t-adash-i:

Something that took forever for me to learn with fanfiction dialogue.

it’s okay to make your character stumble over, and to think about their words.

It’s okay to give characters speech patterns and let me tell you why;

It’s natural.

Every single person has a speech pattern. We all speak differently, we speak like our personalities and it’s a good way to get to know a character.

Something I’ve noticed in YA books in the characters speaking without filler words like ‘well’, ‘anyway’, ‘like’, ‘literally’.

And remember: it’s okay to use these! Make your dialogue more realistic, and more human!

Sometimes, people talk slower, and have to think about what they want to say.

Sometimes, people stumble over their words because they’re anxious.

Sometimes, people talk really fast and blur their words together because they’re afraid to forget what they want to say!

Selective people prefer not to talk at all, and like to stay mute for their own safety or comfort, and the best you can do is respect them for choosing it.

It’s okay to use phrases like, ‘yknow’, ‘uh’, ‘uhm’, ‘mhm’ because it’s how we speak in the real world.

It’s okay to have characters hum in thought, or use their body to portray that they’re thinking!

Some people fiddle with something in their hands while thinking!

Some people bite their lips in thought.

Some people hum under their breath while they think.

Silent ways of telling the reader that your character is thinking words that they’re not ready to say yet!!

It’s okay to have your character repeat words and or phrases when excited and when they can’t contain it! Sometimes, we just get so excited, that we aren’t thinking about how many times we say things.

It’s okay to write a character repeating themselves, especially if they want to get their point across to someone/if someone didn’t understand their point in the first place.

Non-verbal replies!!!

Shrugging of the shoulders, incoherent mumbles, hand gestures, use the power of writing to describe a reply or phrase with facial expressions, or physical movement!! Silence is okay too, if it’s needed!

Silence can speak just as much as words!

Dialogue is important.

Dialogue that flows and is human is i m p o r t a n t!!

unpretty:

there was a golden age superman comic where someone called a hit out on clark kent, and so a sniper tried to shoot him while he was out having lunch with lois

except he’s fucking superman so the bullets just fell off his chest into his lunch and clark just had to pretend nothing happened and hope lois wouldn’t notice that someone just fucking shot him

the hitman thinks maybe he just missed and gets ready to shoot him again, but then he’s watching through the scope as clark starts to eat the fucking bullets to hide the fucking evidence, acting like everything is totally normal as he noshes down on lead

dude just packs his shit up and leaves town because reporters in this city eat bullets for lunch and he’s not fucking with that no way no how