Anonymous said: My character stutters when he talks in class or to people he isnβt close to, but Iβm not exactly sur on how to write this without it being annoying or disrupting the flow. Any tips on how to write stutters?
When it comes to characters that donβt normally stutter, or that can control the stutter most of the time, or if the stutter is out of shock or surprise, it is prefered to use a dialogue tag.Β
βI donβt think this is a good idea,β heΒ stuttered.
There are two other different ways to write a stutter, and in each of them you use the hyphen and the comma, respectively. The one with the comma is called stammer, which is pretty similar to a stutter except it is with a full word or short sentences.Β
The interesting thing about a stutter is that you donβt just take every word and stumble over it. It varies. You can stumble over every word that starts in a consonant, or every other word with a consonant (stutter), or just plain words (stammer).Β
If you make your character stumble over everyΒ word, it seems a bit over the top. And even if it happens in real life, readers see it as exaggerated and annoying. At least I do.Β
Make him stutter with certain sounds of consonants, not all of them.
βI d-donβtΒ think this is a good idea,β he said.
βI donβt,Β I donβtthink this is a good idea,β he said.Β
I think learning about stutters is also helpful. And while stutteringΒ is a neurological and physiological speech impediment, a stammer can be out of stress or excitement, which means anyone can stammer.
If you want you can make your character both stammer and stutter, if you think it wonβt be annoying to read and you donβt exaggerate it.Β
Something that you shouldnβt do (or at least not a lot) is write the stutterΒ andΒ use a dialogue tag at the same time. Itβs kinda redundant.Β
βI-I donβt think this is a good i-idea,β he stuttered.
I think by writing the stutter I already got the idea he was stuttering.
[The severity of stuttering] may also vary in the same individual from day to day and depending on the speaking situation. Saying oneβs name and speaking to authority figures may be particularly difficult. For some individuals, fatigue, stress, and time pressure can increase their tendency to stutter. When stutterers feel compelled to hide their stuttering, it generally becomes worse.
Patterns of stuttering behavior also vary. Some individuals try to avoid stuttering by pausing before words, substituting words, and interjecting phrases such as βyou know,β βwell actually,β βum,β etc., whenever they anticipate a block.Β
Quoted from theΒ National Stuttering Association