Dialogue Assistance

If your dialogue lacks sparkle and punch, I'm betting it lacks conflict. Are your characters agreeing with each other a lot? If so, go back and think about the scene. What does each character want? If its the same thing, could they instead be at odds with each other? Can you bring this out in the dialogue? Every time you see a character agree with another in dialogue, change it to a disagreement and see where it takes you.

As far as characters sounding alike, think about speech patterns. I don't mean dialect, I mean how people actually speak. For example, one of my characters is a very abrupt, a no-talk, all action kind of guy. I make sure he uses short sentences, is always to the point, never uses three words when one will do. His boss, by contrast, makes his living convincing people to do things. He's a lot more wordy. He uses words as weapons, to gain what he wants, and sometimes to hurt. So think about how your characters speak based on what kind of people they are. Pretty soon each will develop his/her own voice.

Hope this helps.

Dear Senny, this is a very general sort of question, so here a few general point.

Try not to aim for absolute realism - i.e. as people actually talk, although there's nothing wrong with starting off like that. When you have a few lines of long winded 'realistic' speech, which is out of sequence, wanders from the point and is full of hesitancies and wrong words (yes, that's how we all speak ... some more than others) put it in some sort of sequential order - usually most important point first - then remove as many of the hesitancies as you can, replace the wrong words, cut out as many 'wells' and 'buts' and 'slightlys' and 'sort ofs' together with any other extraneous words. Then break what you've got left into short, digestible chunks. However, leave in those hesitancies and wrong words etc, if you're deliberately creating 'that sort of' character.

But, if your struggling to hit your 50K, leave it raw until December, then apply some of the above if you're aiming for publication.

Because this is highly subjective, you might get all sorts of variations on this theme, so pick and choose what suits you best.

Good luck.

MJ

Dear Senny, this is a very general sort of question, so here a few general point.

Try not to aim for absolute realism - i.e. as people actually talk, although there's nothing wrong with starting off like that. When you have a few lines of long winded 'realistic' speech, which is out of sequence, wanders from the point and is full of hesitancies and wrong words (yes, that's how we all speak ... some more than others) put it in some sort of sequential order - usually most important point first - then remove as many of the hesitancies as you can, replace the wrong words, cut out as many 'wells' and 'buts' and 'slightlys' and 'sort ofs' together with any other extraneous words. Then break what you've got left into short, digestible chunks. However, leave in those hesitancies and wrong words etc, if you're deliberately creating 'that sort of' character.

But, if your struggling to hit your 50K, leave it raw until December, then apply some of the above if you're aiming for publication.

Because this is a very subjective subject, you might get all sorts of variations on this theme, so pick and choose what suits you best.

Good luck.

MJ

Thanks for the advice guys!

It's odd really, because I didn't have this problem with my first book, or indeed the novella that came after; perhaps this was because I had two years to get to know those characters, or I'd lived with them in my head for a long time. NaNo is a much more rushed process, and maybe they just aren't "fixed" properly in my head yet.

And there's plenty of conflict! Believe me, I don't think any of my characters like each other at the moment, and most of them would sell each other down the river for tuppence...

...in, as you say, the mud...

http://theboxroom.dailyforum.net/

Weak dialogue is usually a sign of weak characters or weak conflict. Dialogue should move forward the action, tell something about the character, and contains their mannerisms.

The way to boil this down is to figure out what the character wants. What's their motivation in speaking at this moment and time?

Say Character A wants to get a watch from Character B...

Next you need to figure out how they will get it. This can be a number of ways, but it should be consistent with the character, and hopefully move both the plot and understanding of the character in doing so.

Most weak dialogue falls into not being able to think beyond the straight talking most people do. But there are a number of ways this person could get the watch.

They can be sneaky.
They can play innocent.
They can threaten.
They can play air-headed.
They can try their sexual wiles.

And this will vary depending on who the other character is in relation to the person they are talking to. Their way of speaking will differ on context.

You wouldn't say, "Waz up, Mom, fork me over 100 dollars for a new watch. Pay ya back."

A woman with sex appeal is more likely to sugar coat to a man that she needs the watch. A nerdy girl might try to logically tell the person why they should buy the watch.

So keep in mind the setting, events and context. This should make your dialogue snap better because each character will react to every other character in a different way, so when you strip the dialogue of all tags, you will end up not only knowing who is speaking, but who is being spoken to.

The old strip the dialogue is a good exercise, but do it AFTER Nanowrimo.

Novelists are a conscienceless lot.--Diana Gabaldon (An Echo in the Bone)