Dialogue as Part of Characterization

[ubiquirk]

A recent comment about the frequent use of suss instead of its synonyms in my HP story ‘Conspiracy Theory’ gives me the perfect opportunity to get swotty about a subject I love. Dialogue

Comments

[kudilu]

nice essay. very interesting.

[ubiquirk]

I'm glad it was interesting - thanks!

[alisanne]

Very thoughtful essay. I very much agree. It's even more important to do this in drabbles where the very limited word count makes it crucial to establish your characters with minimum fuss.
Mind if I link to this?

[ubiquirk]

Dialogue is amazingly crucial, and unfortunately much of the time it sounds nothing like real people talk. You're so right that it can really help characterization in drabbles.

Linking would be great - thanks.

[scatteredlogic]

Yes, this so very much! People have certain words they use all the time. In casual conversation, I tend to say "really" a lot. I mean really a lot. ;P I don't in my business correspondence, but in talking or in replying to friends by email, I am sometimes astonished by the sheer number of times that I can use "really" in a sentence.

We learn to recognize people by the words they use and the manner in which they use them. Everything from slang and colloquialisms to phrasing becomes individualized to a certain extent.

[ubiquirk]

I have key phrases now too. After writing that Faith story, I picked up freaking and its never left. It does serve one purpose though - it being on the tip of my tongue keeps me from slipping and saying fuck in the wrong company.

We learn to recognize people by the words they use and the manner in which they use them. Everything from slang and colloquialisms to phrasing becomes individualized to a certain extent.

You're right, and you made me realize how wonderful it would be if only we could get inflections onto the page too!

[ubiquirk]

Did you actually get criticized because Hermione used the word "suss" too much?

Yes, but the person wasn't British, and it's not clear if they have any idea as to just how common the word is, which plays into The fact that people say or do certain things doesn't help if a reader is jarred and pulled out of the story by it. If it's slang from another country, then it's always going to sound a little off - that doesn't mean it's wrong for the character.

I guess my point is, "that's the way people really talk," isn't an excuse. Good dialogue isn't the way people really talk. It seems as if it's the way people really talk.That's the old chestnut, and if you're going for a nineteenth-century voice, for example, then fine, keep everything perfect. However, I don't think that's true when it comes to writing contemporary, realistic fiction. Dialogue is still shaped, but not to the point of complete artificiality. There should be pauses, sentences that trail off, the occasional ah and erm, slang. Not in every conversation, but at least

[ubiquirk]

So I think you and I are on the same page, even if I didn't make it clear. Not the way people really talk, but using enough habits and characteristics to make it feel like somebody's really talking.

Yes, it's a balance that changes depending on the overall narrative voice of the piece being written. And I know that I purposefully have a very modern voice, so my opinions always reflect that. But people do still write in a very 'perfect' voice.

[snowpuppies]

Word.

[ubiquirk]

Thanks!