Mitch do you have any advice for writing banter/dialogue?
im a shy quiet person irl and don't really talk much so l get stuck sometimes trying to imagine what the my characters might say next.
Especially when I want to write something witty/snarky/banter-ey.
your dialogues are so fun to read! Does it come naturally to you or is there a process?
Hello and thank you! If nothing else, I'm always pretty confident about my dialogue. It's something I lean on a lot. It did come pretty naturally, I think that's just always been an element of writing that was easy for me. Unfortunately that means I don't have a whole bag of tricks for it, but I'll throw some spaghetti at the wall for you.
If you're shy and get stuck imagining what characters will say at all, then you're probably sidestepping a frequent writing issue, which is characters saying too much. Sometimes when I'm reading characters are having a conversation, I can see straight through them to the author. They're just spilling info at each other, or over-explaining their feelings like somebody having an imaginary argument with an ex in the shower. You can tell a lot about a character by what they don't feel comfortable or confident enough to say. For social reasons, people often dial things back when they speak. It's great to have characters struggle to say things. Or say things in a way that's vague or awkward. You can have characters who are very sharp-tongued and confident too, but always keep in mind that reading a paragraph of dialogue is never as satisfying as reading one or two sentences that deliver the point effectively. I think restraint is huge with dialogue. So you could already have a strength in that regard.
Always keep in mind what your characters actually sound like. My classic example is that frat dudes won't be using tumblr high-schooler slang. I've had many instances where I felt like I could see straight through the dialogue to the author by whatever incongruous memes and phrases their characters were using. That'll snatch a reader right out of a story. A character might also use mostly short words and sentences, or they could be more eloquent, or they could use a lot of a particular kind of slang, or have a tendency to yap about themselves or be very direct. Personality, social pressures, age, education levels, all give a character a certain voice. Though of course, be careful not to resort to stereotype. When I'm writing dialogue, I'm imagining the characters saying those words out loud in their voices. I'm not sure everyone's brains can do this, I know visual imagination varies a lot for people, so I assume it's the same for aural. I've heard it helps to read your dialogue out loud to yourself. Editing passes are great times for this. Often I'll read my own dialogue back and think wtf he would not say that. many such cases.
When I'm trying to figure out what a character says next, it helps to keep in mind where you're trying to get to in the scene. Sometimes a conversation goes where you don't expected to, and that can be fun, but when you're at a loss, it helps to think about what the end goal is. What is the conversation establishing? What are the characters going to learn? Is there an important line you're trying to get them to say to each other? It's not that I plot word for word backwards from the end goal, but sometimes i can make a vague map of topics or sentiments that will lead from A to B. I'm always looking for opportunities to slip in information in a way that's natural.
As for banter or wit, that's really hard to advise on because it's such a matter of taste, I always hope that my stuff is funny but for all I know I'm the only one laughing. BUT if you do find my dialogue funny, here's how I go about it. Once again, restraint is key. With drama you want to draw out a moment with lots of description or emotion to make it linger. By contrast, I think humor should be fast. The quicker a joke can be delivered, the better. My other big suggestion is just to be bold. If you have an idea of something that could be funny, do not waste time wondering if it's too silly, or too weird, or too cringe. put it in there! A lot of humor is dumb and that's what makes it good! one of my funniest scenes got written because I was like lol what if a fic started with a conversation over a toilet, and that scene was rife with potty jokes, and it's still one of my favorites. I write humor by looking at a scene and going how could i make this sillier and crazier. works every time.
it always pays to read good examples of what you want to do and take note of why it's working. equally helpful to read stuff that is NOT working and make note of that too.
I hope you found something in there that was helpful!
