Vivien Reis Vivien I found you late, enjoying the videos SO much-despite the fact i’m older and writing later in life. I would love to see a video on structuring your novel (I have seen the one about notecards) but I need specifics on what device works best for composition. I have all these note cards, hand written chapters in notebooks (screech!) and notes on my phone. What device /software works best for you? I have a chrome book but so far its just not working well for me. I prefer a laptop, not a desktop. Any advice? Thank you so so much!!! Love your videos, advice and delivery! You are amazing!
While looking for a copy of the zombie apocalypse survival guide, I stumbled across another interesting book. The medieval mind; a history of the development of thought emotion in the Middle Ages by Taylor, Henry Osborn, 1856-1941. It is pretty good and in the public domain. Worth looking for. Maybe you could make a video about awesome and helpful public domain books.
(Make imperfect characters) 1. Relationships matters (How the character treats each person.) 1:42 2. Give each of your characters a unique voice. (Unique way of speech and their speaking habits.) 2:17 3. Characters all shouldn't be all perfect. (Perfectly imperfect!) (Their reactions and their solutions to things.) 2:50 4. Summaries can be a good thing. (When you want to explain something to the readers but you don't want them in a dialogue. Examples: Back and forth betsween two characters, repeating scenes.) 3:29 5. TAG, your it! (Don't tell but show through actions.) 4:12 6. Name drop. (You call out your friends name sometimes but other times, you might use different terms to call or get their attention such as 'Girl' or 'Hey'.) 5:12 7. Don't drag. (Do not drag the sentences out by putting unnecessary dialogues such as 'hey how are you doing, hows the kid, blah blah'.) 5:47 8. Have someone read your story out loud. (On purpose to notice and fix your awkward sentences people might not get while reading out loud. Your dialogue might not be needed.) 6:49 9. Grammers! (Cut sentences, and separations. Use ,~-!? And .) 7:32 You're welcome.
I personally found that difficulty writing dialogue can occasionally be due to poor characterization. If you can't think of a relevant and natural sounding thing that your own character would say in a certain situation they may not be a very well fleshed out and personalized individual. That's obviously not true in all cases but I found myself having that problem when I was very new to writing. I had trouble determining what someone would say in a situation and then I realized it was because their personality wasn't very fleshed out to begin with.
Well I guess I’m screwed then. I have this problem where I’m stuck in my own voice. My brain doesn’t work that way where I can imagine what anyone else would say in a situation. Even real people that are the closest to me. 😟 I have no idea how to overcome this and give my characters individual unique voices 😖
I find that dialogue tends to move a story along more quickly. It is akin to the action parts of a narrative as opposed to exposition or background information (which should be limited as much as possible). One thing that I thought was pretty cool when I saw it in a Stephen King novel is the interplay of spoken dialogue with an inner dialogue. For example, a character might give a compliment to another character. The spoken compliment is put in quotations to show it's being spoken aloud, but then in italics, followed up with a sarcastic comment uttered inside that person's head. “That's a beautiful scarf.” *As if.* “Oh. Thanks.” “Don't mention it.” *Please. Don't mention it.* Granted, it is a very specific style of narrative that is very freeform and to largely humorous effect but may not be appropriate for every genre. They often do this in television and film with voiceovers. Also, good dialogue is punchy and to the point. Avoid rambling (like I'm doing now). Dialogue is like music. When it's percussive with good back-and-forth, it becomes engaging.
Very good points, Gary! Thanks for sharing :) I think this form of dialogue/narration interplay also helps with establishing deep POV, which helps the reader establish a stronger connection with the character.
Dialogue should slow a story down. It should draw the reader down from his perch where he sits just above the action. Suddenly time slows and the scene expands until it envelops him within it, and then with himself as part of the scene he can begin to hear the characters speaking.
I do that with my main character when she meet the person she hates and try to play it cool, but at the same time she's attracted to him. She's in-denial and doesn't notice it about herself, so that kind of dialogue really works well at times
Dialogue interspersed with action tags is by far my preferred style of writing. I try to be very sparing with just straight narrative and exposition because personally I find it the most boring as a reader. However, one pitfall I find with writing dialogue is that it's easy for me to get off topic and deviate from my planned outline. The characters often just don't want to cooperate and try to change the subject before they're supposed to or keep talking about a topic longer than they were supposed to. I find my scenes are often like a movie/TV take. Quite often I make my characters do re-takes to experiment with different reactions and flow. Sometimes though I find that it just feels wrong to make my character react the way I had originally planned for them to react, and then I have to re-write my outline and sometimes take the story, or at least character development, in a completely different direction.
