I have written myself into a corner

[TheEldritchGod]

So, I'm at the final act. I know what I want to do. I have the final scene ready. I just need to get the final few chapters. Just one problem, I need to have a bunch of teen agers hang out at a mixed gender meet up where they sing Karaoke.

I have no idea how people socialize.

No. I'm serious. I was a social outcast most of high school, and when I got in college I turned it into a four year party with every deviant I could find. I know hard core STRANGE, I don't know normal. I don't know how people... hang out. I just don't do normal people socializing very well. I could use some help. Like, actual examples of a group of kids going to a Karaoke Bar where they get to hang out. The MC is actually rather good looking and popular, and a group of the kids setting this up are trying to get him to date a friend of theirs.

I'm reaching the point where I am going to just skip over it, but I really SHOULD use this opportunity to fill in some of the character development I've skipped over, but I just can't "see" this party. I don't have any experience. So, I could use some help here. What do normal people do in this sort of situation? I should note, this is a reverse-gender morality setting, so the girls act like guys, guys act like girls, but for the purpose of this thread, don't worry about it. I'll reverse it later.

So, if this wasn't in that setting, the Female MC would be the clueless Good looking chick who is pure of heart and doesn't know she's good looking. She's in love with the bad boy who isn't at the party, but she has to put on a good show because her over protective brother would kill the bad boy if he found out. The MC's best friend is the most manipulative girl in school, but honestly likes the MC and wants to get the MC and the Good Boy to start dating. There are a few of the good boy's friends and a few of the Manipulative girl's friends there to round things out. However, the MC invited her Friendzoned Harmless Male Friend who honestly just likes the MC. They are all hangng out at a karaoke bar that was rented out by the MC's aunt because the aunt is obsessed with the MC's musical talent, but that subplot doesn't matter.

I need normal banter in this situation and I have been drawing a blank for over a week now.

ANY IDEA, no matter how stupid, silly, serious, or what have you is welcome, because I'm stuck. And yes, Chat GPT was useless.

 

[MajorKerina]

Why skip over your experience with a lot of odd people? Use that. Everyone has weirdness inside. Those social settings if they're uncomfortable are going to be weird they're going to have every little moment and feeling that you felt yourself trying to figure out how to socialize. And even if it's with people who do know how to socialize there's gonna be quirks. Being social is just getting over your personal hangups and your anxieties and other stuff because you wanna be out there you want to put yourself out there. Take those moments you remember and inject them with energy or inject them with some other element. What you want to hear is the characters talking to one another. One thing you can do as well is just start with the characters talking to one another in instances where one is just talking and they keep going and going and going about what's in their head and their interests and just pretend they ramble. Then you could make it a back-and-forth where one ask questions and the other answers them. Do it with combinations of characters. Create this whole network of interactions experimentally with your characters. You're in a point where you've started to feel them out so you have a good sense of what they should be doing and what they should be saying. Run that script of them talking inside your head just total nonsense whatever comes out most naturally and then you can turn that into the actual interaction by breaking it down and putting it into actual scenes.

edit: Siri didn't hear all my words right so I had to edit this a little bit

 

[miyoga]

My advice: go people watching if you want "normal". The experiences you write don't necessarily have to be your own, but including your own attempts and experiences at being social serves to humanize a character. When the character, be they MC or side, is humanized, they become relatable and a relatable character is one who keeps people reading. It doesn't matter if they read for the next 5 chapters or the next 5 minutes; because they related to someone in the story, they kept reading.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

"I'm bored out of my mind."
"Let's do shots off a shaved goats belly while doing karaoke."
"So, I can do taxes early."
"Shut it. You have nothing better to do. Lets."

"How about that weather we been having?"
"The weathers been ass; fuck the weather. What's been going on with you?"

 

[SailusGebel]

Group masturbation.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

Remember that they are more afraid of you than you are of them.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

Group masturbation.

 

[Bobple]

People are weird, so don't be afraid of writing weird.

