(Music. LOGO)
Hellooo, everybody! Next Wednesday is the one year anniversary of
The Savior’s Champion release! I honestly cannot believe it’s been an entire year.
Wow, what a great time for my mics to crap out, am I right? Sorry for the interruption. Let me give
you a summary of the details that didn't make it through since my microphone decided to be a little
bitch. In honor of the one year anniversary of TSC’s release, I am holding a live stream on
Wednesday next week. We're going to play games. It's gonna be super fun, and I will be announcing
a brand new giveaway. You gotta be there to get the details. Speaking of giveaways, the
fantasy prize pack giveaway is still going down. If you haven't checked out the TSC audiobook yet,
it's available on iTunes, Amazon and audible. And if you're new to Audible, you can listen to
TSC for free. All of the information is listed below along with details regarding the fantasy
prize pack giveaway, which is open to everyone who checks out the TSC audiobook. With that said,
let's get back to the video, all right? All right. Moving on, today we're talking
about one of my favorite parts of the writing process, and that's dialogue. A lot of you have
requested more videos about dialogue. So I put together all my tips and tricks just for you,
cuz I love you. In the near future, I will be giving you my tips and tricks for dialogue tags,
as well as the technical side of dialogue like formatting and punctuation. However,
today we are covering my ten tips for writing dialogue, specifically character voice. If you're
struggling to create an enjoyable and believable voice for your character, I’ve gotcha covered.
Number One (1): Get to know your character's background. Believe it or not, understanding your
character is pretty important for creating their dialogue. The first thing you're gonna want to
consider when creating your character's voice is their background. For example, is your character
rich or are they poor? These details alone could drastically change their voice? A wealthy
character may have extensive tutoring, and thus they may speak very eloquently. On the flip side,
a wealthy character may be a spoiled brat so maybe every time they speak it's a whiny and grating. A
poor character might not have been able to afford school. So whenever they speak, it's simple and
relies heavily on slang. Or a poor character might have experienced considerable hardship,
which in turn breeds compassion. So whenever they speak, it's kind, considerate and gentle. Number
Two (2): Get to know your character's personality. This should go without saying, but personality is
probably going to have the biggest impact on the way someone speaks. If a character is arrogant,
then their dialogue is going to be pompous and braggy. If a character is a know-it-all,
then their dialogue is going to consist of them showcasing all of their vast knowledge. The key
is to make sure their dialogue realistically fits their personality, and also that it’s not one
note. Many people, but certainly not all of them, possess depth and layers. A shy shy character may
not speak very much, because they're shy. However, maybe around the right person they can't seem to
shut the hell up. Or when triggered, they aren't afraid to take a bitch down a peg.
The better you know the character, the easier it will be to reflect their personality in the way
they speak. Number Three (3) Give each character their own voice. How many books have you read,
or movies have you watched, where all the characters have the same exact brand of sarcasm,
or speak in the same flat lifeless tone. A lot. When you give all the characters the same voice,
you are broadcasting that they were written by the same person. Which reminds the reader that
they are not real. You don't want the reader to feel like the story is fake. You want them to
be immersed, everything should feel authentic. This means not every character gets to be the
confident, wise cracking badass you love to write. Some characters get to be intelligent,
some get to be stupid, some get to be sassy. It depends on their background, personality, and
the role they play in the story. Number four (4): Voices can share traits. Just because everyone has
their own voice, doesn't mean that every single voice on this planet is 100% unique. We all have
traits in common with people. For example, both Cliff and I are very chatty. But we're
chatty in different ways. Clip is really good at entertaining and charming a crowd, whereas I just
get really excited about something and then ramble endlessly. This is a concept a lot of writers
forget. They'll deem one character as the comic relief, and that's it. They're the only person
who's allowed to be funny. Except lots of people are funny. Maybe instead of having a cliche comic
relief character, you can have one character who's a goofball, one who’s sarcastic, and one who is
witty. This is three characters in total who are funny, but they are funny in completely different
ways. Number Five (5): Avoid banal pleasantries. Good morning. How did you sleep? Beautiful day,
isn't it? The weather has been fickle, don't you think? No one gives a fuck. “But Jennaaa,
small talk is realistic.” That may be true, but literally no one enjoys small talk, which means
if you're featuring it in your book, no one is gonna enjoy your book. Instead of writing
out the most boring dialogue in the history of literature, just right in the narrative:
they exchange pleasantries. There you go. You got your realism summed up in three words, and
the reader can move on to the good stuff. Number Six (6): Sometimes you can write pleasantries.
