You have any tips to how to do dialogues?

[TheJudger]

So, i'm a pretty newbie writer and usually i keep finding myself on not capturing the essence of an actual good dialogue.

I want to write an dialogue that seems real, that shows how the character is and his personality

But, for some reason, when i write, all the characters, for me, seems to be the same. All the Mc friends has the same personality, even when i try to not write them to be the same.

I want tips to how to do dialogues that shows that the characters are real person's. Real humans, with real talks. Specially the dialogues that is just an friendly talk, with not too important to the development of the story in general, but most to the character development in itself.

 

[SailusGebel]

Writing - [Tutorial] The Secret to Proper Paragraphing and Dialogue

Want to Know the Biggest Secret in the Fiction Writing Industry? It's not the Plotting they use, the Characters, the Theme, the Settings, or anything else like that. It's the Sentence Structure. DISCLAIMER: This is how I was taught to structure dialogue for publication purposes -- by my...

forum.scribblehub.com

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Socialize and watch soap operas.

 

[BearlyAlive]

+1 to socializing and older movies & series. The art of talking did a pretty big dive the last years. Now it's all about """""witty""""" one-liners.

Playing games or watching modern stuff is a bad idea, tho. Unless it's one of those "Manzai" comedy scenes. Those are pretty good if you want to see some witty comebacks or just banter.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

So, i'm a pretty newbie writer and usually i keep finding myself on not capturing the essence of an actual good dialogue.

I want to write an dialogue that seems real, that shows how the character is and his personality

But, for some reason, when i write, all the characters, for me, seems to be the same. All the Mc friends has the same personality, even when i try to not write them to be the same.

I want tips to how to do dialogues that shows that the characters are real person's. Real humans, with real talks. Specially the dialogues that is just an friendly talk, with not too important to the development of the story in general, but most to the character development in itself.

yeah...dialogue is tricky for a lot of people. Most people are one of two types.
1) They have enough experience in talking to others that they can anticipate what one person may say in response to what another says to them. This requires real-life skills and a thorough understanding of your own characters. Different personalities will react in different ways.
2)They've seen or read enough dialogue from novels or television series that they can accurately mimic what people of the first type do.


So if you're a more introverted person but you have a good imagination, just READ. And learn from example.

There's many great authors out there whom you can learn from when it comes to dialogue. Look here

https://litreactor.com/columns/top-10-authors-who-write-great-dialogue

EDIT: Life is a game. You can't level up without playing. Either talk to an NPC or go read some books. EXP comes in many forms, my man, but you wont gain much just sitting in your room jacking off. I can't explain to you how all the nuances that go into a convo, you gotta grind for such knowledge. Whether that means going out and talking to people or watching a good Lifetime movie is up to you.

 

[LilRora]

You can check out this manga: Food Court de, Mata Ashita.

It is basically sixteen chapters of dialogue between two girls, which might not be exactly what you're looking for, but it shows nicely now emotions can be expressed in words, by two girls with completely different personalities.

One advice I've to give is to focus on emotions, not on words - if you know how each character feels about a topic, their dialogues will come out much more naturally. If you are just writing a dialogue about a topic without considering emotions, it will feel flat, because there is no interaction.

Even something as insignificant as a twitching eyebrow after some statement can give life to a character, although if you just get a twitching eyebrow, it still needs emotion. So think what emotion is behind that reaction; is it disgust, surprise, irritation, or a bit personal experience that causes them to react that way. If you have that, you automatically have what a character feels about the previous statement and you can easily come up with a suitable reaction - be it indifference, questioning, lashing out, or trying to cover up their feelings.

Although, honestly, writing truly good dialogues would require you to have a near-perfect grasp on the personality of each character, which can be really hard to create well and stay consistent with.

If you want to improve in long term, then you need to read more and watch movies like people wrote above.

 

[TheJudger]

Writing - [Tutorial] The Secret to Proper Paragraphing and Dialogue

Want to Know the Biggest Secret in the Fiction Writing Industry? It's not the Plotting they use, the Characters, the Theme, the Settings, or anything else like that. It's the Sentence Structure. DISCLAIMER: This is how I was taught to structure dialogue for publication purposes -- by my...

forum.scribblehub.com

This is an excellent thread, and it really helps a lot about how to structure my dialogues, made me see all the things that i'm doing wrong, tysm for sending this.



Also, you have something like this, but for "introduction of information"? I usually keeps doing "info dumps" when i need an explanation for an element of my story, like magic, to the point that it seems much massive and unnecessary to the momment.
So could you recommend me some book or thread to the problem? That teaches better ways to introduce new informations more fluidly, without becoming just "info dumps"

 

[melchi]

Writing - [Tutorial] The Secret to Proper Paragraphing and Dialogue

Want to Know the Biggest Secret in the Fiction Writing Industry? It's not the Plotting they use, the Characters, the Theme, the Settings, or anything else like that. It's the Sentence Structure. DISCLAIMER: This is how I was taught to structure dialogue for publication purposes -- by my...

forum.scribblehub.com

Is it weird that I feel a bit called out by this essay?

 

[TheJudger]

Is it weird that I feel a bit called out by this essay?

I felt the same lol, also, i just read this thread and if i could say that way, that thread was a thing that i didn't know that i had to read until i was done reading

 

[SailusGebel]

Is it weird that I feel a bit called out by this essay?

No.

Also, you have something like this, but for "introduction of information"? I usually keeps doing "info dumps" when i need an explanation for an element of my story, like magic, to the point that it seems much massive and unnecessary to the momment.
So could you recommend me some book or thread to the problem? That teaches better ways to introduce new informations more fluidly, without becoming just "info dumps"

From the top of my head, I can't remember threads about info dumps. The same goes for books. You can make another thread, and others will help you.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Like anything, let the words roll around in your head while you shower or do chores. Imagine the character's voice. TTS can also be a handy tool.

 

[RavenRunes]

dialogue should impart plot info, character personality, relationships, and intention. No ums or ahs, although they can be used sparingly. Even writing 'Hahahahahaha.....naw.' can work in the right place. Try and avoid things like 'I am asking you as I have not the faintest clue of what you want from me, for I am but a lowly half-wit and I cannot function in your exalted presence, oh righteous lord.' Unless speaker is being a dick.

 

[melchi]

Like anything, let the words roll around in your head while you shower or do chores. Imagine the character's voice. TTS can also be a handy tool.

what does table top simulator have to do with this?