If you have no idea how to start a conversation or what to talk about, congrats most people in real life also don't
Here is the "I don't know what to talk about with this person list."
- What do you do.
- Where you from.
- How have you been.
- Enjoying "X" so far.

I can't really comment on your character interactions, but just have your characters be themselves, whether that is a more awkward version themselves or not depends if they are comfortable.

 

[Graceful_Ghost]

Same! I don't socialize a lot. If anything, I'm at the peak introvert. But I only manage to get a gist at how a group of people talk by watching (irl) Livestreams, Podcast, and such. There are livestreamers that does Karaoke, and sometimes just eating out. I recommend watching Trash Taste, because they are very goffy, funny, and tend to have bad takes.

 

[Shrimp_eater]

Is this about Flip The Script? I remember reading it at some point in the past. I read that and a handful of other "reverse gender roles" stories here as well as jp ones, even used the concept in my own story.

Anyway.

Personally, i think you are looking at it wrongly, reading a draw-out banter between multiple individuals isn't interesting in the first place. I think it's perfectly fine to skip over the duller parts with things like "they were chatting" or "They seemed to be having fun chatting" and so on to focus only on the dialogue that'll actually develop the plot and characters.

If you still must fill the moment with something to give it some more dynamism, you can just use your author powers to create unusual, preferably entertaining, situations and put some focus on that. Like, have some character comment on how they once heard that specific Karaoke is haunted and then the people in the party start hearing things or freaking out over nothing, possibly even add some comedic-relief conclusion or tie it to the main story somehow. Basically, steer away from the "teenage banter" and transform this outing into a situation you'd actually be able to write and find interesting.

 

[2wordsperminute]

You might be surprised at just how much you think is weird is actually closer to normal.

 

[melchi]

Well for starters, social clicks are super important to high schoolers.

If teenager a invites teenager b to an event the most likely response would be.
'who else will be there?'
The key to getting everyone together is to not invite any outcasts or enemies.

 

[WhiteRose-BlueSpace]

I'm autistic, had no friends for years, and never went out for anything that wasn't strictly needed till I was 18 yet in every review I get somehow people praise my characters and their chemistry constantly in reviews on RR. The main thing I do with them is just let them steer things and build strong personalities for them. So then when I have some characters in downtime talking to each other I take my time and think a bit about what they'd say to each other with those distinct personalities. Get inside their heads a little and make them bounce off each other.

Like here we can have a back-and-forth maybe between a few of these characters trying in between the songs to get up to the MC and make their feelings clear at first in sorta veiled ways, before then having to become a bit clearer with them because of the MC's cluelessness. Maybe they start making jabs at each other and things about their past of secrets they haven't revealed come to the surface after enough prodding. Let them have at each other and see what sorta bits of their character reveal themselves or what sorta things might make sense now to have in their backstory. Just set them up in a situation where some sorta conflict between them will happen or they just need to say something important and let the sparks fly.

I'm just realising this might have come off like jibberish but that's kinda my advice.

 

[Nahrenne]

So, I'm at the final act. I know what I want to do. I have the final scene ready. I just need to get the final few chapters. Just one problem, I need to have a bunch of teen agers hang out at a mixed gender meet up where they sing Karaoke.

I have no idea how people socialize.

No. I'm serious. I was a social outcast most of high school, and when I got in college I turned it into a four year party with every deviant I could find. I know hard core STRANGE, I don't know normal. I don't know how people... hang out. I just don't do normal people socializing very well. I could use some help. Like, actual examples of a group of kids going to a Karaoke Bar where they get to hang out. The MC is actually rather good looking and popular, and a group of the kids setting this up are trying to get him to date a friend of theirs.

I'm reaching the point where I am going to just skip over it, but I really SHOULD use this opportunity to fill in some of the character development I've skipped over, but I just can't "see" this party. I don't have any experience. So, I could use some help here. What do normal people do in this sort of situation? I should note, this is a reverse-gender morality setting, so the girls act like guys, guys act like girls, but for the purpose of this thread, don't worry about it. I'll reverse it later.