TheNovelNovelist I prefer action tags as well; yet EVERY damn how-to book/blog/vlog on writing FORBIDS them. I think they add to characterization when used appropriately!
Besides probably being a fantastic writer, you can really talk. I wonder how many times you had to pause the recording to do this video, because it would have probably taken me an entire day to say all of the things that you just said in what... eight minutes and fifty-two seconds. Wow! I've been searching for some online help for awhile. Why have I never found these videos before? You have helped me immensely! Thank you. :)
Thank *you* for watching! Every video has a corresponding post on my website, so I write up the posts before filming. Otherwise I would ramble on forever! And condensing it is quite the chore haha. Some people ask me why I talk so fast and that's why! Happy writing :)
You do talk fast. Sometimes I miss part of it, but it's still worth watching. I've noticed this with the "younger" generation. You all talk fast. It's not your fault I am old and slow, but it would help some of us if you could slow down -- just a little. Please.
Thanks for allowing ellipses to end dialog sentences: I'm a grammar nazi, and it baffles me that human beings have decoded our genome and explored space, yet every modern language contains only 3 or 4 ways to end a sentence! I also have an unhealthy love of dashes/ellipses, as my characters either refuse to complete their thoughts or, as in real world casual conversation with an intimate familiar, wish their listeners to infer a meaning too impolite or uncomfortable to articulate.
I love how she said, "Gurl, guess what happened?" 😂👌🏻 But, sis your advice are really helping this 16 year old to write the books and honing my skills! Love your humor and help! I know I am a little young to say this but *GOD BLESS YOU!* ✨✨✨😭❤️
You say that people don't sigh or grunt words, but if I were to write: "Man, what a day!" Peter sighed, as his back hit the pillows." then that just seems just fine to me. It expresses Peter's fatique. Or am I completely missing your point? Thanks for the great tips!
In my personal opinion, having your character “sigh” or “grunt” short sentences or broken phrases is fine. But they’re just gonna run out of breath if you have them “sigh” a Shakespearean soliloquy.
You can add character motif to strengthen the action tag too. For example, if a guy comes home from work after a long day, you can have him "slouch in the armchair, letting the soft fabric soak his fatigue away." Maybe the motif is to beat a harder drum: “He sits in a wooden chair, back forward, hands in a curl together.”
Wow! This was super helpful. Some of these tips I already knew or learned from past writing mistakes, but hearing you list them and give examples really made things stand out. Definitely sharing with my writer circle! Thank you Vivien.
Hi. I know this is old, but there's a lot of word to speech Apps that help in listening to your dialogue. Speechify has been amazing. They're still new and have some problems to work out, but over all, very good. (Congratulations on the baby.)
This video is so excellent, thank you! I learned several little tricks to make my dialogue work better, and I can't wait to pass them on to the writers of a few manuscripts I'm beta reading.
I think you should name drop when it's a creepy person. I knew someone like that, I had never heard my name so much lol and people told him it was weird but he still did it.
Another creepy thing is people who refer to themselves in the third person. This was used well in the original movie "DOA" by the villain's henchman, Chester. "Chester doesn't like that. He made Chester mad."
I would be rubbing her belly all day... By the way, your videos are great :) I wrote almost a third of a hard sci-fi novel without using a single piece of dialogue and it was looking a tad boring.. People can only think to themselves so much before it becomes weird that nobody's saying anything xD
Something that I noticed while reading the Mortal Instruments Series (best books ever, u must read if u havent already) was that the author only ever used "say" "says" or "said" as her dialogue tags, but somehow I didn't notice until my second time through the series, and I'm just saying this to emphasise that the story can still be great if you use bland dialogue tags. I used to pinprick my stories so much that I got tired of writing because it wasn't fun anymore. Now, after more than half a year, I started writing again but I just write and I don't worry about if it sounds clumpy. I'm just warning you that while you should take all the videos tips to heart as she is probably more experienced, don't live by them.
My problem with dialogue is that my story takes place in a low-fantasy setting, a town where a lot of people believe in supernatural phenomena, but they are almost never really shown in the story, so the protagonist doesn't believe in them, which often leads to awkward collisions in dialogues. I suppose my own nature wants the dialogues to be somewhat "normal" and casual, but they essentially can't be that way if I want to make people talk about things that matter in the story :-/. It's a weird problem, I know.
