#writinghelps

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

✏️ 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.

─────── ✦ ───────

🎧 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:

[theyuniversity]

99% of the time, you’ll use “affect” as a verb and “effect” as a noun.

I tried to affect my grade by studying.

This was the effect: I passed with flying colors.

Grammar: it’s a cause-and-effect relationship. 😉

🔗 Here is a detailed explanation.

Website | Twitter |  Instagram | Medium | Pinterest

[anitalenia]

This is very helpful for me. Credits to Pinterest idk who exactly 🚬🦟

[thebadchoicemachine]

[taylorlouise]

Use coupon code 25OFF for $25 off editing, workshopping, and beta reading services on taylorlouiseblog.com.

✨It's time to invest in your story.✨

[punkz0]

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[plotandelegy]

The Best Fantasy Language Generator for Your Fiction

This is a fantasy language resource I wanted to post about. I'm sorry, it's not a complete article. A new guide is coming… someday. For now, here is my favorite fantasy language generator https://www.vulgarlang.com . They have an in-depth language generator that guarantees a new language with a dictionary and sentence translator. Wow, this is starting to sound like an ad. It's not. I have clearly heard too many sponsorship plugs on YouTube lately. It's melting my brain.

[literatureandaesthetics1]

I love literature too much that I might name my child like John, William, Thomas, Mary, Jane......

[myperfectpaperofficial]

We all wish we could magically ace every test without putting in any effort, but unfortunately, good grades require studying.

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

🕳️ What to Write When You Have No Idea What Happens Next

aka: you’re staring into the creative abyss and the abyss is not only staring back, it’s asking for a rough draft

hi writer. welcome to that fun little liminal space in your project where ✨absolutely nothing✨ makes sense. you wrote the last scene. you know you’re not at the end. but suddenly your characters are just standing there like NPCs waiting for a quest marker and your brain is doing the spinning beachball of death.

so. what now?

let’s break down some actually useful strategies for when you hit That Point™️. not vibes. not ✨manifest your way out✨ energy. not the “just keep writing” slog. here’s what to do when your story is refusing to tell you what happens next:

———————————————

zoom out: do a “scene audit” ———————————————

you don’t need a full outline to do this. take five minutes and sketch a bullet list of every scene that’s happened so far. not just what happened, but why it mattered.

like this:

MC lied to their boss (sets up stakes re: trust/power)

antagonist shows up at cafe (establishes tension + location crossover)

best friend gets suspicious (emotional complication, adds pressure)

this gives you a birds-eye view of what you’ve set in motion. often you’re stuck because you’ve lost sight of the threads you were pulling, your own story has momentum, you just need to feel it again.

—————————————————————

try “ghost drafting” (aka fake writing) —————————————————————

open a doc. start typing what would happen, if you were writing. super casual. something like:

“okay i think the next scene is maybe them at the train station?? or wait--maybe we need to see the fallout of the argument. i don’t really know what x character wants rn but i think y might be planning something…”

this trick works bc it removes pressure. no fancy prose, no perfect structure. it’s literally you telling yourself what might happen. and weirdly? your brain will often finish the scene for you without asking. (the number of times I’ve ghost drafted myself into 800 usable words… witchcraft.)

——————————————————————————

pin your characters to a corkboard and interrogate them ——————————————————————————

not literally. (unless you're into that. i don’t judge.)

but seriously: when you’re stuck, it’s often because your character has no immediate goal or emotion. pause and ask:

what does this character want right now? like, in this moment?

what are they trying to avoid?

what’s keeping them from getting either?

character-driven scenes are rarely static. even if it’s just an awkward dinner or walking to the store, someone’s always trying to do or hide something. if everyone in the scene is just reacting or waiting, you’ve got fog. bring in the fire.

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don’t skip the “boring” stuff--weaponize it —————————————————

sometimes we’re stuck because we think the next scene is dull. like “ugh i guess they just… travel to the manor” or “they regroup at the safe house.” but these slow beats are GOLD if you embed purpose.

try giving the “boring” scene:

a time limit or interruption (they’re hiding but someone knocks)

a secret (someone is lying about something small but important)

a reversal (what they expected is the opposite of what happens)

even if it’s a quiet scene, layer it. conflict isn’t just yelling or action. it’s discomfort. it’s misalignment. tension between what’s said and unsaid.

—————————————————————

when all else fails: write the next emotional beat —————————————————————

strip it back. forget plot. forget pacing. ask yourself:

then write that. a monologue. a journal entry. an outburst. a line of whispered dialogue.

sometimes it’s not that you don’t know what happens next. it’s that your character hasn’t processed what just happened, and until they do, the story can’t move forward.

✨✨✨

the void is normal. getting stuck doesn’t mean you failed or picked the wrong idea or that the muse packed up and left for a better writer’s house. it just means your brain needs space to regroup.

writing isn’t linear. stories aren’t built in perfect lines. they loop. they stall. they circle back. and that’s okay.

if you’re in the middle of nowhere, here’s your sign to sit on the side of the metaphorical road, open your weird little notebook, and write anyway. write wrong. write messy. write ghost drafts. the path shows up when you start walking.

