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✏️ Writing Dialogue That Sounds Like Real People, Not Theater Kids on Red Bull

(a crash course in vibes, verbal economy, and making your characters shut up already)

Okay. We need to talk about dialogue. Specifically: why everyone in your draft sounds like they’re in a high school improv group doing a dramatic reading of Riverdale fanfiction.

Before you panic, this is normal. Early dialogue is almost always too much. Too polished. Too "scripted." So if yours feels off? You’re not failing. You’re just doing Draft Zero Dialogue, and it’s time to revise it like a boss.

Here’s how to fix it.

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🎭 STEP ONE: DETOX THEATER ENERGY I say this with love: your characters are not all quippy geniuses. They do not need to deliver emotional monologues at every plot beat. They can just say things. Weird, half-finished, awkward things.

Real people:

interrupt each other

trail off mid-thought

dodge questions

contradict themselves

repeat stuff

change the subject randomly

Let your characters sound messy. Not every line needs to sparkle. In fact, the more effort you put into making dialogue ✨perfect✨, the more fake it sounds. Cut 30% of your clever lines and see what happens.

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🎤 STEP TWO: GIVE EACH CHARACTER A VERBAL FINGERPRINT The fastest way to make dialogue feel alive? Make everyone speak differently. Think rhythm, grammar, vocabulary, tone.

Some dials you can twist:

Long-winded vs. clipped

Formal vs. casual

Emojis of speech: sarcasm, filler words, expletives, slang

Sentence structure: do they talk in fragments? Run-ons? Spirals?

Emotion control: are they blunt, diplomatic, avoidant, performative?

Here’s a shortcut: imagine what your character sounds like over text. Are they the “lol okay” type or the “okie dokie artichokie 🌈✨” one? Now translate that into speech.

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🧠 STEP THREE: FUNCTION > FILLER Every line of dialogue should do something. Reveal something. Move something. Change something.

Ask:

Does this line push the plot forward?

Does it show character motivation/conflict/dynamic?

Does it create tension, add context, or raise a question?

If it’s just noise? It’s dead air. Cut it. Replace it with a glance. A gesture. A silence that says more.

TIP: look at a dialogue scene and remove every third line. Does the scene still work? Probably better.

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💥 STEP FOUR: REACTIVITY IS THE GOLD STANDARD Characters don’t talk into a void. They respond. And how they respond = the real juice.

Don’t just write back-and-forth ping pong. Write conflict, dodge, misunderstanding. If one character says something vulnerable, the other might joke. Or ignore it. Or say something cruel. That’s tension.

Dialogue is not just information exchange. It’s emotional strategy.

Try this exercise: A says something revealing. B lies. A notices, but pretends they don’t. B changes the subject. Now you’ve got a real scene.

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🔍 STEP FIVE: PAY ATTENTION TO POWER Every convo has a power dynamic, even if it’s tiny. Who’s steering? Who’s withholding? Who’s deflecting, chasing, challenging?

Power can shift line to line. That shift = tension. And tension = narrative fuel.

Write conversations like chess matches, not ping pong.

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✂️ STEP SIX: SCISSORS ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND The best dialogue is often the second draft. Or third. Or fourth. First drafts are just you figuring out what everyone wants to say. Later drafts figure out what they actually would say.

Things to cut:

Greetings/closings ("Hi!" "Bye!"--skip it unless it serves tone)

Exposition disguised as chat

Obvious thoughts spoken aloud

Explaining jokes

Repeating what we already know

Readers are smart. Let them fill in blanks.

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🎧 STEP SEVEN: READ IT OUT LOUD (YES, REALLY) If you hate this step: too bad. It works. Read it. Mumbling is fine. Cringe is part of the ritual.

Ask yourself:

Would someone actually say this?

Does this sound like one person speaking, or a puppet show with one hand?

Where does the rhythm trip? Where’s the breath?

If you can’t say it out loud without wincing, the reader won’t make it either. Respect the vibe.

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🏁 TL;DR: If you want your dialogue to sound like real people, let your characters be real. Messy. Annoying. Human. Let them interrupt and lie and joke badly and say the wrong thing at the worst time.

