Creating believable natural conversations Hello everybody. I apologize if this thread is in the wrong section; I have no idea with where else to put this. I'm someone who likes to make comics and graphic novels. I've practiced a lot with art from multiple mediums, but my favorite is digital. I even have a desktop set up for digital art and graphics design. I've made a short comic book before, but that was relatively short compared to graphic novels and what I'm working on, which should be roughly two-hundred pages. I'm posting this on a writing forum because I almost always write a script before making comics. I hadn't encountered this problem before. Until now, I've succeeded at writing at least a thousand words per day during times amid from work and other things. Today, I'm in a block because I can't make believable engaging conversations in stories. The setting I'm stuck in is when three characters are riding in a car with one of them driving. I have no clue on how to progress the story because I have no idea what they should say and make it sound believable. Keep in mind, I'm writing this down, panel per panel, only covering the fundamentals first and going back later. So, this doesn't deal with the artistic part. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.
give us a chance here - whats the story? what are they meant to be discussing? Are they planning a murder? Going to a museum? taking in the scenery? Do you want someone to write a small script? How many words/panels/pages?
Zottie, I'm actually going through the same thing right now. I have the story planned completely, to the point where I could literally start drawing it tomorrow, but I can't nail down the dialogue. Do you know what it is your characters need to communicate? Is it their voice you're having trouble getting? We do need more info before we can offer assistance.
Depends on what they are talking about. If it is a topic you wolud normarmally use in conversation, just talk about it with some friends of yours, and see how it works out. Most of the times, 'believable' is not about what we say, but about how you say it.
If there's no dialogue, and nothing beyond driving happens, is the scene at all necessary? Usually when you're struggling to fill a transition scene like that, it means you can usually safely delete it. And if the scene is absolutely necessary, then I struggle to understand why you don't know what to write - what do you want to convey through your dialogue? These are also good moments for character development or exposition.
Often, and this is due to my weirdness, I throw myself into the shoes of my characters and just end up talking to myself to make my conversations. I just change voice do a bit of acting with my hands and body if necessary and then I write from there. Give it a try, become your characters, think like them, move like them, see like them, and the conversation comes naturally.
Sorry for replying late. A bit of me is nervous showing any part of my story to people. Basically, I'm trying to make it character driven and using things I already know pretty well about. So far, it's about three high school graduates driving in one car to the same college, reflecting on life so far, and the feeling of teenagers leaving their homes and go to somewhere bigger. Good point. I'll keep this in mind.
Take a second to think about how you would conduct a conversation such as the one you are trying to write about. On another note, people tend to talk in a rather disjointed manner. In real life, we rarely use full, and grammatically correct sentences. We also tend to go off on tangents and talk over each other. A conversation is usually not going to follow a strict structure in any way shape or form (most of us do not lecture our friends like a college professor). Try analyzing a few conversations you have had. This might help you to pick out some elements that will help make your writing believable.
