The other day I spoke about dialogue and how it either works or doesn’t work for a character or set of characters.
I was thinking on this more again last night (because at least I think about writing when I’m not actually writing- – right?) Dialogue is or can be subjective methinks. Example- in the previous blog I also mentioned that I “almost” was accepted by a publisher, except they didn’t like my dialogue. It didn’t seem real to them. Whereas, to me, it was extremely real. Second point- the urban fantasy/shapeshifter series I read where I did not like the YA dialogue- but the series was like USA best seller. So obviously, I was in the minority for the specific vernacular used by one of the characters.
So my question to you is, how to you balance what your characters have to say, how they say it,(oxford comma intentional and always will be) and when they say it?
I mean there are certain slang, phrases, words that indicate different parts of the US and the world, common terms that are easy to bake in. It’s not that per se, it’s the back and forth with conversations, the language they use when happy, sad, pissed off, confused, etc.
When I read and proof Jay’s books (https://feloniousinsult.com); I’m amazed at the ease in which his characters relate to one another, whether it’s a formal or informal conversation- – he gets it right.
His characters come to life, they live and breathe. They aren’t reading copy from a script that he thought might sound good. In fact, he has one blog where he as the author sits down with a couple of his characters in a coffee shop. The dialogue is amazing!
How do you gauge when it’s a fit, how do you introduce new characters and determine their quirks with language?
cheers!
m
Marina Skynnar- Author 