Dialogue finally clicked after I just listened to the chatter at my usual diner booth

Overhearing real conversations with all their pauses and tangents made my characters sound like actual people for the first time.

3 comments

3 Comments

hill.stella1mo ago

That's such a good point about real chatter being messy. Most written dialogue is way too clean and direct compared to how people actually talk, with all the ums and weird jumps. It makes a huge difference when you remember to put those little imperfections back in.

the_eric1mo ago

Honestly, some writers get that natural rhythm right from the start though. They don't always have to add the mess back in later.

the_susan1mo ago

Ever notice how we do the opposite in real life? Like when you tell a friend about a talk you had, you clean it all up. You skip the "um"s and the weird off-topic bits. It's funny we edit people's real words to sound better in our heads, but writers have to add the mess back in to make it seem real.