1. Bl4ck Catz

    Bl4ck Catz New Member

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    Tips for Writing Naturalistic Dialogue

    Discussion in 'Dialogue Development' started by Bl4ck Catz, May 23, 2018.

    Hi all,

    So I've noticed that when I start writing dialogue for characters, my mind draws a blank and what I eventually put on the page is a stilted and wooden version of the lively conversations that I imagine the characters having when I conjure the character in my mind.

    Does anyone else have that experience and if so, would anyone be willing to share some tips of how they loosen up their dialogue-writin' skills?

    Thanks in advance! :)
     
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  2. Spencer1990

    Spencer1990 Contributor Contributor

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    Read it out loud, not just in your head.

    The quickest way to catch off-kilter dialogue is to speak it, because it's a representation of speech. Then, once you've become accustomed to that, you should be able to have to that less and less, but it's still a good practice for putting a nice shine on a piece.
     
  3. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I totally agree with @Spencer1990 , if you have any doubts about your written dialogue (or any other aspect of your writing) read it out loud. This works even better, if you can get somebody else to read it TO you. They will only read what they see, and they won't know your intentions. So if there is a place that needs a pause and you didn't put one there, this will show up as well.

    As far as writing the dialogue, my own method is to envision the people who are saying it as I write, as if I was watching a movie. I don't just know what they are supposed to say, I see and hear them actually saying it.

    You say you imagine them having lively conversations, but then when you go to write the conversations, they are stilted and dull. I think the 'cure' for that is to go slowly, and get back into envisioning mode when you start writing. Bring them back to life in your head WHILE you write, as well as before you write. Also, keep in mind their own voices and their own vernacular. If they are ordinary people, they won't be speaking like Shakespeare. Even Shakespeare probably didn't speak like Shakespeare, if you know what I mean. So don't worry about whether the conversations are wonderfully-written or not. Just get them out there.

    I think this is also important to keep in mind. Dialogue isn't only a method of getting information across to the reader. It's also a chance to bring your characters to life. So bring them to life in your own head first, and then write down what they say. You have a chance, via dialogue, to let personalities take over. You also can build (or deliberately destroy) various relationships via dialogue as well.

    You can over-write dialogue passages if you're comfortable with that. Put in every um and ah, and trivial stuff, or be melodramatic, if you are so inclined. Write down EVERYTHING they say, and also describe (via action beats) what they are doing while they are speaking. Keep on top of what they look like (in that moment), what they are paying attention to, where they seem confident, where they hesitate, or where they speak sharply. You also have access to the internal thoughts of your POV character during these dialogue exchanges, so make use of that perspective. What is your POV character thinking and feeling as the dialogue happens?

    You can cut all that way back later, during the edits. But if you write down everything that's going on, you're more likely to create realistic conversations, and less likely to create a stilted infodump instead. It's hard to inject life into a dull conversation after you've written it. It's a lot easier to pare back the unnecessary bits during the edits. Don't worry about creating waste. Create it! And then throw it away.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2018
  4. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    Exactly what I was going to say.

    Also, use contractions. "I did not know you were so funny," sounds stilted and unnatural (even in historical fiction). "I didn't know you were so funny," sounds natural.
     
  5. Spencer1990

    Spencer1990 Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah. Definitely use contractions. Very few things can kill dialogue like not using contractions.
     
  6. Bl4ck Catz

    Bl4ck Catz New Member

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    So much good advice!! Thank you all so much!

    I like the idea of reading things out loud, but I already know that I'm going to have to fight through some of my own awkwardness to do it. But I definitely think it'll be worth the effort. The same goes for just putting all of the dialogue I want down on the page. I got slammed for writing too much dialogue back in high school and now the 'Too Much Dialogue!' button tends to blare in my head and I cut myself off. But I'm going to try that with some of my current writing and have a little fun with it. I love listening to people talk anyway and now that I think of it, that's how I usually find out what kind of person I'm dealing with anyway. I just never brought it into the process of discovering my characters before. I've also heard people say that reading dialogue into a recorder and playing it back can be helpful, too. Has anyone tried this and had some success?

    One thing that I've experimented with in some shorter stories is writing only/primarily in dialogue, which turns out to be freeing or nerve-wracking depending on my mood. But now I might try that again, too.

