Dialogue plays a large role in defining your
characters. After all, most traditional stories feature a lot of talking. The
way a character speaks can reveal a lot about them. This is especially true for
media like movies and TV shows, though less so for books since books offer more
alternative options. That’s not to say only dialogue defines the characters in
a movie, far from it.
A major difficulty with dialogue is making each
character “sound” different. It’s all too easy to fail here and have everyone
speak in a way that feels the same. This lessens your character’s uniqueness
and appeal. For this video, I’ll concentrate on tips to avoid this issue.
Frankly, I struggled with this for a long time. If
I reread earlier drafts of The Cyborg’s Crusade, some characters feel flat in
part because their dialogue isn’t very good. The biggest example I can think of
is Janice Ricdeau, the sister of Rose, the winged woman. Looking back, whenever
she spoke, she felt like a talking head that sounded like a watered-down
version of Rose. Part of this was because I didn’t have a good grasp on the
character yet and what made her unique. This wasn’t only dialogue related, but
they needed work, no question. I put a lot of work into Janice, and it paid
off. She went from one of the most boring characters to one of my favorites.
One thing is for sure, she doesn’t sound like Rose anymore. All this highlights
one important thing: It’s hard to write great dialogue for a character if you
don’t know and understand them. If a particular character’s dialogue is giving
you grief, maybe you need to figure out who they are more.
Like everything else about a character, their
speech should reflect who they are. This means that their dialogue should
reflect things like their personality and background. As a first point, let’s
consider vocabulary. Someone who grew up poor and dropped out of school early
will probably have a less diverse vocabulary than someone with an English
degree. Try to determine the level of language mastery of each character.
Restrictions can fuel creativity. Knowing what you can’t do if you want
believable dialogue can force you to vary the characters’ dialect with little
effort.
Another question is how polite a character is by nature. A professional, high-strung type of person should be more formal than a free-spirited soul. Having a very formal person interact with someone who is the opposite can lead to fun banters. Also, the formality aspect can play along with other traits of the character. For instance, imagine a character with poor language mastery/vocabulary trying to sound formal and smart. How they accomplish this can again be interesting.
Now for a question that might be a little
controversial: Does your character swear? Some feel swearing is lazy and
unesthetic. It’s up to you if you want to use swearing or not. To me, swearing
is normal human behavior, whether or not we like it. Some people I know swear
so much without even meaning to, I consider it part of their personalities!
(Hello Dad!). No, I’m not mentioning him for any reason, just thought I’d say
hi.
Anyway, the point is I’m ok with swearing if it
fits with who a character is and not just for shock value. For instance, I
wouldn’t have someone super religious swear in public unless something major
happened. Even then, I’d consider it twice before doing it.
Another easy possibility is accents and dialects
related to the region a character is from. Different places often speak
differently and that can differentiate your characters during dialog. If you do
this, BE CAREFUL! You don’t want them to sound like offensive stereotypes. When
in doubt, avoid accents.
Also, don’t forget body language. Not everything a
human being says is through words. Researching common body language can give
good ideas on how to communicate subtle information to your readers. Sure, this
isn’t strictly dialogue, but it goes hand in hand with it.
As a final tip, take who the character is talking
to into consideration. Most of them wouldn’t express themselves the same way
with their best friend, a parent, a perfect stranger, a bully, someone they
hate, and so on. Think about how each of your various characters plays off
against each other. That can help make the dialogues more varied and serve as
subtle character development.
The Cyborg's Crusade - Day of the Deus
Ex Machina
by Benoit Lanteigne
GENRE: Science Fiction
How did it come to this? My life used to be so simple. Back then, I hated it; I found it boring. Let me tell you: boring’s good. Boring’s great! I should’ve been thankful…
It was supposed to be a date like any other for James Hunter, a simple convenience store clerk. Nothing more than watching a movie in the town of Moncton. A place as unknown and unimportant as he considered his own existence to be. And yet, while walking to a cinema, James teleports to another world. There, a hostile crowd surrounds him, including various mutants with strange deformities.
Before he can even gather his wits or make a dash for it, a lone ally presents herself in the form of a winged woman named Rose. An important cultural figure in the country where James appeared, she offers him both protection and a home.
