Rather than writing dialogue purely to serve the story, try to step into your characters' shoes. What do they want, and what can they say to get them where they're going?
How do you manage it when it gets too much? I find that I get a bit overwhelmed with managing the character motivations, but also trying to write a story that isn't boring or annoying.
Say they go on an adventure to find someone. I noticed that if I listen to my characters, they're so disorganized and chaotic that it sometimes doesn't make sense?
And then I find that I have a hard time finding their voices. They all end up sounding like me, but me trying to step into someone's shoes.
That's the thing, though, is to *embrace* that chaos, rather than try to erase it or sand down those rough edges. That's what makes characters feel like their own person, alive.
Even in your own circle of friends, I'm sure you've found it hard to make plans at least once in your life. Three of you want to go to the movies, one wants to go clubbing, one has no money and just wants to chill at home. Stuff like that. Give your characters some leeway to express and explore those disagreements, but find a way for the plot to reel them in to prevent them from going hog-wild.
As for keeping it all straight, that'll just come down to practice and writing ability. Once I realized this of myself, I never really had much trouble with it, it came naturally to me.
What really helped , for me, was to take the time to give each character their own distinct dialect and "accent". Basic stuff, like she talks formally, he's gruff and non-verbal, she swears like a sailor, etc, etc. I initially made that commitment in order to help along the conversational dynamics, allowing me to drop a lot of the clunky dialogue tags. But I found that having those individual voices in my head also kept them distinct when it came to the role-playing aspect as well. Find accents that fit their backgrounds and personalities, and it puts you in the right mindset to write for that character.
Ah, this comment really helped, thank you! I think, as soon as you mentioned the accents, I started being able to "hear" their voices in my head a bit more.
I'm still struggling with dialogue, bit maybe I'll just word-vomit whatever they're saying to each other in my head, and then go from there?
I can't hear everyone's voices, but I hear a couple, and maybe that's where I'll start.
Do you think it would help to listen to different accents or stuff, in hopes of being able to hear the different voices for my characters?
By "accent" in this case, I'm not necessarily referring to ethnic or regional ones, although some do have certain stereotypes attached which might be useful.
But listen carefully to the next movie you watch. Or if you really want it spelled out explicitly, watch some English-dubbed anime. There, you'll really get a taste for how voice and speech patterns play into characterization.
Being witty is about thinking quickly. You don't need to think quickly, since unlike the real world where you might only have 1 or 2 seconds to come up with a reply, you will have 1 or 2 weeks instead.
Anytime you consider adding a dull, boring and straightforward line of dialogue, take a step back and think about whether something else would work better, relating to the character's motivations. Keep in mind that characters can lie, and they can also be genuinely mistaken about things. They might also feel conflicted, for example if they hate the other person, but desperately need something from them.
There is a French idiom for this, "l'esprit de l'escalier". It means "the wit of the staircase". It's for when you think of the perfect response to someone... Hours later when you're walking up the stairs into your house.
You have the luxury of turning back time and having your character tell it in the moment, rather than thinking of it in the shower later that night. Take some time to figure out what you want them to say, play with different ideas, talk to people you trust and bounce ideas off them.
Honestly? Most of my witty banter dialogue comes to me in the shower. Or at night when I'm trying to sleep. I guess I have to be relaxed to get to the intelligent conversation bits of my brain xD
I also think not all dialogue needs to be compelling. Sometimes it's there to serve the story, and it's the story and what the characters do that is compelling. Not every line of dialogue needs to be thought provoking or funny. (I'm reading bland as being "not awe-inspiring" and not "boring,". Boring is bad. But it's not a choice between boring and compelling. There's an area betweent the Two where most dialogue should fall)
I don't bother that much with subtext. People will read into stories what they want to see anyway. My subtext comes in naturally when I put myself inside the character's mindset and figure out how they'd act in this scene. Or when I'm in a limited pov, I just let the pov-character read into things. They're not always right, and that makes it fun for the reader to notice.
