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How do you make them talk?

Loner

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I bin trying to write for some time now but ever time I sit down I get hit whith writers block and braly get threw the story, till finaly I pind Point were it is I am having problems. When I start making The charaters start talking is ware I start to have trobel. I can describe the scean and what going on well but the moment need to talk I begin to have troble and avectully give up. Can any one give good advice on how to make good dialog and stay at it?
 

Tariel

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My problem...sadly enough...is getting them to STOP talking :blush: But yeah....listening to people is really the best way to learn how to write dialouge. Don't just listen to the words, but listen to how they say what they say, the speed at which they talk, and how different people phrase the same comment differently. What I've also found helpful is to keep a list of very odd statements heard--the kind of comments that would sound very very strange if taken out of context. Just the knowedge that you're keeping such a list will help tune your mind. Reading dialouge out loud can also be helpful, since you can see how the written word translates into real speech. But really, you just need to practice and to write like you talk--or rather, how your characters would talk.
 
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Lessien

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Exactly. If you cannot in your right mind picture a noblewoman saying "Under the cruel wizard Bob's spells I now lie destroyed, my kingdom in utter ruin and mine kin having left me abandoned!" then don't make any of your characters say that! If you CAN picture a noblewoman saying that....then you need help. :p
 
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Tariel

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Exactly. If you cannot in your right mind picture a noblewoman saying "Under the cruel wizard Bob's spells I now lie destroyed, my kingdom in utter ruin and mine kin having left me abandoned!" then don't make any of your characters say that! If you CAN picture a noblewoman saying that....then you need help. :p
If the noblewoman was puposefully and sarcastically being melodramatic she might say that....but if I were the cruel wizard Bob I would probably change my name. :p It's one of those names I just can't be afraid of. Like Galbatorix.
 
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i sit around and people watch. i keep in mind that not everyone tells everything. people hide thoughts and feelings all the time and leave things unspoken as if they expect the other person(s) to be able to figure out what they meant. misunderstandings happen quite frequently.

some other things to keep in mind:

people interrupt each other
cut themselves off
change their minds half-way through a thought
struggle to find words
switch the topic of conversation
blurt things outloud at inopportune times
misinterpret actions/words of others
say things they don't mean

oh... and something that drives me absolutely crazy that should only be done in extreme circumstances... when a person/character is alone, they rarely talk in monologues with everything they ever thought about person/place/thing unless they're preparing for a speech. in most cases where i've seen it used by amature authors it's used awkwardly. usually, when people are alone, sentences are short and vague since most of the dialogue is internal.

that's about all the advice i can give. if someone sees something wrong with it, feel free to correct me.

sometimes, when i write dialogue, i just write the speech. no quotes. no who said what. just the dialogue. that way it's all together and i can read through it to see if it seems real. like if i were sitting at the next table over and heard the dialogue, would it flow like dialogue should.
 
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Lessien

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If the noblewoman was puposefully and sarcastically being melodramatic she might say that....but if I were the cruel wizard Bob I would probably change my name. :p It's one of those names I just can't be afraid of. Like Galbatorix.

^_^ Not one of those names you want as a tatoo, either, if it's an uneducated farmer doing the tatoo who has to ask if there's two 'o's in 'Bob' :p

Of course, the whole issue of how an uneducated farmer became a tatoo artist without learning to read is another issue entirely. :p
 
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Tariel

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^_^ Not one of those names you want as a tatoo, either, if it's an uneducated farmer doing the tatoo who has to ask if there's two 'o's in 'Bob' :p

Of course, the whole issue of how an uneducated farmer became a tatoo artist without learning to read is another issue entirely. :p
so true, so true. :sigh:

hehe...the cruel wizard Bob with a tattoo done by an uneducated farmer who doesn't know how to read and was too embarassed to ask if there's two 'o's in 'Bob' and, after much thought, decided that there must be two. :p
 
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Lessien

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Of course he would want it on his hand ^_^ Isn't that where all stupid evil wizards get tattoos?

But of course! And then he'll wear gloves for the rest of his life to hide this "secret" mark that somehow makes him Speshul. ^_^ After all, isn't that what Eeeeevuuuuul Wizards do?
 
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Tariel

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i sit around and people watch. i keep in mind that not everyone tells everything. people hide thoughts and feelings all the time and leave things unspoken as if they expect the other person(s) to be able to figure out what they meant. misunderstandings happen quite frequently.

some other things to keep in mind:

people interrupt each other
cut themselves off
change their minds half-way through a thought
struggle to find words
switch the topic of conversation
blurt things outloud at inopportune times
misinterpret actions/words of others
say things they don't mean

oh... and something that drives me absolutely crazy that should only be done in extreme circumstances... when a person/character is alone, they rarely talk in monologues with everything they ever thought about person/place/thing unless they're preparing for a speech. in most cases where i've seen it used by amature authors it's used awkwardly. usually, when people are alone, sentences are short and vague since most of the dialogue is internal.

that's about all the advice i can give. if someone sees something wrong with it, feel free to correct me.

sometimes, when i write dialogue, i just write the speech. no quotes. no who said what. just the dialogue. that way it's all together and i can read through it to see if it seems real. like if i were sitting at the next table over and heard the dialogue, would it flow like dialogue should.
One must also keep in mind that conversation in books doesn't always work like real life. In a book conversations MUST be much more focused than they are in real life. One must also realize that facial expressions cannot be expressed nearly as well in a book, therefore the dialouge must at least partially reflect that. There's also a degree to which the characters need to say things that people wouldn't normally say in real life.
 
