#syubvice

I know someone’s gonna hate me for this, but dialogue is actually hands down the easiest part of writing for me. I used to struggle a lot with it, then one day something clicked and now my scenes are quite literally built on the dialogue - my rough drafts look like screenplays lmao. So, I might be the worst person to attempt to give tips on this particular subject, but I will do my best!

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Unique Voices:

Every character should have their own voice. It might sound impossible at first, but here are some factors to consider when designing a speech pattern:

Upbringing. This is where it all begins, really. The way we speak can certainly change over time, but a lot of habits are gonna be established earlier on in life. So, who raised your character? How did their parents/siblings speak? Who were their friends, and how could their speech patterns have had an influence on your character? Where did your character grow up? Is the area known for a specific dialect or strong accent?

Age and era. Not only should you consider your character’s age, but also the era in which they’re living. If you’re in your thirties and you’re writing about a teenager in 2020, your character is not going to speak exactly the same way you spoke when you were a teenager. If you’re 20 and writing about a 20-year-old in 1920, they’re not going to speak exactly as you speak now. Do your research!

Who are they speaking to? Regardless of whether or not they live in a society where there is a very strict hierarchy between social classes or age groups, your character is still likely to adjust their speech depending on who they’re speaking to. Boss, teachers, parents, siblings, lovers - your character will probably have a slightly different way of speaking to all of these people.

Multi-lingual. Was your character raised with more than one language? Is the language your character usually speaks their first language? Are they entirely fluent? What might trigger them to slip into their first language - anger, excitement, meeting a certain person, praying, counting? Do they often forget or confuse certain words in one language or another? You can have a lot of fun with multi-lingual characters, but if you weren’t raised with more than one language yourself, I’d do some research before writing a bilingual character!

Slang. Again, if you’re writing a character who belongs to a different era/age-group/nationality to you, do a little research. You’ll want to avoid using stereotypical slang and speech patterns - for example, not a single fucking Irish person has ever seriously said “top o’ the mornin’ to ye”. Each person usually has a specific set of slang terms and expletives they favour.

I’m not a linguist, these are just some of the things I consider when deciding how a character might speak. Not all voices are 100% unique, so don’t stress yourself out too much. The way we speak is the sum of hundreds of different influences, many of which we share with others. The idea is just to keep these factors in mind and implement small changes here and there to make sure your characters’ voices stand out from each other.

Break it up!

No to big chunks of solid dialogue - it’s boring. Even if your character is going off on a long monologue, you should break it up with motion and description. Imagine you’re watching a play and the actor just stands there, stock still, emotionless, reciting these lines - no one wants to see that and no one wants to read it either, my fren. Below is the best example I could find in my recent writing of a monologue broken up with motion and description:

Only one character speaks for this whole thing, but even if it was a conversation, I’d weave those other details in through it in much the same way. As much as you can, try to drop in subtle reminders of the character’s surroundings and feelings and the reactions of whoever they’re speaking to. This keeps the reader in the scene.

Rehearse:

You might feel like a crazy person muttering random lines of dialogue under your breath, but saying things aloud can help you figure out if it sounds nice and natural or stilted and weird. We can’t all be Oscar-winners, I know, but for best results, you should try to channel your character and their emotions when you do it. Personally, when I’m in bed before I fall asleep, I play scenes through in my head like a film and that’s my kinda way of ‘rehearsing’ them.

Listen:

A lot of people have trouble actually constructing dialogue. You sit down to write and it’s like you’ve never had a conversation before in your goddamn life, I know the feeling. The first thing you need to do is stop putting so much pressure on yourself. Just like you can’t force conversation in real life without it getting awkward, I think it’s the same in writing. Relax, step back from the keyboard, shut your eyes and try to imagine the scene as if you’re watching a film - what are they saying? 

If that fails, watch a film or an episode of something, listen to the actors. Read a novel and focus on the dialogue, how it’s constructed. When you’re out and about, listen to conversations going on around you, take notes of anything you find funny or interesting, anything that inspires a bit of dialogue for your story. Listening in this way is also a good exercise for studying other people’s speech patterns - think about how they’re unique and what the way they speak can tell you about them.

Practice:

I think this will be a point in most of my posts because it’s just so vital when it comes to all aspects of writing. Dialogue isn’t just a skill, it’s an entire group of skills. Within it, there’s humorous dialogue, flirtatious dialogue, arguments, etc. - the list goes on. They’re all a little different and present unique challenges, and you will be better at some aspects of dialogue than you are at others, so don’t get stuck in an I suck at dialogue rut, that’s not sexy at all.

Here’s a diverse list of dialogue prompts. To practice and challenge yourself, you could try building a conversation around each one or just a few. To start with, you could try writing only the lines of dialogue; when you feel more confident, start weaving in tone, setting, motion, etc.

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For me, the dialogue is the first thing I get. Before a scene has even begun to really take form, I have all these snippets of dialogue in my head, but then I often struggle with filling the gaps to make it a readable scene, you know? Every writer has different strengths. Dialogue may seem tricky at first, but you’ve been having conversations you whole life, pal, you know how to do it. The real trouble lies in finding your characters’ voices and figuring out how they’d interact with each other - once you’ve done that, the dialogue will come much easier for the rest of your story.

