Jessica Steiner (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jessicasteiner) wrote2013-04-04 08:24 pm
jessicasteiner) wrote2013-04-04 08:24 pm
Entry tags:
D is for Dialogue #atozchallenge
There's a lot of wisdom out there about writing dialogue. Most of it involves reading things out loud to see if it comes naturally. I can't really offer that as a tip, since to be quite honest I've never done it.
But I do have three tips about writing dialogue for you today.
1. Characters don't talk like real people talk. If you really listen to how real people talk, you'll discover that we speak horribly. Real person dialogue is filled with run-on sentences, poor grammar, and sentence fragments. There is a certain level of good grammar and sentence structure that's expected in all writing, even in dialogue.
2. But don't be stilted! Though characters don't talk like real people, characters also don't have perfect grammar and sentence structure. Unless they're androids, in which case you shouldn't use contractions.
3. Make it different. It's important that all your characters have their own voice, at least to some extent. Some people give each character a particular vocal quirk, but you don't want to go too far with this. If every character has one, it becomes really obvious that you're using it as a device to make your characters sound different.
But it is key to try to make sure that each character sounds unique, and that they don't all sound like you. Think about the character's level of education, their personality, and other traits about them. A poorly educated character won't have the same vocabulary you likely do. A very precise and detail-oriented character will speak differently, choose different words, than a character who's under the influence of a drug.
You can do a lot with word choice, differences in sentence structure, slang, and other small changes, so long as you use them consistently and in accordance with the other things you know about that character.
But I do have three tips about writing dialogue for you today.
1. Characters don't talk like real people talk. If you really listen to how real people talk, you'll discover that we speak horribly. Real person dialogue is filled with run-on sentences, poor grammar, and sentence fragments. There is a certain level of good grammar and sentence structure that's expected in all writing, even in dialogue.
2. But don't be stilted! Though characters don't talk like real people, characters also don't have perfect grammar and sentence structure. Unless they're androids, in which case you shouldn't use contractions.
3. Make it different. It's important that all your characters have their own voice, at least to some extent. Some people give each character a particular vocal quirk, but you don't want to go too far with this. If every character has one, it becomes really obvious that you're using it as a device to make your characters sound different.
But it is key to try to make sure that each character sounds unique, and that they don't all sound like you. Think about the character's level of education, their personality, and other traits about them. A poorly educated character won't have the same vocabulary you likely do. A very precise and detail-oriented character will speak differently, choose different words, than a character who's under the influence of a drug.
You can do a lot with word choice, differences in sentence structure, slang, and other small changes, so long as you use them consistently and in accordance with the other things you know about that character.