#if youre doing like 6 characters at once it gets harder
Worst part about writing for a new fandom is figuring out the characters speech patterns
The best way to do this is to watch part of the show, or all the movie, or some of the book or comic etc. that the character is in with your phone notes function, or pen and paper. You’re going to write down some key wordsand maybe some key phrasesand that’s it. If you like the show / book, rewatching or rereading sections shouldn’t be much of an issue! You can do this with more than one character at the same time, just have a different list for each!
Firstly, not all characters are written consistently dialogue-wise, which can be a winner if you want to be flexible re: what dialogue you’re using.
Think about what you’re hearing/seeing. Think about greetings. How does the character meet people? Do they say ‘hey’ or 'hello’ or 'hi’ or 'what’s up’ or 'greetings’ or smile or just launch into sentences? Likewise, when they leave a conversation, do they just leave?
What are their 'hesitation’ words? Do they say 'um’ or 'ah’ or 'mmm’ or 'hmm’ or 'like’ or 'welllll’. Do they pad their sentences with things like 'I think’ or 'I’ve just realised.’ Do they say 'yeah’ or 'yes’ or 'nah’ or 'no?’
Do they have any common short phrases they use: 'As I was saying’ or 'by and by’ (no one says this) or 'absolutely not.’ How do they (if they do) swear? What words do they prefer? If you’re lucky, the show may give you things like preferred endearments, or how they tend to react when they’re outraged.
Doing these things alone will give you pretty much all you need to make a really good version of that character’s dialogue. Also, for people who have OCs, doing this with what you’ve written so far (or before you even start) will help your character stay consistent.If you want to go deeper, keep reading!
Find one or two styles of sentence, or sentence fragments that feellike the character to you. It could be: 'you speak the truth’ or 'took you long enough’ or 'sure seems that way’ or you’re a bitch.’ It could be: 'Well, frankly darling, I don’t much care either way’ (which tells you a lotabout the character in one sentence) or 'Whoo, lads, we’re hitting the piss tonight!’ or 'H-hi everyone, um, don’t mind me, um…I just have something I wanted to ask you.’
Are they prone to long or short sentences? Do they have lots of pauses and half-sentences or do they speak cleanly in complete sentences? Do they prefer a snappy comeback or are they more reticent and shy? Are they comical or serious? Are they wry? Are they an emotional or cerebral speaker? Are they using their body when they talk, or are they locked in?
Do they swear and are they coarse or vulgar? Or are they very prim and proper? When I was writing Bull and Cullen in Stuck on the Puzzle, it was fun for me to contrast Cullen’s very upright, stiff dialogue against Bull’s vulgar, coarse dialogue.
What is their styleof dialogue? Is it contemporary or old-fashioned? If it’s contemporary, does it have a style? Are they a 40 yo working in an office, vs. a 19 yo at university? What is their age? Where are they from? Does their culture or ethnicity influence their dialogue? When I was writing the Gancanagh, an Irish fae, it was very important to me that he almost never use anyone’s name while referring to them, because this was an aspect of Irish folklore and sometimes dialogue, to say 'this man here’ instead of 'you’ or 'Tom.’
The trick is to then use these things, but not so much your character turns into a caricature. As in - you can add new stuff! Especially if it’s alongside old recognisable statements. You can add other formal speech patterns alongside a formal speaking character.
Anyway, hope that helps! I know not everyone wants to go this deep, or wants to do this, but for people who do want to learn how to do this, this has held me in reallygood stead. Also! Once you start actually just asking yourself these kinds of questions, you won’t always need to actually write stuff down anymore, you’ll start observing anyway when you want to fic something. :D