Soon, James learns that this new world is divided by a cold war. On one side is Nirnivia, home to Rose. The other, Ostark, led by a mysterious cyborg. James is unaware that the cyborg has him in his crosshairs, thinking of him as the Deus Ex Machina that will end the war in his favor.
But, the cyborg is far from the only potential threat to James. Soon after his arrival, BRR, a terrorist organisation, kidnaps him.
What would a rogue group out for revenge seeking to turn the cold war hot want with someone like James? Is there anyone also aware of this other world who will try to find him? Or is he on his own? If so, how is he supposed to escape? If that's even an option...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The book will be $0.99 during the tour.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cyborgs-Crusade-Day-Deux-Machina-ebook/dp/B0CBZZRDZ4/ref=sr_1_1
Excerpt
Three:
Though initially shocked by the vehicle storming at them,
the crowd soon recuperated. They glanced at each other and brandished their
fists at the offenders. A few gave chase, but on foot they stood little chance
of overtaking the pair. One of the chasers yelled, “Hey, it’s that Wrathchild
traitor bitch helping the human asshole.”
Not concentrating on the road, Wrathchild offered her
companion a side glance. “Don’t listen. Had veterinarians do test.” She
smirked. “Ain’t no female dog.”
Despite their superior speed, she opted for caution and
swerved into a small street. James exhaled as he hoped the retreat cut the hunt
short. Then a soaring bottle grazed his ear. It shattered on the asphalt with a
chink. A rock followed, and next a banana-shaped fruit of all things. The
projectiles missed their mark, yet James’s muscles tensed up. He mumbled to
himself in an attempt to calm his nerves. His worries proved futile. They
outpaced the flock, who vanished in the distance in a second. Before he could
relax, a rumbling sound arose from behind.
James gulped. He deduced the implications. Terrified, his
brain ordered him not to look, but the temptation ended up too strong. Out of
breath, he took a glimpse. A bare-chested thug covered in tattoos had mounted
his own bike and raced after them. A lone hand steered; the other wielded a
club. The message seemed obvious: he’d prefer to risk an accident than not to
pummel them.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
So, my name is Benoit Lanteigne and I’m a French Canadian (outside of Quebec) who’s trying to write in English. That can be tricky. I’m a computer programmer and I enjoy it. I see many inspiring writers who hate their jobs and hope to quit someday, but that’s not my case. Mostly, I’ve worked on websites and web applications.
Back in school, I enjoyed writing and according to my teachers and classmates; I had a talent for it. Well, not so much for grammar and spelling, but they liked my stories. Once I went to university, I dropped writing as a hobby. There were other things I wanted to focus on, such as my career. Then, in the early 2000s, around 2006 I’d say, I had a flash of inspiration. At first, it was a single character: a winged woman with red hair. I didn’t even know who she was, but the image stuck with me. From there, I began figuring out details about her origins and her world, but I only started writing for real in 2009.
It’s been
roughly 10 years now, and it’s not yet finished. That’s in part because I write
in my spare time, and in part because the scope of the project is huge. Maybe
too much so. Still, I’m getting close to the point where I could release
something. The question is what’s next? Self-publishing? Attempt traditional
publishing? Nothing? I don’t know the answer yet, I’m trying to figure it out.
Frankly, sharing my writing is difficult for me, and whatever I end up doing,
as long as I make it available to people I consider the experience a victory no
matter what comes out of it.
Website: https://thecyborgscrusade.com/
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4 comments:
Thank you for hosting today.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
Answer to Kim
Well, I started enjoying writing in school through creative writing homework. I wrote on and off since then, but I never imagined I'd ever publish anything. That changed, but not so much because I wanted to be a writer, rather the inspiration for a story I wanted to tell came to me. The easiest way to tell that story was in book form. At first, I was still just writing for fun without intention of publishing. Eventually I ended up with a lot material, and it felt like a shame not to do anything with it. Besides, I figured even if The Cyborg's Crusade didn't sell, putting it out there for people to read would be a nice personal growth exercise for me
I really like the cover and the excerpt.
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