Cut the improv class energy. Kill the urge to be ✨brilliant✨. And listen to how people talk when they’re scared, tired, pissed off, in love, or trying not to say what they mean.

That’s where the good stuff is.

—rin t. // thewriteadviceforwriters // official advocate of awkward silences and one-word replies

P.S. I made a free mini eBook about the 5 biggest mistakes writers make in the first 10 pages 👀 you can grab it here for FREE:

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How to use Em Dash (—) and Semi Colon ( ; )

Since the ai accusations are still being thrown around, here's how i personally like to use these GASP ai telltales. 🦄✨

Em Dashes (—)

To emphasize a shift / action / thought.

They're accusing us—actually accusing us—of using AI.

To add drama.

They dismissed our skills as AI—didn't even think twice, the dimwits—and believed they were onto something.

To insert a sudden thought. Surely they wouldn't do that to us—would they?

To interrupt someone's speech. "Hey, please don't say that. I honed my craft through years of blood and tears—" "Shut up, prompter."

To interrupt someone's thoughts / insert a sudden event.

We're going to get those kudos. We're going to get those reblogs—

A chronically online Steve commented, “it sounds like ai, idk.”

Semi Colons ( ; )

To join two closely related independent sentences / connect ideas.

Not only ChatGPT is capable of correct punctuation; who do you think it learned from in the first place?

Ultimate pro tip: use them whenever the fuck you want. You don't owe anyone your creative process. 🌈

[charredchae]

my fave writing reminder

honestly, this phrase has been on my mind more times than i can count. i've kidnapped it, taken it as a hostage with no ransom money because i need it to live permanently in my head.

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When writing toxic family dynamics

Toxic family stuff isn’t always screaming matches or broken plates. Sometimes it’s quiet control. The expectation to shrink, the pressure to be perfect, the guilt that rides shotgun. It’s complicated. And it’s deeply, deeply personal.

✧ Make the love real, but conditional.  One of the most damaging things about toxic family is the illusion of love. It’s not “I love you no matter what.” It’s “I love you when you obey.” Let your character notice that.

✧ Control shows up in micro ways... Who’s allowed to speak. Who’s allowed to feel. Who apologizes first, even when they’re not wrong. Control doesn’t need to be loud. Sometimes it’s a raised eyebrow or a guilt trip.

✧  Let them question reality. Toxic families are great at gaslighting. Your character might constantly wonder, Was it really that bad? Am I being dramatic? Let them doubt their own memories. That internal confusion is real.

✧ The guilt will be crushing. Leaving a toxic family doesn’t feel empowering at first. It feels selfish. It feels wrong. It feels like betrayal, even when it's survival. Show your character grieving the fantasy of the family they wish they had.

✧ Let them try to earn love. Your character might work their ass off trying to “be good,” hoping maybe this time they’ll be enough. Toxic families move the goalposts. Let that break them a little.

✧ Show emotional whiplash... One moment everything is warm and nostalgic. The next, it’s tense and full of landmines. That unpredictability is the dynamic. Use it.

✧ Don’t make the villain cartoonish. Even the abuser might think they’re doing what’s best. They might bake cookies and say “I’m just worried about you.” That’s what makes it so damaging. Write them like people, flawed, manipulative, real.

✧ Let your character unlearn in layers. Even after they leave, they still flinch. Still fold under pressure. Still crave approval. Recovery isn’t clean. But it’s worth it. And when they finally say no, even just once, let it be electric.

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How a Character’s Anger Can Show Up Quietly

Anger doesn’t always slam doors. Sometimes it simmers. Sometimes it cuts.

╰ They go still. Not calm... still. Like something is pulling tight inside them.

╰ They smile, but their eyes? Cold. Flat. Done.

╰ Their voice gets quieter, not louder. Controlled. Measured. Weaponized.

╰ They ask questions they already know the answers to, just to watch someone squirm.

╰ Their words are clipped. Polite. But razor-sharp.

╰ They laugh once. Without humor. You know the one.

╰ They leave the room without explanation, and when they come back? Different energy. Ice where fire was.

[charredchae]

Emotional Walls Your Character Has Built (And What Might Finally Break Them)

(How your character defends their soft core and what could shatter it) Because protection becomes prison real fast.