So, if this wasn't in that setting, the Female MC would be the clueless Good looking chick who is pure of heart and doesn't know she's good looking. She's in love with the bad boy who isn't at the party, but she has to put on a good show because her over protective brother would kill the bad boy if he found out. The MC's best friend is the most manipulative girl in school, but honestly likes the MC and wants to get the MC and the Good Boy to start dating. There are a few of the good boy's friends and a few of the Manipulative girl's friends there to round things out. However, the MC invited her Friendzoned Harmless Male Friend who honestly just likes the MC. They are all hangng out at a karaoke bar that was rented out by the MC's aunt because the aunt is obsessed with the MC's musical talent, but that subplot doesn't matter.

I need normal banter in this situation and I have been drawing a blank for over a week now.

ANY IDEA, no matter how stupid, silly, serious, or what have you is welcome, because I'm stuck. And yes, Chat GPT was useless.

Maybe have them do a game to pick the order of who sings?
Maybe also a game to pick which song gets chosen?
Have people ask what drinks people are having?
Have someone mention if there's snacks available?
Have someone maybe comment on someone else's outfit looking nice? (if they're not wearing usual clothes)
Maybe have a couple in the group acting flirty/intimate with one another?
Maybe have someone film the people singing on their phone?
Maybe have a group of them choose to sing together cos they're hyped/energised?

I don't know.
I've never been to a karaoke, so...
'-'

Good luck with finishing your story.

*shakes pompoms*

X

 

[TotallyHuman]

So, I'm at the final act. I know what I want to do. I have the final scene ready. I just need to get the final few chapters. Just one problem, I need to have a bunch of teen agers hang out at a mixed gender meet up where they sing Karaoke.

I have no idea how people socialize.

No. I'm serious. I was a social outcast most of high school, and when I got in college I turned it into a four year party with every deviant I could find. I know hard core STRANGE, I don't know normal. I don't know how people... hang out. I just don't do normal people socializing very well. I could use some help. Like, actual examples of a group of kids going to a Karaoke Bar where they get to hang out. The MC is actually rather good looking and popular, and a group of the kids setting this up are trying to get him to date a friend of theirs.

I'm reaching the point where I am going to just skip over it, but I really SHOULD use this opportunity to fill in some of the character development I've skipped over, but I just can't "see" this party. I don't have any experience. So, I could use some help here. What do normal people do in this sort of situation? I should note, this is a reverse-gender morality setting, so the girls act like guys, guys act like girls, but for the purpose of this thread, don't worry about it. I'll reverse it later.

So, if this wasn't in that setting, the Female MC would be the clueless Good looking chick who is pure of heart and doesn't know she's good looking. She's in love with the bad boy who isn't at the party, but she has to put on a good show because her over protective brother would kill the bad boy if he found out. The MC's best friend is the most manipulative girl in school, but honestly likes the MC and wants to get the MC and the Good Boy to start dating. There are a few of the good boy's friends and a few of the Manipulative girl's friends there to round things out. However, the MC invited her Friendzoned Harmless Male Friend who honestly just likes the MC. They are all hangng out at a karaoke bar that was rented out by the MC's aunt because the aunt is obsessed with the MC's musical talent, but that subplot doesn't matter.

I need normal banter in this situation and I have been drawing a blank for over a week now.

ANY IDEA, no matter how stupid, silly, serious, or what have you is welcome, because I'm stuck. And yes, Chat GPT was useless.

how do you know your rl gatherings were strange? Every party nowadays starts with sacrificial offering of virgin blood to the Hell Gods and ends with a death game

 

[HungrySheep]

So, I'm at the final act. I know what I want to do. I have the final scene ready. I just need to get the final few chapters. Just one problem, I need to have a bunch of teen agers hang out at a mixed gender meet up where they sing Karaoke.

