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Well, some people think dialogue is diabolical, but I love it!
That being said, I can understand how it would be tricky to do, and for the benefit of all you guys who don’t like writing dialogue or aren’t sure how to do it, I begin this topic.You’re welcome.
So… actually I don’t even know where to start. Can we get someone here who doesn’t like writing dialogue and likes asking questions? That would be helpful for me, because I cannot think how to start. I don’t just want to smother everybody with theory in the first post— then everything’s said, and the topic doesn’t last long. 😛
So… questions, anyone?One quick point— story dialogue is one of the things that shouldn’t strictly be realistic. Because, I mean, that can be, like, so totally… um… it’s just like… really, well it’s like really incredibly…um… annoying, when you have to, you know, you as the reader have to read all that… um… you know, ho-hum stuff. It’s just like, seriously?
So we’ll play I’m the expert, and I’ll answer your questions unless I can’t. Sound fair?
Sorry, I don’t think I can be the one who doesn’t like writing dialog. It’s one of my favorite parts and one of my only strong points in my first book. 😛 But I can ask some questions.
Ever say the conversation out loud?
What do you think of different spellings for people’s accents in dialog?Yes… I do say the conversation out loud. Well, actually, define loud. Most of the time I mutter it under my breath while I’m in the shower.
What do I think of the different spellings for people’s accents in dialogue?
Hm. Whal now, I ain’t ‘zactly givin that noo proper thought. I ‘spect it’d have a laht ta do with yer nationalitee, if ye take me meanin’.
Oh Rosey, what a question! There are so many different ways… I guess my favorite way is just to listen to different accents of the different nationalities (excuse me, nationalitees) and do what I hear. Like noticing that Irish people always pronounce their ‘r’s heavily and distinctly. Since you’re a Horatio Hornblower fan, think of Orrock. (Is that how you spell it?)
When everybody else (all the Britishers) says ‘aye aye, suh,’ he actually says sir— very distinctly. Also Irish are sometimes twisted up in their vowels— an ‘e’ in ‘certainly’ will end up sounding more like an ‘a’— ‘sartinly’.
And with Scottish, they obviously also have a lot of emphasis on their ‘r’s as well, only they roll them, and it’s almost like they make the tip of their tongue bounce off their teeth to make that sound. Also the Scottish have all those cool contractions: Couldnae, wouldnae, dinnae, donnae, shouldnae, etc.
And then you have French accents, where their ‘th’s always sound more like ‘z’s, and they swallow a lot of sounds to make that sort of guttural, roof-of-the-mouth sound like the sound waves come up from their throat and roll of the top of their mouth and under their teeth… if that makes sense at all.
Yikes, I could go on forever. What do you think?Not only Orrock. Hammond does it too. It’s funny, since I’d never really heard much of an Irish accent before Hornblower. I’m not sure how one would write down an Irish accent, other than to mention how they accent the letter R.
This was actually pretty interesting on the topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English
In a series I read once, my favorite character had a very well written in scottish accent. I actually had to read it out loud to myself to understand it, which was fun. 🙂 Doing that sort of thing is certainly a risk, but if you pull it off it’s definitely a feather in your cap. 😛Back on the topic of dialog-out-loud.
In my opinion, that’s the most useful tool for dialog. If a conversation doesn’t sound realistic, just say it out loud to yourself and you’ll usually find what’s wrong. Having good characterization is also key. Everyone talks differently, and if you know your characters well enough, dialog shouldn’t come that hard (unless it’s a quiet character… in which case the dialog is more non-dialog :P).
If I have a big conversation coming up, I usually wait a little and think about it. Go through the first couple drafts in my mind. Because we always think of the cleverest things to say after conversations. Our characters can think of the clever things beforehand. XDWhich Hammond? 😉
No, I know what you mean. His accent is actually so strong it can be annoying. Especially when you’re used to everyone else calling Horatio ‘Mr. Honblowuh’, pretty much, Hammond’s concise ‘Hornbloor‘ can grate on my nerves. 😛
It’s funny, but I don’t really have to consciously think about writing dialogue beforehand, or rehearse the witty parts. I find witty things can just spill out of my fingers based on which character is talking as I write— even though most of the time I do plan my conversations beforehand just for kicks. Haha!
I like that point about people talking differently— I agree. And that’s one of the funnest (hm, mostest fun?) things about dialogue. Everyone says it differently! And dialogue can be a key tool in characterization. I mean, when you hear something like ‘ain’t hardly never ever been thar nor ain’t done that neither’ you immediately think ‘uneducated!’. At the same time, if you hear ‘It is my very great pleasure and honor to present to you, ladies and gentlemen, a remarkable entity whose fame (as merited as it is astonishing) has spread far and wide to every corner of the earth, and for whom I myself have conceived the highest regard’ you get the opposite impression. Pretty neat, hey?Oh and by the way, cool fact about Hammond that wasn’t in the movie. He has a poodle. Isn’t that hilarious? Or he had a poodle— until a midshipman (not Horatio) dropped it over the side of the ship and drowned it. On accident… I think. Anyway, that midshipman failed his lieutenant’s exam just for that. 😛
Another thing to add to this discussion… if you can call it a discussion without any opponents… is that a long conversation, realistically, will wander from one subject to another. Not that it will be rambling, but that one topic will bring up another point that needs discussing, and the conversers (not a word, but who cares) will take something one or the other brushed on and bring up something having to do with it, but not necessarily directly related to whatever they were talking about before. This is a great way to cover a lot of material in one conversation, instead of having to do separate scenes for each topic that needs resolving or mentioning.
