Course Overview
Overview
Six weeks of voice work — vocabulary, rhythm, omissions, focus, repeated patterns, age and region without cliche. The most thorough voice course in the catalog. By the end you can write five characters in one scene and the reader knows who’s talking without name tags. Different from BM-148 (which covers character-level voice broadly); this course is specifically about DIALOGUE voice and how it lives line by line on the page. Six weeks. Thirty lessons. The deliverable is the Voice Library — a living document that holds every character’s voice signature for the rest of your career.
What’s inside
- 6 modules, 30 lessons + voice library — the deepest dialogue-voice course in the catalog
- Mindset Maven Test that names YOUR specific voice-flattening pattern in dialogue
- 6 guided meditations averaging 10 minutes — paired to per-character voice work
- Toolkit: the Voice Library Template + the Per-Character Dialogue Voice Card
- Lifetime access, unlimited retakes — the Voice Library grows over years
- Companion blog post per module — public, perfect for the writer whose ensemble dialogue blurs
Who this is for
- Novelists
- Screenwriters
- Playwrights
- Memoirists
FAQs
How is this different from BM-148?
BM-148 covers character voice broadly (narrative voice, scene-by-scene voice, voice differentiation principles). BM-168 is specifically about DIALOGUE voice — how voice lives line by line on the page. Pair them for complete voice work.
What’s the Voice Library?
A living document holding every character’s voice signature — vocabulary set, rhythm pattern, omission pattern, focus pattern, age-and-region markers. You build it across this course and add to it across your career. By year five it’s a multi-character voice reference.
Will this work for non-English-native writers?
Yes — module 4 explicitly covers multilingual voice work and the rhythm calibration for non-English-native ears. The course has been used by writers in multiple language backgrounds.
How do I write age without cliche?
Module 4 covers age-and-region without cliche. The trick is specificity at the focus and vocabulary level rather than at the verbal-tic level. A 19-year-old’s voice isn’t ‘like, you know’ — it’s what she NOTICES first.
Should I take this before or after BM-165 (Dialogue Mechanics)?
BM-165 first, then BM-168. The mechanics course gives you the dialogue framework; this course adds voice depth on top.
Can I retake?
Yes. Unlimited. The Voice Library grows; you’ll come back for new characters.
What one student said
★★★★★
“This was my fourth Book Maven course in two years (after BM-005, BM-045, BM-148). I am 71 and learning to write a first novel. The dialogue voice work was the hardest of the four because dialogue requires inhabiting characters whose lives are not mine. The voice library practice was what finally cracked the problem for me. I am no longer afraid of writing teenagers, or men, or my own younger self. Five stars. I would recommend this course AFTER BM-148; the character voice work there is the prerequisite.”
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Curriculum
- 6 Sections
- 24 Lessons
- Lifetime
- Module 1: The Voice Signature (Four Elements + One Wildcard)Week one is the framework. Every character's dialogue voice has a SIGNATURE — vocabulary set (the words she reaches for), rhythm pattern (her sentence music), omissions (what she won't say), focus (wh6
- 1.1Module 1: Overview20
- 1.2Mindset Maven Test: Which Voice Element Will YOU Most Need to Pre-Build?2 Questions
- 1.3Meditation: Building the First Signature (a Slow Audio)11
- 1.4Writing Prompt: Module 130
- 1.5INSPIRATION: The Voice Signature I Built In 2018 (Still Referenced In 2024)15
- 1.6Companion Blog: Build a Voice Signature for Every Major Character. Reference It Every Time You Draft Her.10
- Module 2: Vocabulary Sets (the Most Visible Layer)Week two installs vocabulary sets — the specific word choices each character reaches for and avoids. The most visible layer of voice and the one most often badly done (writers grab synonyms; character6
- 2.1Module 2: Overview20
- 2.2Mindset Maven Test: Whose Vocabulary Set Is YOUR Default (Yours)?2 Questions
- 2.3Meditation: The Vocabulary Excavation Audio (Use Per Character)10
- 2.4Writing Prompt: Module 230
- 2.5INSPIRATION: The Three Characters Who Were All Speaking In My Voice For Two Drafts15
- 2.6Companion Blog: Your Characters Are Probably Speaking In Your Vocabulary. Here’s How to Fix That.10
- Module 3: Rhythm Patterns (the Music of Each Character)Week three installs rhythm patterns — the sentence music each character speaks in. Long flowing sentences vs. clipped fragments. Stress patterns. Paragraph structure when they speak at length. We cove6
- 3.1Module 3: Overview20
- 3.2Mindset Maven Test: What’s YOUR Default Dialogue Rhythm (and Why Are All Your Characters Using It)?2 Questions
- 3.3Meditation: The Rhythm Listening Audio (Per Character)10
- 3.4Writing Prompt: Module 330
- 3.5INSPIRATION: The Two Characters Whose Rhythms Were Identical For Three Drafts15
- 3.6Companion Blog: Every Character Has a Rhythm Signature. Build It. Read It. Reference It.10
- Module 4: Age and Region Without Cliche (the Hardest Voice Work)Week four covers the hardest voice work — writing AGE and REGION without falling into cliche. Age cliches: teenagers say 'like,' old people complain about the youth, etc. Region cliches: phonetic acce6
- 4.1Module 4: Overview20
- 4.2Mindset Maven Test: Which Cliche Will YOU Most Reach For?2 Questions
- 4.3Meditation: Listening Past Cliche (a Specific Audio)11
- 4.4Writing Prompt: Module 430
- 4.5INSPIRATION: The 19-Year-Old I Wrote Without ‘Like’ or ‘You Know’15
- 4.6Companion Blog: Write Age and Region Without Cliche. Here Are the Specific Moves.10
- Module 5: Voice Under Pressure (How Voice Shifts Under Stress)Week five covers voice-under-pressure. Characters don't keep the same voice under stress — they tighten, fragment, escalate, or collapse. The shifts are specific per character. We cover the install mo6
- 5.1Module 5: Overview20
- 5.2Mindset Maven Test: What’s YOUR Protagonist’s Specific Pressure-Voice Variant?2 Questions
- 5.3Meditation: The Voice-Under-Pressure Audio12
- 5.4Writing Prompt: Module 530
- 5.5INSPIRATION: The Scene Where the Character Fragmented Under Pressure (and Still Sounded Like Herself)15
- 5.6Companion Blog: Voice Shifts Under Pressure. Design the Shift Before You Write It.10
- Module 6: The Voice Library (the Capstone Living Document)Final week. You'll compile your Voice Library — a living document holding every character signature, vocabulary set, rhythm pattern, omission map, focus map, age/region marker, pressure variant. The L6
- 6.1Module 6: Overview20
- 6.2Mindset Maven Test: What Should YOUR Voice Library Track That You Haven’t Mentioned?2 Questions
- 6.3Meditation: Closing Audio: The Voice Library Established14
- 6.4Writing Prompt: Module 630
- 6.5INSPIRATION: Twelve Years of the Voice Library (and the Ensemble That Compounded)15
- 6.6Companion Blog: Build a Voice Library. Add to It Every Year. Reference It Forever.10