I have no idea how people socialize.

No. I'm serious. I was a social outcast most of high school, and when I got in college I turned it into a four year party with every deviant I could find. I know hard core STRANGE, I don't know normal. I don't know how people... hang out. I just don't do normal people socializing very well. I could use some help. Like, actual examples of a group of kids going to a Karaoke Bar where they get to hang out. The MC is actually rather good looking and popular, and a group of the kids setting this up are trying to get him to date a friend of theirs.

I'm reaching the point where I am going to just skip over it, but I really SHOULD use this opportunity to fill in some of the character development I've skipped over, but I just can't "see" this party. I don't have any experience. So, I could use some help here. What do normal people do in this sort of situation? I should note, this is a reverse-gender morality setting, so the girls act like guys, guys act like girls, but for the purpose of this thread, don't worry about it. I'll reverse it later.

So, if this wasn't in that setting, the Female MC would be the clueless Good looking chick who is pure of heart and doesn't know she's good looking. She's in love with the bad boy who isn't at the party, but she has to put on a good show because her over protective brother would kill the bad boy if he found out. The MC's best friend is the most manipulative girl in school, but honestly likes the MC and wants to get the MC and the Good Boy to start dating. There are a few of the good boy's friends and a few of the Manipulative girl's friends there to round things out. However, the MC invited her Friendzoned Harmless Male Friend who honestly just likes the MC. They are all hangng out at a karaoke bar that was rented out by the MC's aunt because the aunt is obsessed with the MC's musical talent, but that subplot doesn't matter.

I need normal banter in this situation and I have been drawing a blank for over a week now.

ANY IDEA, no matter how stupid, silly, serious, or what have you is welcome, because I'm stuck. And yes, Chat GPT was useless.

There are tons of manga/anime where this sort of thing happens. Honestly, just watch a few and try to emulate the interactions. That's genuinely how I learned to pretend to be a human.

 

[Aez_Nairo]

Have a budget of $100
Invited many before the hangout but only one came.
Well I kidnap em because he got no transport.
I decided on the place to drink.
Then actually wanted to have food first so we went out on foot.
Brought, then go to the drink.
Order what we like and went upstair, man talk we did.

What we did?
What college we go?
Sad moments that no one came the whole day, I waited before it reach night with em.
Got nothing to say and just stay silent the whole time cause we bored for 1 hour.
Talk on the future.
Sometimes both of us have hearing problem, like either one of us talk small or loud.
Laugh on pp jokes.
Learn family history.

At the end I become broke.
But memories made are better and we both enjoyed it.
The purpose of the hangout was to increase bond between brothers.
Now the con is if those that didn't come and never give a reason, they were never ones friend to begin with or they have problem.

Just come up with any topic to talk on, not controversial.
Depending on the characters personality they will reply differently.
And you will be fine somewhat.

But yours in the kareoke scene, that I have no experience.
:p

 

[Goodmann]

Who likes what kind of music? Will they dare each other to do something outside their comfort zone? What's fun for an alto or tenor to sing? Have any of them been in Choir, school or church?Duets, who with who? Motown classics?

 

[Cosmictapestry]

Sure, a question though: is it a public karaoke or a private room? Very different vibes.

Pick a song first, a popular one that everyone remembers, even if it sucks: "Wonderwall," "Torn," "Wannabe."

Then, there are always three types of people in a karaoke room:
1. Those who hoard the microphones.
2. Those who come to get drunk, dance, and socialize.
3. Introverts who get roped into it.

Then you make them interact, using the song as a backdrop. There are endless possibilities: drinking games, yes, possible; kids hooking up, of course.

 

[Azure_Fog]

I would try looking up some references of similar scenarios and seeing how people act if I really wanted to put a lot of effort in.

If I’m not putting in 300% effort, I try to imagine myself as the character, think if what they would do, write that, then write reactions. Then, repeat for more dialogue, add in some more text and boom, scene.