Brilliant tips, but my best one is your punctuation mark analogy; from now on I will safeguard all my punctuation marks within the security of quotation marks! 😃
I'm allergic to the words 'said' and 'replied' I use far too many of them as well, but I hate the idea of just substituting words for fancier versions of the same damn thing. I tend to try and break up long back and forths with character observations and descriptions that appear relevant to understanding how a character is talking. However I also use action tag modifiers or explanations for this, for example: '"I don't know." She replied.' Could mean anything out of context, but say I wanted to add to it a bit, it would instead become: '"I don't know." She replied regretfully. "I'm sorry."' She added quietly after a moment.' It satisfies me for the most part as my writing doesn't feel as bland when I do stuff like this, but because I'm trying to convey an emotion or context in the dialogue, I have difficulty figuring out if it would or not, because I only ever see what I want it to say. Also because no other dickhead will read my writing I've no idea if I'm doing it right or if it comes off as forced or something. About 125'000 words into a story and nobody has read past the first 3'000.
I totally agree with you when it comes to dialogue tags! Reading a book with a ton of dialogue tags gets old fast and normally has me closing the book. Funnily enough, although I live in Scotland, I have always use double quotes within my dialogue. It just looks better and makes it clear to the reader, "Hey, I'm dialogue." Yes, I am weird, I know. Teehee. It may have something to do with the fact that my writing, whether it be fanfiction (which I used to write many moons ago) or my current manuscript, it is always written with a U.S audience in mind. P.S. I think I need to get myself a copy of the Zombie Survival Guide or perhaps two, just in case.
Yess! More zombie survival guides for evverryone! That's funny that you use double quotes, I've wondered if it was something that's increased in popularity overseas!
+Vivien Reis Too be honest, I was always taught at school that it was double quotation marks and I live in England. (Mote: the highest study of English/Literacy that I did was the compulsory GCSE English Lang and Lit - though I did really like it - so I don't know if it's more important or if people are more finicky about it at higher education levels.)
+Chantelle Riches Note* (Stupid M being so close to the N! 😂) Also, I never had American audiences in mind when using double quotation marks - I just find it clearer and prefer it because that's how I learned/learnt (I never know which one to use.... 🤔) it.
I don't really have a problem writing the dialogue, it's just initiating it that I have trouble with. I usually have dialogues all planned out, but it's hard for me to make a believable encounter to begin it.
I watch a lot of anime, and this has made me painfully aware of expositional dialog. Mainly because it is used SO frequently and blatantly in anime. They hardly bother hiding it. I've always felt this was a cop-out, or something authors do when they don't trust their readers to be smart enough to read between the lines and come to the right conclusion (If you did it right, this should be easy for the reader). That being said, I really struggle to avoid doing it myself lol. So instead I cut it down to a short one-liner where the character is saying something important, without actually coming right out and explaining it. “You might be rocking the frumpy look, but your slippers are on straight.” Which was that character's way of telling another character, "Hey, you might seem crazy, but you're not." And (dah-dah-dah!) that fact happens to be a major plot point! *drops mic* Sadly this is only one small piece of meaningful dialog, and everything else I write is total crap that has to be edited later lol. But I think your tips are going to be a BIG help! Thank you!
Real good stuff. But I have a few questions about that dog... - Did it come up with all of this? - Is it secretly copying all of your ideas? - Or is it just a regular dog who doesn't understand what you're saying?
Someone recently got all snarky with me for using action tags 90% of the time and said only 10%. They thought I was opposed to said when really its because I believe body language is just as important in communication than the dialogue itself.
I need some advice from a writing community. Im 17 and I’m writing a novel set in a post 16 in Bristol England, and in order to make the dialogue realistic I’m worried about making it a real swear-fest. I’m from England and in a post 16 so I know this is realistic. Would you recommend trying to avoid that or just let it be as realistic and gritty as possible. Can you please give your thought; it would be a real help?
You know I never thought of the concept that: Character sighs. "Some dialogue here." can be construed as them sighing the words... rather than them sighing, then saying the words normally. So that tip really helps... in a weird unintended way.
If you've ever seen a play/film by Norman Lear, you have heard quick, clever, and funny dialogue. While this can be pretty hilarious, it tends to make the characters seem unrealistic. I.e., as Vivian says, no one really talks like that.
On the topic of name dropping, some people actually drop names during conversations (I do that). In that case, it's more of a speech pattern, isn't it? If it's a characteristic to one of the characters, it's okay, in my opinion.