🕳️ you got this, writer.

tag me if you end up crawling out of your stuck scene with a little victory paragraph. i’ll bring snacks for the next one 🧃✨

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:

[theyuniversity]

📚✨ Grammar Check: Chris’ or Chris’s? Let’s settle this once and for all. 👇

🔸 If you're following AP Style (like in journalism):

✅ Chris’ book 🛑 Chris’s book

🔸 If you're following Chicago Style or standard grammar rules:

✅ Chris’s book 🛑 Chris’ book

💡 The general rule:

Add ’s to singular names—even if they end in s (Chris’s hat, James’s dog).

But journalism prefers just the apostrophe (Chris’ article) for cleaner flow.

So … you’re both right. It just depends on the style you’re using! 😅🖋️

Website | Twitter |  Instagram | Medium | Pinterest 

[anitalenia]

𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙀 𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙀𝙈 ⋆⭒˚｡⋆‎♡‧₊˚

꒰ঌ definition ໒꒱ ˏˋ°•*⁀➷   𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝘩𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠. 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑥 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒. ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ below you will find sub genres under this category, as well as some useful pairings for this trope. for educational writing purposes — contains dark content <3

note: several of these can also be used in other tropes as well, just depends on how you write it and interpret it. Also, this is strictly woman x multiple men because reverse harem is just that. Harem is man x multiple women, ergo reverse harem

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A being hunted by a group of people — the circumstance can be interpreted in many different ways (can be a game between them as to who gets her first)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A being passed around a friend group

₊˚⊹.* ♡ multiple yandere loving person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A lost somewhere and taken to the home of person B, where multiple suitors await to take care of her

₊˚⊹.* ♡ demon brothers and their love (person A) — obey me! anyone ???

₊˚⊹.* ♡ kings and their favorite princess

₊˚⊹.* ♡ multiple boys at school wanting person A (like in anime’s where every boy has a vastly different personality / social status)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ enemy vampire clans wanting person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ werewolves sharing person A in the pack

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A’s professors find other ways to help her grades

₊˚⊹.* ♡ men of different species wanting person A (dark fantasy au) — like elf king wants person A, rogue werewolf wants person A, vampire lord wants person A, etc.

₊˚⊹.* ♡ stuck in a house with your captors (kidnapped au)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ biker gang x waitress who serves them

₊˚⊹.* ♡ angels x demons fighting for person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ kings x maid

₊˚⊹.* ♡ rivaling princes of different nations x princess of one — they come together in their want for her (can be kings too ig)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ criminal x cop partner x best friend wanting cop!person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ its mating season for monsters and they all want person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is the only human in the monster clan

₊˚⊹.* ♡ queen x servants (where person A is the one in control / the dominant one)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A and her group of boys she grew up with

₊˚⊹.* ♡ sorceress x her creations

₊˚⊹.* ♡ servant x princes ( can be demon brothers, any kind of royalty, where person A is hired to be their servant)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ multiple psychos playing a game with person A to see who can get them first

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a criminal being hunted by multiple bounty hunters / cops

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is stalked by a group of men then later taken by them

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is the new farm hand or new to a farm x cowboys

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is the creation of person B, but she gets passed around to his partners with his permission — maybe her needs need to be met by more than just one person (person B is the main partner, but lets others use person A)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ bouncing off that idea, person B is the main partner of person A but person B’s partners / brothers / friends also want person A so he allows it

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A and all her step brothers

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x her step brother and his best friends

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x her step dad and his best friends

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x her bosses

₊˚⊹.* ♡ succubus x demon men who love offering their services (can be human but humans die so do what you will)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x incubus men who always come to her

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x vampire coven

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A on house arrest x her security guards ( a lot of ways this can be twisted — different species, different circumstances, etc. )

₊˚⊹.* ♡ princess x her bodyguards

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a scientist studying alien life forms — they take turns using her so she can “study better”

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is traded to a dark king in return for her kingdoms safety (whatever reason you want), only to be shared between him and his royal court (including brothers & best friends)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a highly fertile woman in a dystopian world, shared amongst lords in hopes to reproduce

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x the men sent to kill her

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A passed around between the Zodiac (as in the twelve Zodiac signs — dark fantasy)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ omegaverse — person A is passed around between the Alpha and his betas

₊˚⊹.* ♡ omegaverse — person A is passed around multiple Alphas

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x powerful gods who want her for themselves

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x dragon princes

₊˚⊹.* ♡ princess who gets kidnapped by pirates (doesn’t have to be a princess obvi but regardless she getting passed around the ship)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ villain x the men sent to watch her and keep her in check — bonus if at least one of the men is strongly on the hero’s side but can’t deny his attraction to her

₊˚⊹.* ♡ alice in wonderland au — person A is new to the world and taken under the care of person B. person B takes them home and is introduced to all the men there. some are also just introduced at some point and want person A (like white queen and red queen are really sexy menz, werewolf boy, twin boys, yk yk. Im trying not to make this too long but I already did)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x the lost boys — person A is lost and/or new to the world and is found by the lost boys (lowkey dark fantasy peter pan au)

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[clown-water]

please assist !

anyone have tips on beginning a longfic/ fic in general? I have PLENTY of ideas and some notion of a plot but i have NO idea where to begin- if anyone seeing this has tips and/or links it would be appreciated!!

[bookmarketingusa]

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