little-stinker81

[little-stinker81]

The Cheat To Writing Good Dialogue

I'm certain that every author has, at some point in their writing journey, a struggle with writing dialogue. I myself have been there, so here are some tips that I suggest in order to improve your dialogue:

Don't watch generic TV shows with unrealistic dialogue. For example, if you want to write a novel about teenagers set in the contemporary world, you probably shouldn't watch Ginny and Georgia to gain inspiration for the dialogue. Instead, watch something that actually portrays dialogue that makes sense in the context.

Read your dialogue out loud, or if you have friends (unlike me) have them act out the dialogue in the scene. If it seems unnatural, cut it out. If it seems to fit, keep it.

Get in the characters' heads. For example, you have a character who is very apathetic and the other characters are discussing the well-being of common folk. Imagine that you yourself are the apathetic character and write down whatever you would say in reply, and perform step #2 to see if it fits.

Make the dialogue fit the character saying it. You can't have a character that's described as "quiet" regularly contribute to the conversation. You can't have a character that's described as "overly empathetic" be okay with murder without at least voicing their reluctance. (There are certain exceptions to these examples but they're simply there to give an idea of what I'm talking about.)

Like I keep saying, my tips aren't for everyone, so if they don't work for you, I apologize.

[little-stinker81]

The Cheat To Writing Good Characters

Perhaps one of the hardest things when you write are the characters. They're very tricky to get right, aren't they? Make them too skilled and they come off as Mary Sues. Make them too flawed and they come off as undeserving and annoying.

I've found that when writing characters, don't think of them as pieces of writing that you can easily manipulate. Think of them as actual people. I suggest picking a backstory first when you write a character, and base their personality and quirks around that backstory. Of course there are other factors that form a character, but the most important is the backstory. Like real people, characters' back stories have an effect on their personalities. For example, a character that grew up without any maternal love may become maternal later on in life, so that they can give the love that they never received to other characters.

Not only is this helpful in picking a personality, but it adds dimension to your characters. You can also base fitting flaws around this. For example, the same maternal character mentioned above may be overbearing at times, and downright possessive.

Again, my tips don't work for everyone, but I do suggest you give this a try.

[little-stinker81]

The Cheat To Good Writing

As someone who has been writing for a LONG time, I have found that the best way to improve your writing is. . .the characters.

Now before you read any further, I'd like to ask you a question. Would you be friends with a boring, bland person if they had an interesting life? If the answer is yes, this tip probably isn't for you. If the answer is no, then I suggest you read further.

Don't we all have a moment of frustration when we want to read a very specific book with specific characters and somehow no one has ever written that? Well, why not write it yourself?

Tired of brutal, morally grey male characters and want a softer lead? Why not write one yourself.

The actual tip is to write characters that you fall in love with. Characters that are so intricate that they start to seem like real people to you. Characters that you yourself as the writer are cheering for. It is these types of characters that make you want to write and the more you write, the better you get.

In my personal writing journey, ever since I started to focus more on the characters, I've been wanting to write more. But then again, this tip is certainly not for everyone, but I'd suggest that you give it a go at the very least.