Hello,

when writing a story I have the constant problem with the dialogues. I get stuck on them, I just can't write them.
I have the coming chapters to my stories complete for weeks, I have ideas and and the plot researched and yet, I don't get finished, because I die in the middle of a dialogue. I tried different methods, like writing only the skeleton of it first but nothing seems to work for me.
So I thought the community of writers from DLP could help in a new way. I'd like to implement the dialogue as a kind of role play. The situation would be stated and then, one would be e.g. Harry and the other e.g. Dumbledore, with the respective aims of the participants. Then I could just write one side of the dialouge and see what the other would come up with. The texts would of course not be just the words, but the body language and all the other aspects of the dialogue as well.

I would like to know if anyone is interested in this idea, it could certainly work both ways and it wouldn't take that much time because the respective parts would be short.

And I think the admins wouldn't appreciate something like that running in the forums, so pm me if you want to do that.

I appreciate any other advice on writing dialogues as well, but please don't point me to some place where it is written what a good dialogue is, I know most of them from my searches, I need some technique.....

 

How are you getting stuck?

Are you finding it hard to keep people in character or is it that you find they lack subsistence?

 

Why not post a sample, and have some of the more experienced authors critique it?

 

Like Syao say's it helps to read the dialogue outloud as you write. I also agree that it would be a good idea to post a snippet of your dialogue so that other people can have a look at it, and perhaps see where you're going wrong (if you getting it wrong at all).

I'm not sure that any of my own quirks when writing will be of any use to you. I regually write with my eyes closed in a completely silent room, and have been known to write full chapters backwards when I'm finding it hard to write.

 

The only problem for me is that I talk completely different from the characters in the HP universe. Where I live, we have all kinds of slang that no one else on the planet seems to use or understand, so that really isn't a viable option for me. But, if you happen to be in your teens and you're a Brit, I'd say that you shouldn't have any problems writing dialogue. (Not directed at you, Aekiel, unless you fit the requirements.)

Reading over what you have written some days later helps immeasurably, as well. I've found that by rereading what I have already written as I go back over the chapter, the story loses the stiff feeling just a tad. (Obviously, I didn't reread my latest addition...)

But, yeah, give us a sample. Maybe it's not quite as bad as you think it is, and you're just being too hard on yourself. Good luck.

 

Amerision's Golden Rule

What you don't say is just as, if not more important than, what you do say.

:::

Aside from that, I'd like to see a sample. Just force yourself to write it as best as you can and post it.

Try not to be overdramatic. That's an instant killer in immersion.

Another thing - remember to adjust speech to the character's intelligence, personality, and age. You know there's something wrong when you have fifteen year old Harry Potter talking like Albus Dumbledore on Ridalin.

 

I also find that looking closely at some books (including Rowling's) helps alot. There are quite a few bits of speech related grammar that I picked up from this, which helps integrate the dialogue better into the flow of the story.

 

Easiest way: Put yourself in the character's personality. Then think: what would I say in response to such and such character's statement?

The personality is what's important, such as if you're writing Goyle, think 'what would an utter moron say now?'.

 

For me its like that as well Yarrgh. Some folk say the best artists are those who do a self portrait no matter what they actual paint or draw. They see themselves as the subject of the picture, which gives them a unique perspective.

I always put myself in the place of a character. Or if I can't do that for some reason, I try and imagine the person as someone I know IRL. Like someone in my class or whatever, sometimes as my brother or parents. I think of the folk i know in the same situation and I write what they would say.

 

I think the most critical thing in dialogue is not so much what is spoken as is the voice of the character. Character development revolves not a small part around the voice that is developed for the character. The only way that you can get better at dealing with this is getting to know your characters better. Unless you know your characters, it's very hard to write dialogue because the banter doesn't flow, and you can't fully express their personalities. Conversely, when you have a firm grasp on the characters' personalities, things flow marvelously.

For instance, I find usually that my Harry has a bit of a sarcastic voice, tending to be a bit embittered, whereas Ron tends to be witty and a bit clueless. How do you spend more time with the characters? Imagine them talking in your head. Figure out a scene. Carry out a conversation with another person where you try to think or speak entirely like the character (this is absolutely fucking amazing to do with telemarketers). Get into their heads so they get into yours.

 

I think my problem is the dramatics in the dialogue. When I start, I have some idea what I want to accomplish with the dialogue. But I dont know how to put it into a scenario.

Usually it is:
- show some character traits of the people
- show how they interact (wary, friendly, enemies ...)
- show some insight into the view of my main char (Harry)
- give some info on some plot detail, magical concept etc.

Maybe its because I'm bad with people skills in real life too.... I can write an Apathetic or a Loner Harry probably very well. What I can't write is people that charm their way through life. And sadly Dumbledore is one of them, he plays the heart card in social interaction. Maybe I should take a deeper look at Dumbledore scenes first.

I will put an example here when I have restored my computer, I crashed my root partition and had to reinstall. Luckily I have copies of my work on all kinds of stroage devices... just have to sort out which version is were.

Olfrik

PS: BTW has anyone a HP universe dictionary for a spellchecker to share? I would have to regrow mine, I fear.
Just a list of words HP words like the names of the people and such...

 

You're thinking too hard.

The goal of writing is the mimesis of real life, in situations that might never occur in real life. I'm not coming into the conversation looking to show you how my personality is; if it happens, it happens by accident. If you really want to write good dialogue, don't go into something to demonstrate your magical concept (unless the conversation is about that). It's like any other conversation - it should just happen. Everyone goes into conversation for some reason, and if there's a real lack of reason, you'll find that the dialogue won't sparkle.

No excuses . Writing is acting, just for actors who like to sit on chairs. As per my previous comment, you need to hear the characters in your head. Writing is also for schizophrenics. Read Dumbledore over and over until you hear him. I have such a problem with this that when I read at night, when I wake up in the morning I think like the last thing I was reading.

Linux user? Bless your soul, if you are, and good luck restoring. ALWAYS back up your work - preferably in three or four spots, and at least one of them online. Never throw away old work; you'll always come back later and pick it for ideas.

 

To enhance the MS-Word dictionary I used some lists of the HP-Lexicon:
Potterwords: http://www.hp-lexicon.org/help/potterwords.html
The Main Index: http://www.hp-lexicon.org/index/master-index-a.html
But I believe the Main Index sometimes capitalises words which usually aren't.