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Tariel

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But of course! And then he'll wear gloves for the rest of his life to hide this "secret" mark that somehow makes him Speshul. ^_^ After all, isn't that what Eeeeevuuuuul Wizards do?
off course!!

But I did read a very good book recently where a guy wore a glove on one hand to hide something...it worked very well ^_^ He wasn't evil though...and he wasn't a wizard
 
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Tariel

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...^_^ It's all so pointless....just like the Inheritance trilogy. ^_^
Yes...I saw a trailer for Eragon in the theater...and you know what? THERE WAS NOT ONE SHOT OF MURTAGH IN THE ENTIRE TRAILER!!!!!!! :doh: :doh: :doh:

Anyway....the whole glove thing worked in Wild Adaptor...but the guy was hiding the fact that one of his hands was furry and had claws.
 
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Lessien

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Of course he would want it on his hand ^_^ Isn't that where all stupid evil wizards get tattoos?

Yes...I saw a trailer for Eragon in the theater...and you know what? THERE WAS NOT ONE SHOT OF MURTAGH IN THE ENTIRE TRAILER!!!!!!! :doh:

Anyway....the whole glove thing worked in Wild Adaptor...but the guy was hiding the fact that one of his hands was furry and had claws.

I know! THEY LEFT OUT THE ONLY GOOD CHARACTER IN THE WHOLE STINKING TRILOGY!!!! :mad: :doh: But I guess it's nothing less than we can expect...Since Paolini probably had some say in the final trailer, he probably wanted LOTS of Eragon in it. Gr.

^_^ Yeah. NOT that he had some stupid tatoo that he got and now for some reason wants to hide from the world.

Which brings me to another gripe about Inheritance: WHY DID ARYA GET THAT STUPID TATOO ON HER SHOULDER AND THEN TELL ERAGON NOT TO TELL ANYONE ABOUT IT?! I mean, she gets a tatoo, and from the way Paolini described it, it looked pretty cool. And it never came into play until her mom mentioned it. Durza didn't seem to care about it. None of the Varden ever mentioned it.

And another gripe: Islanzadi banished Arya for getting a tatoo?
 
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Tariel

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I know! THEY LEFT OUT THE ONLY GOOD CHARACTER IN THE WHOLE STINKING TRILOGY!!!! :mad: :doh: But I guess it's nothing less than we can expect...Since Paolini probably had some say in the final trailer, he probably wanted LOTS of Eragon in it. Gr.

^_^ Yeah. NOT that he had some stupid tatoo that he got and now for some reason wants to hide from the world.

Which brings me to another gripe about Inheritance: WHY DID ARYA GET THAT STUPID TATOO ON HER SHOULDER AND THEN TELL ERAGON NOT TO TELL ANYONE ABOUT IT?! I mean, she gets a tatoo, and from the way Paolini described it, it looked pretty cool. And it never came into play until her mom mentioned it. Durza didn't seem to care about it. None of the Varden ever mentioned it.

And another gripe: Islanzadi banished Arya for getting a tatoo?
I know...I'd hate to see what would happen if Arya ever came home pregnant :p Actually....since the result would probably mean lots of pain and suffering for Arya....bring it on ^_^

So why do these stupid idiots get tattoos and then attempt to hide them from the rest of the world? It's just plain crazy.
 
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Lessien

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I know...I'd hate to see what would happen if Arya ever came home pregnant :p Actually....since the result would probably mean lots of pain and suffering for Arya....bring it on ^_^

So why do these stupid idiots get tattoos and then attempt to hide them from the rest of the world? It's just plain crazy.

^_^ I'd buy that book! ^_^

I don't get it. :scratch: They get tatoos in appropriate places (arms, legs, shoulders, etc.), and then once they get them, they immediately put on gloves, long pants, really high boots, uber modest shirts, whatever, to hide them! I don't plan on getting a tatoo, but if I ever did, then I'd show it off, dang it!
 
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Tariel

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^_^ I'd buy that book! ^_^

I don't get it. :scratch: They get tatoos in appropriate places (arms, legs, shoulders, etc.), and then once they get them, they immediately put on gloves, long pants, really high boots, uber modest shirts, whatever, to hide them! I don't plan on getting a tatoo, but if I ever did, then I'd show it off, dang it!
:amen: If you're gonna get a tatoo that you don't want anybody to see....get it in a place people normally don't see---but then again WHY get the tatoo in the first place?!?!
 
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