And a good way to handle these long conversations is to break them up with the character’s movements and body language. Don’t just have huge chunks of dialogue. Break it up with a character fiddling with a napkin, or a pencil, or getting up out of his chair to go and look out the window. Even just pulling on his nose or scratching his head, for goodness’ sake! The tiniest motion can convey the deepest meaning, and tell a story beneath the words of the dialogue that forms a direct link from the character to the reader on an emotional level that cannot be spelled out.
You know you’ve done this well if your character can tell a lie with a perfectly straight face and the reader instantly knows it’s a lie. Not because the character lied about an event that they already knew about, but because they are so finely tuned to the character’s emotions in this scene that they know he either isn’t telling them everything or isn’t telling the truth at all. No matter what he may say to the contrary.
Does that make any sense whatsoever?Oh, Kate the Wise, how do you incorporate humor into dialog? Or, to be more specific, how to you make the conversations sound natural while being funny? 😉
Ooh… what a deep question. Humor is not my strongest point, but I flatter myself I can do it well enough, so I’ll share some tips. Maybe…
Okay, first tip: inside jokes. Often these are driven home by a look or a secret smile or some subtextual passing of information between two characters.
As a quick example, say one of your characters once said that flies don’t like ketchup, and that no intelligent person would ever aver that flies like ketchup.
Then that character and the character to whom he gave the lecture about flies and ketchup go to visit the National Observatory of the Habits of Flies. In the course of the tour, the tour guide mentions that there is no fly in the world, (statistics show) who does not love ketchup. At this point character #2 (the recipient of the earlier lecture) will look up across the room with a mischievous smile in his eyes, and while speaking to the tour guide and looking at the flies-like-ketchup-denier, say “I’m glad to know that, Mr. (insert name of tour guide here, maybe Flyfoot). I’ve wondered that, myself, actually. I’m glad to hear it from the lips of an undisputed expert. It’s always good to know these things.” (Character #1 blushes fiery red and averts eyes).If you want to include a joke in a conversation, make sure the joke is relevant to the conversation; make sure something someone said would remind whoever told the joke of that particular joke.
Unnatural comedy will only result if the situation is not in the least comedic, and cannot be viewed as such by any of the characters in that scene. Now we have those characters who see something funny in every circumstance, and those can either be annoying characters or silly characters or stupid characters. Annoying if they cannot see the gravity of the situation and just crack jokes to ease the tension, silly if they cannot see the gravity of the situation and think everything is just peachy so go on joking no matter what’s happening, and stupid if they cannot see the gravity of the situation and joke because joking is the thing to do no matter what.
And… then we have my favorite kind of joker. The guy who knows full well the gravity of the situation, and jokes not because he is insensitive, but because he will put the bravest face on the most terrifying situation and wants to help others do the same. That kind of joker is more sweet than humorous.
Does that answer your questions?Gross understatements in conversations actually help the humor a lot. Or just observe the humor you like and imitate it. A good representation of my method of humor in dialog is my story on here “The Day Santa Wore Carhartts”. Mostly between Grant and Rob.
It’s also best to make your characters clash in funny ways. I have my characters Cobalt (the goofball) and Jean (the professional, cool spy gal) clash ALL THE TIME. They’re like my favorite two to write about.
Being able to get in both your characters’ heads, yet not have them understand each other at all is a fine art, but it’s well worth perfecting. 😉Kate, Cobalt is your favorite kind of joker. I love those guys, so I just had to make one. XD
Ooohh… Good answers!! I also adore characters that joke in order to stay strong. There’s something endearing about it! <3
Kate, Cobalt is your favorite kind of joker. I love those guys, so I just had to make one. XD
Well… lovely. So’s Denholm. 😀 And good point about the understatements. That can really be effective too.
Glad I was able to be of service, Hannah!
Well… lovely. So’s Denholm. 😀
Well, then. Now I’m even more interested in Denholm. XP Those guys kinda tend to steal the spotlight and become a reader favorite. That explains Denholm’s instant popularity on here. 😉
@David… please don’t be toast. We have too many weird persons around this forum already. 😛
@Rosey— they certainly do steal the spotlight! Denholm is the favorite by majority vote, and nothing I do for my poor real MC will change that. *sigh* Poor darling Harold. Everything conspires against you.
Also those jokers are the kind of characters that can go from laughter and joking and wit to dead seriousness in the blink of an eye. They will be cracking jokes for all they’re worth, filling the scene up with wit and dazzling sparkle and annoying all the other characters to death, and then the next moment they switch to gravity and hit you with some stunningly insightful remark that will make you wake up, sit straight, and take notice. I love writing those kinds of characters… and reading them too, of course. Does Cobalt belong to your ‘Captain Quinn’ novel?Oh, gosh I have the same thing happening. XD Cobalt’s supposed to be the secondary character to Jean and he’s totally taking over and running away with the show.
YES. Though Cobalt doesn’t usually notice when he says something deep. 😛
No, he’s actually in my first book, the sci-fi. I’ll try and get a picture of the cover here:
It majorly needs a rewrite. But, surprisingly, I’m still happy with my character development and dialog. 😉
Writing a sequel to that at the moment.
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