Sorry for the long gap between posts this time! I have a lot going on right now, but I love writing for this blog, it makes me feel like I know things, so thank you for all your support so far! Especially those who sent in asks - keep ’em coming! If I don’t reply, it’s because I plan to make a post on the topic, so don’t worry, I’m not ignoring anyone.

A lot of questions I’ve gotten over the past few years have been to do with actually starting to write, putting those first words down. Sometimes it’s people who used to write and are daunted by the task of getting back into it, other times it’s brand new writers, just tiny word-gremlins brimming with untapped inspiration, lacking the cynicism induced by years.. decades of having your life ruled by imaginary creatures.

At the end of the day, the only tried and tested tip for starting to write is WRITE, but I will try to provide you with a few others for the sake of appearances.

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1. Start Small.

Maybe you’re incredibly imaginative and you have this entire fantasy series in your head just ready to be put on paper, but... try not to rush into it. When I started writing first, every idea I had was for a novel, but I didn’t actually have the skills (and still don't) to complete a novel, so this led to a string of failed projects, which is not good for the delicate soul of a tiny word-gremlin.

If you do have a big idea you love, I would suggest writing smaller stories, with simpler plots, based in that universe - for example, you could use a prompt list/generator (Google them, they’re everywhere) and adapt those prompts to your universe. If your story is some epic sci-fi horror series and the prompts are about funfair dates, it could make for quite an interesting time. These exercises will allow you to work on your characters and your world, while giving you time to build the skills you need to one day develop the story into something bigger.

If you want to work on fan-fiction specifically, fluffy drabbles are your friend. You can start NSFW if you really want to, but I don’t advise it. Some people find smut comes easiest to them, but for me - and most writers I know - sex is one of the hardest things to write. Again, you can try prompt generators (like this OTP one here) or check places like Twitter for AU ideas - although, if you’re planning to post/share your story, do not use other people’s AU ideas without their permission!

I’m the kinda person who spends hours making a family on Sims then never plays with them, so working on my characters is probably my favourite aspect of writing. 

There are a hundred million ways to make a character profile, including ready-made templates like this one, but I find that it’s better to make your own and tailor it to your story. As with everything, you need to do what works for you, but I tend to take quite an instinctive approach to writing my characters, so I keep my profiles fairly basic.

For the purpose of today’s post, I’m making a profile for Sergeant Iorath, an OC from my WWI fic A Gentle Sound. As AGS is a pretty big project, this profile is much fancier and robust than I would generally make them for a fic. I have a specific aesthetic I’ve been keeping up in my AGS notes, so don’t be daunted by that - you don’t have to make it pretty if that’s not your thing!

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General Guidelines for Character Profiles:

Stick to the point. This profile is for you, not your readers. You don’t need to fill it up with information that comes to you instinctively. Reading through a profile should get you back in touch with who your character is as a person and allow you to envision them more clearly - that’s all.

Most important to least important. Keep the information you’ll need often and quickly up near the top of your document. Don’t put their appearance description at the bottom of the second page, y’know? And I wouldn’t advise starting a profile with a massive block of text detailing their backstory - expand on that further down, if you want, or in a separate biography document.

Don’t overdo it. When you forget your OC’s birthday at 4:00AM, you don’t wanna read an entire essay just to find it! For regular fics, my profiles are only about half a page long. AGS is a Big Project, with lots of research and multiple works likely to be attached to the universe, so these profiles are more like two pages. You don’t have to stick to this, but I think it’s a good guide.

Short and snappy. Keep each individual section short and easy to read at a glance. Avoid large, multi-paragraph blocks of text. Bullet-points and tables are good, don’t be afraid to go wild with the formatting options available to you.

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1. The Basics:

Edit: I noticed the image quality was pretty bad for these screenshots, so here's a link to the document itself!

This is literally just the most basic information, which will always begin with name and date/place of birth. As you can see, I’ve adjusted this to suit AGS universe with rank, enlistment date and time spent on active duty; if it was a fantasy universe, I’d probably have species in there instead; for a college AU, maybe their major, roommate, etc. You’ll also see that I have the Major Combat heading near the top simply because this is something I often forget, so I want it to be easy to find.

Honestly, when it comes to inspiration and the acquisition thereof, every single creative is so different that I wasn’t even sure I should make this post. I know a lot of people struggle with this, though, and while I’m not always motivated to actually write, I generally stay pretty inspired one way or another, so maybe I’m doing something right somewhere?

It’s important to remember that not all writers have the same brain and the things that work for me might not work for you, but if you’re really stuck, anything is worth a shot, right?

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✧･ﾟ:* Read *:･ﾟ✧*

These tips aren’t exactly in order, but I’ve put this as number one because you cannot underestimate the importance of reading as a writer. Any kind of reading helps, it doesn’t have to be fiction, though it is better if it’s related to what you want to write. At the moment, I’m mostly reading WWI non-fiction stuff, but I find it keeps me inspired by providing me with a bunch of new details to add to my fic.

✧･ﾟ:* Music *:･ﾟ✧*

For me, music is more of a tool to stay inspired than to get inspired. Music has a way of making us feel something very specific, so making a playlist for one of your existing stories can really help to consolidate an aesthetic and maintain it as you continue writing. Trying out some new music - a playlist you didn’t make, for example, or that artist you were recommended that you’ve been meaning to listen to for months - could lead to you finding the perfect song for your WIP or something brand new. You could also try listening to music you haven't heard in years to see what sort of fun that stirs up.