✶ Sarcasm as armor. (Break it with someone who laughs gently, not mockingly.) ✶ Hyper-independence. (Break it with someone who shows up even when they’re told not to.) ✶ Stoicism. (Break it with a safe space to fall apart.) ✶ Flirting to avoid intimacy. (Break it with real vulnerability they didn’t see coming.) ✶ Ghosting everyone. (Break it with someone who won’t take silence as an answer.) ✶ Lying for convenience. (Break it with someone who sees through them but stays anyway.) ✶ Avoiding touch. (Break it with accidental, gentle contact that feels like home.) ✶ Oversharing meaningless things to hide real depth. (Break it with someone who asks the second question.) ✶ Overworking. (Break it with forced stillness and the terrifying sound of their own thoughts.) ✶ Pretending not to care. (Break it with a loss they can’t fake their way through.) ✶ Avoiding mirrors. (Break it with a quiet compliment that hits too hard.) ✶ Turning every conversation into a joke. (Break it with someone who doesn’t laugh.) ✶ Being everyone’s helper. (Break it when someone asks what they need, and waits for an answer.) ✶ Constantly saying “I’m fine.” (Break it when they finally scream that they’re not.) ✶ Running. Always running. (Break it with someone who doesn’t chase, but doesn’t leave, either.) ✶ Intellectualizing every feeling. (Break it with raw, messy emotion they can’t logic away.) ✶ Trying to be the strong one. (Break it when someone sees the weight they’re carrying, and offers to help.) ✶ Hiding behind success. (Break it when they succeed and still feel empty.) ✶ Avoiding conflict at all costs. (Break it when silence causes more pain than the truth.) ✶ Focusing on everyone else’s healing but their own. (Break it when they hit emotional burnout.)

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"If you use em dash in your works, it makes them look AI generated. No real human uses em dash."

Imaging thinking actual human writers are Not Real because they use... professional writing in their works.

Imagine thinking millions of people who have been using em dash way before AI becomes a thing are all robots.

REBLOG IF YOU'RE A HUMAN AND YOU USE EM DASH

[charredchae]

a writing competition i was going to participate in again this year has announced that they now allow AI generated content to be submitted

their reasoning being that "we couldn't ban it even if we wanted to, every writer already uses it anyway"

"Every writer"?

come on

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I feel a one-shot coming.

You are Death. The last living thing has died. You've put the chairs on the tables, turned out the lights, and locked the universe behind you. Something whispers from behind the door.

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Evil Queen: "Oh! I seduced your father. That's why I'm basically your step-mother."

Hero: "My parents died in a shipwreck when I was 4..."

The pregnant evil queen smirks as she places a hand on her swollen belly. "Now hero, you won't kill the mother of your own child, will you?" "Lady, I am female, infertile, and never had sex before, so that lie is not going to work on me."

[charredchae]

Hi y'all. So, I'm trying my hand at writing. I currently have two obsessions, K-Pop and Stardew Valley, so I'm planning to write for both.

For Stardew Valley, just follow @lettucespotfarm

For K-Pop, follow my writing account @rawchae

It's just a silly account filled with whatever brain I have left. I currently only have one published fic, but you can anticipate another upcoming. So excited to share these with those who might want to see hehe. Thanks y'all ♡

[charredchae]

WHO, WHERE, WHAT, WHEN, WHY, HOW,

S E U N G M I N - W K O R E A

m.list

flashing lights/fast moving images under the cut + a slo mo special

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I'm on THE EDGE, HOLY, THIS IS EXCITING—

── .✦ Stray Temptations

── .✦ Where Desire is Curated - And Privacy is Paramount.

── .✦ My 4K Event - And a fun, interactive mini-series!

Submit a Proposal Ticket Here!

Have you come to experience the drinks from the bar that cause you to feel warm and full? Or perhaps to see our main dancer who knows how to entice with the sway of his hips and a soft touch from his fingertips? Here, you are guaranteed to experience lust, greed, want, and passion from our various array of staff. They aim to please - to satisfy - and will not rest until they are sure you are content with their quality of service.

