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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 donât like writing dialogue or arenât sure how to do it, I begin this topic.Youâre welcome.
So⌠actually I donât even know where to start. Can we get someone here who doesnât like writing dialogue and likes asking questions? That would be helpful for me, because I cannot think how to start. I donât just want to smother everybody with theory in the first postâ then everythingâs said, and the topic doesnât last long. đ
So⌠questions, anyone?One quick pointâ story dialogue is one of the things that shouldnât strictly be realistic. Because, I mean, that can be, like, so totally⌠um⌠itâs just like⌠really, well itâs like really incrediblyâŚum⌠annoying, when you have to, you know, you as the reader have to read all that⌠um⌠you know, ho-hum stuff. Itâs just like, seriously?
So weâll play Iâm the expert, and Iâll answer your questions unless I canât. Sound fair?
Sorry, I donât think I can be the one who doesnât like writing dialog. Itâs one of my favorite parts and one of my only strong points in my first book. đ But I can ask some questions.
Ever say the conversation out loud?
What do you think of different spellings for peopleâs 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 Iâm in the shower.
What do I think of the different spellings for peopleâs accents in dialogue?
Hm. Whal now, I ainât âzactly givin that noo proper thought. I âspect itâd have a laht ta do with yer nationalitee, if ye take me meaninâ.
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 ârâs heavily and distinctly. Since youâre a Horatio Hornblower fan, think of Orrock. (Is that how you spell it?)
When everybody else (all the Britishers) says âaye aye, suh,â he actually says sirâ very distinctly. Also Irish are sometimes twisted up in their vowelsâ an âeâ in âcertainlyâ will end up sounding more like an âaââ âsartinlyâ.
And with Scottish, they obviously also have a lot of emphasis on their ârâs as well, only they roll them, and itâs 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 âthâs always sound more like âzâs, 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. Itâs funny, since Iâd never really heard much of an Irish accent before Hornblower. Iâm 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. đ Doing that sort of thing is certainly a risk, but if you pull it off itâs definitely a feather in your cap. đBack on the topic of dialog-out-loud.
In my opinion, thatâs the most useful tool for dialog. If a conversation doesnât sound realistic, just say it out loud to yourself and youâll usually find whatâs wrong. Having good characterization is also key. Everyone talks differently, and if you know your characters well enough, dialog shouldnât come that hard (unless itâs 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? đ
No, I know what you mean. His accent is actually so strong it can be annoying. Especially when youâre used to everyone else calling Horatio âMr. Honblowuhâ, pretty much, Hammondâs concise âHornbloorâ can grate on my nerves. đ
Itâs funny, but I donât 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 writeâ even though most of the time I do plan my conversations beforehand just for kicks. Haha!
I like that point about people talking differentlyâ I agree. And thatâs 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 âainât hardly never ever been thar nor ainât done that neitherâ you immediately think âuneducated!â. At the same time, if you hear âIt 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 regardâ you get the opposite impression. Pretty neat, hey?Oh and by the way, cool fact about Hammond that wasnât in the movie. He has a poodle. Isnât that hilarious? Or he had a poodleâ 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 lieutenantâs exam just for that. đ
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 characterâs movements and body language. Donât 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 goodnessâ 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 youâve done this well if your character can tell a lie with a perfectly straight face and the reader instantly knows itâs a lie. Not because the character lied about an event that they already knew about, but because they are so finely tuned to the characterâs emotions in this scene that they know he either isnât telling them everything or isnât 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? đ
Ooh⌠what a deep question. Humor is not my strongest point, but I flatter myself I can do it well enough, so Iâll share some tips. MaybeâŚ
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 donât 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 âIâm glad to know that, Mr. (insert name of tour guide here, maybe Flyfoot). Iâve wondered that, myself, actually. Iâm glad to hear it from the lips of an undisputed expert. Itâs always good to know these things.â (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 whatâs 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 âThe Day Santa Wore Carharttsâ. Mostly between Grant and Rob.
Itâs 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. Theyâre like my favorite two to write about.
Being able to get in both your charactersâ heads, yet not have them understand each other at all is a fine art, but itâs well worth perfecting. đKate, 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. Thereâs 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. Soâs Denholm. đ And good point about the understatements. That can really be effective too.
Glad I was able to be of service, Hannah!
Well⌠lovely. Soâs Denholm. đ
Well, then. Now Iâm even more interested in Denholm. XP Those guys kinda tend to steal the spotlight and become a reader favorite. That explains Denholmâs instant popularity on here. đ
@David⌠please donât be toast. We have too many weird persons around this forum already. đ
@Roseyâ 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 theyâre 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 âCaptain Quinnâ novel?Oh, gosh I have the same thing happening. XD Cobaltâs supposed to be the secondary character to Jean and heâs totally taking over and running away with the show.
YES. Though Cobalt doesnât usually notice when he says something deep. đ
No, heâs actually in my first book, the sci-fi. Iâll try and get a picture of the cover here:
It majorly needs a rewrite. But, surprisingly, Iâm still happy with my character development and dialog. đ
Writing a sequel to that at the moment.
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