Nine times out of ten you wanna avoid small talk in your dialogue, unless it serves some greater
purpose. Say your main character is having a horrible night terror. They're frozen in bed
being bombarded by terrifying shadow figures. By the time they're able to wake up, they eventually
have to cry themselves back to sleep. Then their mother says to them the next morning “Hey, honey,
how’d you sleep?” And they respond, “Oh, just fine.” Under any other circumstances,
this would just be boring small talk. But in this situation, your character has just revealed to the
reader that they are keeping secrets from their family. Why aren't they telling their mom about
their horrific nightmares? What's really going on here? Small Talk has its place in your dialogue
if it tells a greater underlying story. Number Seven (7): Dialogue is vernacular. Your dialogue
and your narrative should not sound the same. People don't speak in perfect grammar. They speak
in run-ons, they speak in fragments, they use contractions. Do not be afraid to abandon proper
English in your dialogue, if it's realistic to the person speaking. No one is gonna think you're less
of a writer just because you're portraying the way real people really speak. That's what you're
supposed to do. I promise. Number Eight (8): Avoid ‘as you know’ exposition. Exposition and dialogue
is a thing, sometimes you need a character to explain information to another character,
so that it is indirectly explained to the reader. The thing is, this only works if the character
they're speaking to is ignorant on the topic. For example, they're learning how to use their powers
for the very first time. Unless a character is being obnoxious or mansplaining, you should
never write exposition and dialogue that the other character already knows about. “As you know, the
history of our realm goes like this.” “Yes, other character, I do know this. Thanks for repeating
it to me for no reason whatsoever.” Find another way to deliver this information to the reader.
Remember, exposition in the narrative is okay, provided it’s in small doses. Number Nine (9):
Body language. Dialogue is vital to a story but please don't forget that body language is just as
important. Sometimes a lot more can be said by a character's body language than their voice. Their
posture, facial expression, or the way they're carrying themselves can completely contradict
what they're saying, or reveal their true thoughts and emotions. Take the phrase, ‘I don't think so.’
It can mean completely different things depending on the body language. Say you furrow your brow,
“I don't think so.” Say you narrow your eyes, “I don't think so.” Say you shrug, “I don't
think so.” The tone of the dialogue completely changes depending on the body language used in
that moment, and Number Ten (10): Show don't tell. One of the best uses of dialogue is to
show concepts to the audience instead of telling it in the narrative. No one wants to read a line
that states: they had known each other since childhood and loved one another like sisters. Wow,
what a boring and unfulfilling way to communicate a concept that no one is going to care about.
Instead, you can showcase this relationship simply by writing out their dialogue. Show
these two women sharing playful banter, have them share stories from their childhood. This clearly
illustrates the depth of their relationship, without telling it to the reader at all. Plus,
it's so much more entertaining and rewarding to experience. So that's all I got for you today.
Next week I will be doing a live stream in honor of the one year anniversary of TSC. I hope you
will be there, because I don't wanna be lonely. Don’t leave me. Be there, we’ll have a good time,
it’ll be fun, it's a party. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on
Wednesdays. And if you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload you already know it you have to do.
You have to ring that bell. So do it and you won't regret it. The Savior’s Champion is available in
ebook, hardback, signed hardback, paperback as well as audiobook. All of the links are
listed below. Check it out and join Tobias on his thrilling adventure. And be sure to follow me on
social media. I'm on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and of course you can tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye!
(Rumbling Male Voice) This is Brontes. Why, the FUCK,
haven’t you subscribed to Jenna’s channel? Do you REALLY want to face me? If you don’t do it,
you know what will happen. I’ll rip out your tongue, torture you, then leave your rotten
corpse out for the birds to feast on it! Now, press the goddamn button, and the bell, too…