#witty character

Witty banter is a playful, clever, and humorous conversation technique that every writer uses to spice up their characters’ interactions and convey a sense of depth when they speak. And depending on the situation it can be witty flirting, mild sarcasm, self-deprecating humor, playful teasing and whatnot.

For example a little bit of playful, lighthearted teasing between two people in an already-established relationship is a wonderful way to demonstrate how well they know one another.

“I can’t believe you worn that stupid suit again.” “How else was I gonna get you to rip my clothes off.”

“Do you want lasagna or parmigiana for supper?” “Lasagna.” “Me too. Stop by Olive Garden on the way home.”

However, banter should never be rude, offensive, or condescending. There is a crucial balance between mild teasing or sarcasm and crossing the line into insulting remarks. The only way to truly be good at coming up with witty banter/dialogue is to study it by listening to people, watching movies, and reading books with clever dialogue and narration.

So, I've seen some people debating about character's flaws and redeeming qualities and how the public "forgives" characters with biggest flaws and wrong-doings, but will dislike characters who have done very little to be considered bad or hated. I think it's important to remember that: the reedeming qualities we look for in a character aren't the same we look for in real people. The flaws we avoid in a character aren't the same we avoid in real people.

For example, if you asked me who would I be more wary of, irl, a merciless killer or an annoying person, of course I'd say the killer. I wouldn't want to be alone with them, possibly wouldn't love the idea of being friends with them. The annoying person could be a pain in my ass, but I wouldn't see them as a real threat.

But in a show, we tend to forgive the killer, to understand their reasons and to hate on the annoying person. Of course, this is entertainment, a murderer could be a very interesting character, while someone who is just plain annoying could make the whole show unbearable. Also, in fiction morality and tastes are even more subjective than in real life. If you have a thing for witty characters, for example, satan himself could have some good lines and you'd love him (quite literally).