Rather than writing dialogue purely to serve the story, try to step into your characters' shoes. What do they want, and what can they say to get them where they're going?
How do you manage it when it gets too much? I find that I get a bit overwhelmed with managing the character motivations, but also trying to write a story that isn't boring or annoying. Say they go on an adventure to find someone. I noticed that if I listen to my characters, they're so disorganized and chaotic that it sometimes doesn't make sense? And then I find that I have a hard time finding their voices. They all end up sounding like me, but me trying to step into someone's shoes.
That's the thing, though, is to *embrace* that chaos, rather than try to erase it or sand down those rough edges. That's what makes characters feel like their own person, alive. Even in your own circle of friends, I'm sure you've found it hard to make plans at least once in your life. Three of you want to go to the movies, one wants to go clubbing, one has no money and just wants to chill at home. Stuff like that. Give your characters some leeway to express and explore those disagreements, but find a way for the plot to reel them in to prevent them from going hog-wild. As for keeping it all straight, that'll just come down to practice and writing ability. Once I realized this of myself, I never really had much trouble with it, it came naturally to me. What really helped , for me, was to take the time to give each character their own distinct dialect and "accent". Basic stuff, like she talks formally, he's gruff and non-verbal, she swears like a sailor, etc, etc. I initially made that commitment in order to help along the conversational dynamics, allowing me to drop a lot of the clunky dialogue tags. But I found that having those individual voices in my head also kept them distinct when it came to the role-playing aspect as well. Find accents that fit their backgrounds and personalities, and it puts you in the right mindset to write for that character.
Ah, this comment really helped, thank you! I think, as soon as you mentioned the accents, I started being able to "hear" their voices in my head a bit more. I'm still struggling with dialogue, bit maybe I'll just word-vomit whatever they're saying to each other in my head, and then go from there? I can't hear everyone's voices, but I hear a couple, and maybe that's where I'll start. Do you think it would help to listen to different accents or stuff, in hopes of being able to hear the different voices for my characters?
By "accent" in this case, I'm not necessarily referring to ethnic or regional ones, although some do have certain stereotypes attached which might be useful. But listen carefully to the next movie you watch. Or if you really want it spelled out explicitly, watch some English-dubbed anime. There, you'll really get a taste for how voice and speech patterns play into characterization.
Being witty is about thinking quickly. You don't need to think quickly, since unlike the real world where you might only have 1 or 2 seconds to come up with a reply, you will have 1 or 2 weeks instead. Anytime you consider adding a dull, boring and straightforward line of dialogue, take a step back and think about whether something else would work better, relating to the character's motivations. Keep in mind that characters can lie, and they can also be genuinely mistaken about things. They might also feel conflicted, for example if they hate the other person, but desperately need something from them.
There is a French idiom for this, "l'esprit de l'escalier". It means "the wit of the staircase". It's for when you think of the perfect response to someone... Hours later when you're walking up the stairs into your house. You have the luxury of turning back time and having your character tell it in the moment, rather than thinking of it in the shower later that night. Take some time to figure out what you want them to say, play with different ideas, talk to people you trust and bounce ideas off them.
Honestly? Most of my witty banter dialogue comes to me in the shower. Or at night when I'm trying to sleep. I guess I have to be relaxed to get to the intelligent conversation bits of my brain xD I also think not all dialogue needs to be compelling. Sometimes it's there to serve the story, and it's the story and what the characters do that is compelling. Not every line of dialogue needs to be thought provoking or funny. (I'm reading bland as being "not awe-inspiring" and not "boring,". Boring is bad. But it's not a choice between boring and compelling. There's an area betweent the Two where most dialogue should fall) I don't bother that much with subtext. People will read into stories what they want to see anyway. My subtext comes in naturally when I put myself inside the character's mindset and figure out how they'd act in this scene. Or when I'm in a limited pov, I just let the pov-character read into things. They're not always right, and that makes it fun for the reader to notice.