I am proud - and quite excited - to formally welcome you as well as properly introduce myself. I am the Assistant Director Maxine and will be handling your Proposal Tickets directly. Everything you ask for goes through me to the staff - in which we will find a time slot available for you to meet with the staff member of your choosing.

── .✦ Now, allow me to introduce you to our staff.

Club Owner - Bang Chan Stern ; Warm Hearted ; Understanding He often spends his time lounging in the club to assure everything runs smoothly - though he does have his own office on property. For privacy, of course. 3/3 Slots Filled Bartender - Lee Know Calculated ; Provocative ; Decisive Our favorite bartender who never messes up a drink - and who uses some of the most incredible ingredients that may leave you feeling a bit... excited. 3/3 Slots Filled Bouncer - Changbin Heavy Handed ; Unyielding ; Firm He never leaves his post by the front entrance. Unless someone really needs him, that is. Then he'll make some time. 2/2 Slots Filled VIP Performer - Hyunjin Suave ; Sultry ; Alluring He performs only in the VIP lounge, so you'll be quite lucky if you're able to manage getting a private performance from him. First come, first serve. 2/3 Slots Filled DJ - Han Excited ; Carefree ; Debonair Usually at his mixing table on the right of the main stage, Jisung tries to find time for people who need him. Or, if he's too busy, allows them to come to him. 2/2 Slots Filled Main Performer - Felix Sensual ; Charming ; Flirtatious The main performer on stage. He works the pole, the floor, and on the occasion that you get him alone - your lap. 2/3 Slots Filled Shot Boy - Seungmin Shy ; Elusive ; Bold Though he has a hard time butting into conversations to offer clients shots, he will absolutely allow you to take one off of his body if you ask. 3/3 Slots Filled Security - I.N Witty ; Commanding ; Assertive He makes his rounds as the night goes on to make sure everything runs smoothly and that there are no disturbances on the floor. Though, there are some times where even he grows distracted. 2/2 Slots Filled

Because of a high demand of Proposal Tickets (aka my inbox is flooded already) each staff member will only have a few allotted slots for tickets to enter. Which means - First Come, First Serve. Our busier staff members will have less allotted time slots assigned to them - so if you'd like a sliver of their time, be sure to ask for them quickly.

── .✦ There are different variations of appointments you may request when submitting your Proposal Ticket:

Couch Room Session: A short Drabble, usually only thirty minutes long, and more suggestive then full smut. Flirty, Teasing, foreplay, etc. Champagne Room : A slightly longer Drabble; A one hour time slot for you to do whatever it is your heart desires with your staff member of choice. BFE {Boyfriend Experience}: A short fic; A two hour time slot for you to do as you please. A far more intimate atmosphere, more detailed than the rest. He may also potentially reach out to you after the meeting - if you impress him enough.

We ask that when submitting a Proposal Ticket you include; The time you would like to meet, the staff member you are requesting, and what form of service you would like included. Should you wish for a specific service from your staff member (a lap dance, oral, etc - please specify what you are looking for in your request.)

── .✦ Example Proposal Ticket:

Standard: "Hello. If possible and if he is available, I would like to submit a proposal ticket for the pretty bartender who served me a fantastic cocktail last weekend. I would like to set the meeting for 5:15 PM and I would like to request a Couch Room Session. Thank you in advance."

Detailed: "Hello. I'm looking to submit a Proposal Ticket for your very pretty dancer. Felix, I think his name is? I've heard from a friend he's incredibly good with his hands and I'd like to find out for myself. Book us for a Champagne Room, please, at 6:10."

No submissions will go into the meeting process until all meeting slots are full, as it will help me with finding the perfect times for you to meet with our wonderfully enticing staff members.

If you've any questions, you are always welcome to contact me directly and I will respond as quickly as I possibly can.

We look forward to seeing you at Stray Temptations within the following weeks; And we cannot wait to see what antics you bring out of our staff members.

Until we meet again,

Assistant Director ; Maxine

If you've come this far - Thank you for 4K. It's actually crazy I've gathered 4K of you nasty sluts (lovingly) to read the crazy shit I write. Thank you - sincerely. Yours truly, Bboki <3

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found this comment on tiktok and this is literally canon to me now idc

[charredchae]