Note: I. Hate. Dialogue. No matter how much advice I get, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write realistic dialogue. Partially because I’m an anxious mess who struggles speaking with people, and partially because I either speak in an ‘unrealistic’ way (I speak in a similar manner to which I write) or I speak by going ‘yooooo, man, bro, t’sup dude?’ I also drop names in real life as well. It just makes sense to me. Communicating with other humans is.... I don’t get it. So. Dialogue. Sucks.
how bout writing etiquette when it comes to writing out texting or web chat conversations? having giant log style conversations on a page feels awkward but texting is so common in a modern story how do we do this
You and your video's are so much fun! Insightful and very helpful to me. As a Composer, I'm finding that writing a novel is very much like writing music! Movement, density, pace, color, elements, rhythm. Like arranging for Orchestra, placement is everything. You give great advice in a very entertaining way. Charming, bright, witty, and humble in your instruction. Thanks very much. I subscribed and hopefully I'll write a good novel. All the best Ed Genovese (edgenovese.com) PS. Vivian is my Mothers name (: God bless
Its very hard to explain characters actions before dialogue. How can I do that ?. I usually use adverbs to describe it ,but I know its not correct . For example , She slowly moved toward them and said : ((hey guys )). It happens for most of my dialogues. What can I do about it ? And is it necessary to have explanation before dialogue ???, I mean characters movement ????
I would explain it with body language intstead of an adverb. Just cut "slowly". Describe what is happening. Just my opinion, we all write different. For example, in this case I would write something like: As she walked toward them, her heavy feet made it feel like she was walking a mile. If you understand how I mean? To me it sounds more interesting and still means the same, adverbs can be really boring if you use them too much. Make a few sentences to practice, try to describe them rather than tell them.
Jamie Rawson It's a rule where if it's a number over twenty, you can get away with numerals. Other than that and if it's like a bingo number or wing in a building, you use word form. E.g. "I have two meetings in room 4B."
I'm watching this again in 2022 after watching it 3 years ago. I lost my book when I lost my thumb drive about a year ago. I've lost inspiration, I'm lost.
So many writers use redundant tags. Like "I told you to wash the dishes!" she said angrily. I actually prefer when an author uses no dialogue tags and instead uses clues to let you figure it out
Have a suggestion for a new video? Add it here and vote for your favorites: bit.ly/VivienVote
Vivien Reis Vivien I found you late, enjoying the videos SO much-despite the fact i’m older and writing later in life. I would love to see a video on structuring your novel (I have seen the one about notecards) but I need specifics on what device works best for composition. I have all these note cards, hand written chapters in notebooks (screech!) and notes on my phone. What device /software works best for you? I have a chrome book but so far its just not working well for me.
I prefer a laptop, not a desktop. Any advice? Thank you so so much!!! Love your videos, advice and delivery! You are amazing!
While looking for a copy of the zombie apocalypse survival guide, I stumbled across another interesting book. The medieval mind; a history of the development of thought emotion in the Middle Ages by Taylor, Henry Osborn, 1856-1941. It is pretty good and in the public domain. Worth looking for. Maybe you could make a video about awesome and helpful public domain books.
(Make imperfect characters)
1. Relationships matters (How the character treats each person.)
1:42
2. Give each of your characters a unique voice. (Unique way of speech and their speaking habits.)
2:17
3. Characters all shouldn't be all perfect. (Perfectly imperfect!) (Their reactions and their solutions to things.) 2:50
4. Summaries can be a good thing. (When you want to explain something to the readers but you don't want them in a dialogue. Examples: Back and forth betsween two characters, repeating scenes.)
3:29
5. TAG, your it! (Don't tell but show through actions.)
4:12
6. Name drop. (You call out your friends name sometimes but other times, you might use different terms to call or get their attention such as 'Girl' or 'Hey'.)
5:12
7. Don't drag. (Do not drag the sentences out by putting unnecessary dialogues such as 'hey how are you doing, hows the kid, blah blah'.)
5:47
8. Have someone read your story out loud. (On purpose to notice and fix your awkward sentences people might not get while reading out loud. Your dialogue might not be needed.)
6:49
9. Grammers! (Cut sentences, and separations. Use ,~-!? And .)
7:32
You're welcome.
Thanks xD
i absolutely love your teleporting dog
:D
Ikr~
*gets halfway through the video*
*realizes so many mistakes I need to change*
*impatiently waits for the video to end so I can change them*
same
I personally found that difficulty writing dialogue can occasionally be due to poor characterization. If you can't think of a relevant and natural sounding thing that your own character would say in a certain situation they may not be a very well fleshed out and personalized individual. That's obviously not true in all cases but I found myself having that problem when I was very new to writing. I had trouble determining what someone would say in a situation and then I realized it was because their personality wasn't very fleshed out to begin with.
