
I like using a normal sound like a muffled discussion between family members as a counterpoint to something as awful as the disappearance and death of this woman.
Writers, how to you use sound in your stories? Readers, what book uses sounds well?