    Thanks again everyone :)
     
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  7. DK3654

    DK3654 Almost a Productive Member of Society Contributor

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    I suggest for dialogue that you don't focus too much on just what you want your characters to say but spend time thinking about how they each individually might respond in the circumstances. Because you are writing for all the characters, it can be easy to plan everything out and have lots of coordinated sequences but in a real conservation that is not likely to occur. You also know very well what all the characters are trying to say but the individual characters won't always understand. Different characters might also try to take the conservation in different directions and not stay on the one subject you want to address.
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2018
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  8. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I tend to write scenes with great globs of dialogue, or almost only dialogue, and then add actions and gestures and compress the dialogue.
     
  9. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I think it's useful to try to find a balance between having your characters sound exactly like regular human dialogue and having your characters sound impossibly erudite and clever.

    I mean, regular human speech is brutal, really, when transcribed. Even really brilliant people don't speak as well as they write, and the vast proportion of humanity sounds almost pathologically incoherent when natural speech is turned into writing.

    So if you write your characters the way humans actually speak, your characters will sound like complete idiots. You need to clean them up at least a little. And if you want them to give the impression of being well-spoken, you'll need to clean them up a LOT.

    But I think you need to balance that with going too far and making them sound impossibly erudite. Clean up the wandering and incomplete thoughts? Absolutely? Throw in a bit of cleverness when appropriate? Great. But be careful you don't go too far. Use some fragments, some interruptions, some parentheticals... let your dialogue live through imperfection!
     
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  10. graveleye

    graveleye Senior Member

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    Make a point to study real life conversations. Since we're social creatures, we do a lot of talking, but it's such a natural element of life that you tend to forget the "how" it happens. Sort of like walking, in that you just do it, but you don't really think about your legs and feet propelling you along. It just happens.

    This might sound a hair creepy, but I occasionally eavesdrop on conversations, not because I am interested in what they're saying, but rather to study the dynamics and mechanics of conversation. I found that observation is one of the best ways to get your mind wrapped around how to create realistic dialogue.
     
  11. Thundair

    Thundair Contributor Contributor

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    Some of the things I've learned from this forum is:

    Make sure each character has his/her own voice.
    Not all dialog is a complete sentence.
    Not all questions are answered in kind.
    Although they had contraction in historical times they do not play well with historical fiction.
    Tags are not needed if only two people are talking.
    A persons name is not used everytime you speak to them.
    Try to show emotion in the character that's talking.
     
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  12. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    I've never really struggled with dialogue - you just write how you speak. Like how you write on this forum - put quote marks around it and voila, you got dialogue ;) I have a narrative voice and then I have my "type on Facebook and forums and emails" train of thought sorta voice.

    Like, I might write in narrative, "Snow covered the landscape", but in dialogue I might write, "It's frigging cold." Or "Fuck I need some new boots. That snow's soaked right up my toes!"

    Now I think about it, I got no idea how I do it. But this you see on the forum isn't how I write my narrative, and when you hit my dialogue scenes, it sounds a lot more like this you're reading here. I guess I sorta put on a "description hat" and then a "talking hat", so to speak? When I'm writing narrative, I'm focused on making it flow, sorting out the rhythm, making it all pretty and conveying an image. When I'm writing dialogue, I'm writing thoughts - I write how I think, how I speak. When it comes to unique character voices, I'm not all that strong, but the dialogue certainly does read naturally and it flows.

    So just try writing "out loud". Like, say what you wanna say out loud and then put that down word for word. Once you're practised enough, you can just write down your thoughts word for word, without having to actually say anything out loud, which is what I mean by "writing out loud".
     
  13. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    In dialogue, what is not said is very frequently more important than what is said. When a response is not a response speaks volumes about a character and his or her motives, and relationships with other characters. Subtext is all about what is not explicitly said. Evasion, hostility, or obsession reveal themselves in choice of wording, in ambiguity or alternate interpretations.

    It's easy to get caught up in trying to sound like "real talk" and end up with rambling conversations that do nothing but inflate your word count.
     
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  14. Bl4ck Catz

    Bl4ck Catz New Member

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    Thanks again for all of the great advice. I think I'm going to take a week and try some of these techniques and see what works best. I ran across a madlibs-esque game for characters where you fill in what characters would say in given situations. It was a fun little exercise, but I can't remember where I found it. If I do, I'll share :)
     
  15. Kalisto

    Kalisto Senior Member

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    I improved by dialogue writing skills by taking a job at a call center. No, I'm serious. That's where I learned how to write dialogue. I am literally listening to people all day and how they talk, how they react and how they interact.
     
  16. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    One way to develop dialogue is to get in your characters' heads.Turn your phone off, earplugs in and walk around the park or someplace talking out loud working out the dialogue in your head. The fake phone makes it so no one wonders why you are talking to yourself.

    That works for me. I know right away when the character says something they wouldn't say.
     

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