Well I guess I’m screwed then. I have this problem where I’m stuck in my own voice. My brain doesn’t work that way where I can imagine what anyone else would say in a situation. Even real people that are the closest to me. 😟 I have no idea how to overcome this and give my characters individual unique voices 😖
I find that dialogue tends to move a story along more quickly. It is akin to the action parts of a narrative as opposed to exposition or background information (which should be limited as much as possible).
One thing that I thought was pretty cool when I saw it in a Stephen King novel is the interplay of spoken dialogue with an inner dialogue. For example, a character might give a compliment to another character. The spoken compliment is put in quotations to show it's being spoken aloud, but then in italics, followed up with a sarcastic comment uttered inside that person's head.
“That's a beautiful scarf.” *As if.*
“Oh. Thanks.”
“Don't mention it.” *Please. Don't mention it.*
Granted, it is a very specific style of narrative that is very freeform and to largely humorous effect but may not be appropriate for every genre. They often do this in television and film with voiceovers.
Also, good dialogue is punchy and to the point. Avoid rambling (like I'm doing now). Dialogue is like music. When it's percussive with good back-and-forth, it becomes engaging.
Very good points, Gary! Thanks for sharing :) I think this form of dialogue/narration interplay also helps with establishing deep POV, which helps the reader establish a stronger connection with the character.
Dialogue should slow a story down. It should draw the reader down from his perch where he sits just above the action. Suddenly time slows and the scene expands until it envelops him within it, and then with himself as part of the scene he can begin to hear the characters speaking.
Wow, thanks!!!! That was really helpful and with a great example, too!!!
I do that with my main character when she meet the person she hates and try to play it cool, but at the same time she's attracted to him. She's in-denial and doesn't notice it about herself, so that kind of dialogue really works well at times
0:57 your husky teleported lol
"you gotta keep em separated" Now that was some funny shit hahahah
Dialogue interspersed with action tags is by far my preferred style of writing. I try to be very sparing with just straight narrative and exposition because personally I find it the most boring as a reader. However, one pitfall I find with writing dialogue is that it's easy for me to get off topic and deviate from my planned outline. The characters often just don't want to cooperate and try to change the subject before they're supposed to or keep talking about a topic longer than they were supposed to. I find my scenes are often like a movie/TV take. Quite often I make my characters do re-takes to experiment with different reactions and flow. Sometimes though I find that it just feels wrong to make my character react the way I had originally planned for them to react, and then I have to re-write my outline and sometimes take the story, or at least character development, in a completely different direction.
TheNovelNovelist I prefer action tags as well; yet EVERY damn how-to book/blog/vlog on writing FORBIDS them. I think they add to characterization when used appropriately!
Could you do an episode on character introduction? Like how you introduce your characters to your readers in your novel?
Besides probably being a fantastic writer, you can really talk. I wonder how many times you had to pause the recording to do this video, because it would have probably taken me an entire day to say all of the things that you just said in what... eight minutes and fifty-two seconds. Wow! I've been searching for some online help for awhile. Why have I never found these videos before? You have helped me immensely! Thank you. :)
Thank *you* for watching! Every video has a corresponding post on my website, so I write up the posts before filming. Otherwise I would ramble on forever! And condensing it is quite the chore haha. Some people ask me why I talk so fast and that's why! Happy writing :)
amazing video, thank you so much!
You do talk fast. Sometimes I miss part of it, but it's still worth watching. I've noticed this with the "younger" generation. You all talk fast. It's not your fault I am old and slow, but it would help some of us if you could slow down -- just a little. Please.
I completely agree with summarizing dialogue during parts that's not really important or it would just be filler.
Thanks for allowing ellipses to end dialog sentences: I'm a grammar nazi, and it baffles me that human beings have decoded our genome and explored space, yet every modern language contains only 3 or 4 ways to end a sentence! I also have an unhealthy love of dashes/ellipses, as my characters either refuse to complete their thoughts or, as in real world casual conversation with an intimate familiar, wish their listeners to infer a meaning too impolite or uncomfortable to articulate.
I love how she said, "Gurl, guess what happened?"
😂👌🏻
But, sis your advice are really helping this 16 year old to write the books and honing my skills! Love your humor and help!
I know I am a little young to say this but *GOD BLESS YOU!*
✨✨✨😭❤️
You say that people don't sigh or grunt words, but if I were to write: "Man, what a day!" Peter sighed, as his back hit the pillows." then that just seems just fine to me. It expresses Peter's fatique. Or am I completely missing your point? Thanks for the great tips!
I think she's referring to the overuse of those words
In my personal opinion, having your character “sigh” or “grunt” short sentences or broken phrases is fine. But they’re just gonna run out of breath if you have them “sigh” a Shakespearean soliloquy.
