ringingvivian

[ringingvivian]

Wow this is late but I finally finished a drawing I did for Laurences birthday last month

If everyone could please clap that would be great

[ringingvivian]

OMG JUST SAW ALL THE TRAILERS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS THIS MORNING 😭😭🙏🙏

FINALLY

Also, omg I love this new updated Rhys 😭

SHAKE YOUR DREADS 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

[ringingvivian]

been rewatching mcd and man ive missed laurance, who would have guessed.. i love my husband!

[ringingvivian]

✏️ 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.

─────── ✦ ───────

🎭 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.

─────── ✦ ───────

🎤 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.

─────── ✦ ───────

🧠 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.

─────── ✦ ───────

💥 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.

─────── ✦ ───────

🔍 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.

─────── ✦ ───────

✂️ 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.

─────── ✦ ───────

🎧 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.

─────── ✦ ───────

🏁 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:

[ringingvivian]

I feel like I'm entering a coma bro.

My inner demons s2. Mystreet season 7 and 8. Ive seen people theorizing possible void paradox connections. By jove we're so back

[ringingvivian]

[ringingvivian]

gonna do a few others at some point, but for now, heres the guys’ swords

[ringingvivian]

Details ive noticed in the new poster!!!

Leif has an ear piercing

Asch, Leif, and Rhal all have longer ears while everyone else has human ones

Rhal and Asch both have the horn cuffs

Rhys looks almost scared? Asch and Pierce look serious, Noi and Leif are both smiling and Rhal looks melancholy

Better perspective on Rhys' hair

MORE LIL FANGS ON NOI!!

Idk how I never saw this before but everyone has ridges on their horns except for the two royalty

that's all I have for now.. :3

[ringingvivian]

I am so normal rn

The Aphmau Vidcon panel announcing new seasons and posters!

Explaining we get not only a season 7 of Mystreet but a SEASON 8 AS WELL!

We're getting season 2 of My Inner Demons!

We get a season 2 of Mermaid Tales! Unexpected but very welcome.

Then we get all these new posters! I am getting the season 8 one! It looks so good. Look at that!

It was an amazing panel, and the teaser trailers were awesome! Can't wait to see the new content!

[ringingvivian]

Jess... HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK THE FANS CAN HANDLE THIS?!??!

THIS YEAR IS ALREADY PACKED, AND NOW WE HAVE MY INNER DEMONS 2?!?!?!? EVER SINGLE SECOND OF THIS YEAR WILL JUST BE APHMAU!

[ringingvivian]

OMG JUST SAW ALL THE TRAILERS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS THIS MORNING 😭😭🙏🙏

FINALLY

Also, omg I love this new updated Rhys 😭

SHAKE YOUR DREADS 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

[ringingvivian]

Garrance!

They gotta get along (⁠◕⁠દ⁠◕⁠)

[ringingvivian]

love their homoerotic tension that lasted through three seasons

[ringingvivian]

OH MY IREENNEEEE , THESE POSTS R RO PRETTY, I CANT BELIEVE THEYRE REAL. EVERYONE LOOKS GORGEOUS

THEYRE ALL SO GORGEOUS IF ONLY I WASNT FRIGGEN POOR

[ringingvivian]

justice for ginger laurance

[ringingvivian]

cassie rose ALERT

MEOOOWQW

[ringingvivian]

Sapphics in STEM