You can add character motif to strengthen the action tag too. For example, if a guy comes home from work after a long day, you can have him "slouch in the armchair, letting the soft fabric soak his fatigue away." Maybe the motif is to beat a harder drum: “He sits in a wooden chair, back forward, hands in a curl together.”
Your dog is hilarious in the background. anyway, great videos!
Thank you!
I could listen to you for hours. These tips are so helpfull. Thank you
+Book FangirlMoments Yay! This makes me so happy to hear :)
tbh this is the single most helpful guide on dialogue i have come across yet. Usually they never get past the 'know your characters.' Thank you!!
Thank *you* for watching! Glad you enjoyed :)
Thank you so much for your helpful and behooving tips, Vivien. I'll try to remember and digest them the best I can.
8:00 I like that. That's actually a good way to remember it! Thank you!
Wow! This was super helpful. Some of these tips I already knew or learned from past writing mistakes, but hearing you list them and give examples really made things stand out. Definitely sharing with my writer circle! Thank you Vivien.
Hi. I know this is old, but there's a lot of word to speech Apps that help in listening to your dialogue. Speechify has been amazing. They're still new and have some problems to work out, but over all, very good. (Congratulations on the baby.)
I was not expecting an Offspring reference with writing advice.
That's awesome.
This is so good and I am so grateful that you have a blog post!!!
Vivien Reis: Tag, you’re it
Melanie Martinez: *hold my milk and cookies*
Thank you for your help advice 😊 Your dog is so cute xx
I love your suggestions. They are so helpful. Thanks so much.
Your voice is so calming!
Your dog is the most adorable distraction
This video is so excellent, thank you! I learned several little tricks to make my dialogue work better, and I can't wait to pass them on to the writers of a few manuscripts I'm beta reading.
I think you should name drop when it's a creepy person. I knew someone like that, I had never heard my name so much lol and people told him it was weird but he still did it.
Ohh great tip!
Another creepy thing is people who refer to themselves in the third person. This was used well in the original movie "DOA" by the villain's henchman, Chester.
"Chester doesn't like that. He made Chester mad."
Your videos are really inspiring me to pick up writing again so thank-you !! xx
Thank *you*! Happy writing!
anyone else click on this vid coz u want advise but then get distracted by the doggo in the backround I did
ME
I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS! I was just wondering if you could give more specific examples for some of the advice? 💙
You know how to teach and communicate.Thank you this video helped me.
I love your advices but couldn't help myself to focus on the mood changes of your dog. S/he is so adorable
J'ai regardé cette vidéo 2 fois aujourd'hui! J'ai adoré le contenu! Très approprié! Belles explications! Merci Vivien!
I love it around the 3:00 minute mark, your dog goes from normal to upside-down and stays like that chilling
Haha, that's her favorite way to sleep!
I would be rubbing her belly all day... By the way, your videos are great :)
I wrote almost a third of a hard sci-fi novel without using a single piece of dialogue and it was looking a tad boring.. People can only think to themselves so much before it becomes weird that nobody's saying anything xD
Haha so true! I catch myself getting carried away like that too :)
Something that I noticed while reading the Mortal Instruments Series (best books ever, u must read if u havent already) was that the author only ever used "say" "says" or "said" as her dialogue tags, but somehow I didn't notice until my second time through the series, and I'm just saying this to emphasise that the story can still be great if you use bland dialogue tags. I used to pinprick my stories so much that I got tired of writing because it wasn't fun anymore. Now, after more than half a year, I started writing again but I just write and I don't worry about if it sounds clumpy. I'm just warning you that while you should take all the videos tips to heart as she is probably more experienced, don't live by them.
My problem with dialogue is that my story takes place in a low-fantasy setting, a town where a lot of people believe in supernatural phenomena, but they are almost never really shown in the story, so the protagonist doesn't believe in them, which often leads to awkward collisions in dialogues. I suppose my own nature wants the dialogues to be somewhat "normal" and casual, but they essentially can't be that way if I want to make people talk about things that matter in the story :-/. It's a weird problem, I know.
I really appreciate your videos. and your dog is making my day.
Brilliant tips, but my best one is your punctuation mark analogy; from now on I will safeguard all my punctuation marks within the security of quotation marks! 😃
Thank you soooo much you've solved my dilemma, now I can get back to writing XD Also, you are really freaking beautiful.
Aww, thank you so much!
Haha, I'm just spittin' da truf. >.> Mmmn gangster lingo. I'm hip.
Many people were distracted by your dog, I couldn't focus because I was stunned by how beautiful your eyes are!
I'm allergic to the words 'said' and 'replied'
I use far too many of them as well, but I hate the idea of just substituting words for fancier versions of the same damn thing. I tend to try and break up long back and forths with character observations and descriptions that appear relevant to understanding how a character is talking. However I also use action tag modifiers or explanations for this, for example:
'"I don't know." She replied.' Could mean anything out of context, but say I wanted to add to it a bit, it would instead become:
'"I don't know." She replied regretfully. "I'm sorry."' She added quietly after a moment.'
It satisfies me for the most part as my writing doesn't feel as bland when I do stuff like this, but because I'm trying to convey an emotion or context in the dialogue, I have difficulty figuring out if it would or not, because I only ever see what I want it to say. Also because no other dickhead will read my writing I've no idea if I'm doing it right or if it comes off as forced or something. About 125'000 words into a story and nobody has read past the first 3'000.
Great tips, Vivien!
Thank you kind sir!
Loving your advice. Peace from the UK.
That grammar section at the end really helped for formating dialogue. Do you have a video that digs a little deeper?
You're an actual blessing
Big fan of your cam show.
Should I have not mentioned that here?
I totally agree with you when it comes to dialogue tags! Reading a book with a ton of dialogue tags gets old fast and normally has me closing the book.
Funnily enough, although I live in Scotland, I have always use double quotes within my dialogue. It just looks better and makes it clear to the reader, "Hey, I'm dialogue." Yes, I am weird, I know. Teehee.
It may have something to do with the fact that my writing, whether it be fanfiction (which I used to write many moons ago) or my current manuscript, it is always written with a U.S audience in mind.
P.S. I think I need to get myself a copy of the Zombie Survival Guide or perhaps two, just in case.
Yess! More zombie survival guides for evverryone!
That's funny that you use double quotes, I've wondered if it was something that's increased in popularity overseas!
+Vivien Reis Too be honest, I was always taught at school that it was double quotation marks and I live in England. (Mote: the highest study of English/Literacy that I did was the compulsory GCSE English Lang and Lit - though I did really like it - so I don't know if it's more important or if people are more finicky about it at higher education levels.)
+Chantelle Riches Note* (Stupid M being so close to the N! 😂) Also, I never had American audiences in mind when using double quotation marks - I just find it clearer and prefer it because that's how I learned/learnt (I never know which one to use.... 🤔) it.
I don't really have a problem writing the dialogue, it's just initiating it that I have trouble with. I usually have dialogues all planned out, but it's hard for me to make a believable encounter to begin it.
I can't help but laugh every time your adorable dog is laying down. Oh my gosh, dying.
They're both little cuties!
I had to watch this twice cuz the husky (3:10) had me distracted x3
I wish I had seen this video before I sent out the first 2 chapters of my book to my betas! Great tips!
The dog! So cute :)
Thanks for the video!
Thank You!
Thanks. This was helpful.
😂 😂 😂 Who else died of laughter she she said you could give the reader whiplash
I watch a lot of anime, and this has made me painfully aware of expositional dialog. Mainly because it is used SO frequently and blatantly in anime. They hardly bother hiding it. I've always felt this was a cop-out, or something authors do when they don't trust their readers to be smart enough to read between the lines and come to the right conclusion (If you did it right, this should be easy for the reader). That being said, I really struggle to avoid doing it myself lol.
So instead I cut it down to a short one-liner where the character is saying something important, without actually coming right out and explaining it.
“You might be rocking the frumpy look, but your slippers are on straight.” Which was that character's way of telling another character, "Hey, you might seem crazy, but you're not." And (dah-dah-dah!) that fact happens to be a major plot point! *drops mic*
Sadly this is only one small piece of meaningful dialog, and everything else I write is total crap that has to be edited later lol. But I think your tips are going to be a BIG help! Thank you!
Real good stuff. But I have a few questions about that dog...
- Did it come up with all of this?
- Is it secretly copying all of your ideas?
- Or is it just a regular dog who doesn't understand what you're saying?
I'm guessing the second one
Someone recently got all snarky with me for using action tags 90% of the time and said only 10%. They thought I was opposed to said when really its because I believe body language is just as important in communication than the dialogue itself.
I think that was awesome! Wish you would teach that at koocam. I would definitely pay to learn that from u to get suitable info
Classic husky pose 3:01
I’m not a best-selling author but to me this advice seems really sound!
I need some advice from a writing community.
Im 17 and I’m writing a novel set in a post 16 in Bristol England, and in order to make the dialogue realistic I’m worried about making it a real swear-fest. I’m from England and in a post 16 so I know this is realistic. Would you recommend trying to avoid that or just let it be as realistic and gritty as possible.
Can you please give your thought; it would be a real help?
The Husky slept at the coach!!! >.<
I love that husky and you
it was about at 1:06
Hello Vivien, I am writing my first book, and having trouble with long conversations.
First time I saw the Zombie Survival Guide was back in middle school. It was in the non fiction section at my local library.
You know I never thought of the concept that: Character sighs. "Some dialogue here." can be construed as them sighing the words... rather than them sighing, then saying the words normally. So that tip really helps... in a weird unintended way.
Who else is watching the dog's position shifts?
If you've ever seen a play/film by Norman Lear, you have heard quick, clever, and funny dialogue. While this can be pretty hilarious, it tends to make the characters seem unrealistic. I.e., as Vivian says, no one really talks like that.
I totally just subscribed cuz I watched two of your videos and they helped a lot
:D :D Glad I could help!
On the topic of name dropping, some people actually drop names during conversations (I do that). In that case, it's more of a speech pattern, isn't it? If it's a characteristic to one of the characters, it's okay, in my opinion.
Note: I. Hate. Dialogue.
No matter how much advice I get, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write realistic dialogue. Partially because I’m an anxious mess who struggles speaking with people, and partially because I either speak in an ‘unrealistic’ way (I speak in a similar manner to which I write) or I speak by going ‘yooooo, man, bro, t’sup dude?’
I also drop names in real life as well. It just makes sense to me. Communicating with other humans is.... I don’t get it. So. Dialogue. Sucks.
This was very helpful! Thanks ;)
how bout writing etiquette when it comes to writing out texting or web chat conversations? having giant log style conversations on a page feels awkward but texting is so common in a modern story how do we do this
You and your video's are so much fun! Insightful and very helpful to me. As a Composer, I'm finding that writing a novel is very much like writing music! Movement, density, pace, color, elements, rhythm. Like arranging for Orchestra, placement is everything. You give great advice in a very entertaining way. Charming, bright, witty, and humble in your instruction. Thanks very much. I subscribed and hopefully I'll write a good novel. All the best Ed Genovese (edgenovese.com) PS. Vivian is my Mothers name (: God bless
I also have two copies of The Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide!
My book is nearly all dialog. I'm constantly checking with my betas that all of my characters sound different.
lol. You had fun with this one.
Some of the links don't work anymore :(
Mr.Dog in the background keeps changing his sleeping positions. Kid of reacting to the entire video. Great tips :)
The link to this topic on your blog is not working :(
I know I’m supposed to write dialogue how I talk but........... I’m really bad at conversations in real life what do I do
Hey Vivien, is there anyway I could get you read my chapter and can get your thoughts on it?
U have direct tv. I saw the remote. I have OCD
If you get a "Page not found"... try this link vivienreis.com/9-tips-to-writing-better-dialogue/ - It works.
I love your channel 😍👏
cool video.......helps in my writing :)
I'm so happy I could help!
Thats Awesome! 5:21
Its very hard to explain characters actions before dialogue. How can I do that ?. I usually use adverbs to describe it ,but I know its not correct . For example , She slowly moved toward them and said : ((hey guys )). It happens for most of my dialogues. What can I do about it ? And is it necessary to have explanation before dialogue ???, I mean characters movement ????
I would explain it with body language intstead of an adverb. Just cut "slowly". Describe what is happening. Just my opinion, we all write different. For example, in this case I would write something like:
As she walked toward them, her heavy feet made it feel like she was walking a mile.
If you understand how I mean? To me it sounds more interesting and still means the same, adverbs can be really boring if you use them too much. Make a few sentences to practice, try to describe them rather than tell them.
So so so pretty and beautiful teacher
When writing is there a time when you have to use the numeric numbers like 1,2,3 or do you always use the word form like one,two, three?
Jamie Rawson It's a rule where if it's a number over twenty, you can get away with numerals. Other than that and if it's like a bingo number or wing in a building, you use word form. E.g. "I have two meetings in room 4B."
Hyong Leppy ok, thank you.
The first few seconds confuse me. Can someone explain?
I'm watching this again in 2022 after watching it 3 years ago. I lost my book when I lost my thumb drive about a year ago. I've lost inspiration, I'm lost.
I've been binge watching your videos but realized I wasn't subscribed. That's fixed now! 😂😂
Yay! Thanks for the sub :)
So many writers use redundant tags. Like "I told you to wash the dishes!" she said angrily. I actually prefer when an author uses no dialogue tags and instead uses clues to let you figure it out
thanks for the tips