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Plot A Month W2D5: Dialogue and Voice

(aaargh I fell asleep before posting this, sorry!)

Okay, so you’ve done all this work, you’ve gotten pretty far, but you keep hearing this pesky thing about voice in stories and you’re not sure what the hell it means. What the difference between dialogue and voice? What the hell does ‘author voice’ mean? Whelp, we’re here to help!

Character Voice and Dialogue. This is addressing how your character speaks, what verbal tics or words they rely on to convey their thoughts. Distinguishing between how different characters speak makes them more memorable and better characters all around. When you think about your character’s dialogue, consider:

Background and education, regional language markers, the change in language depending on who they talk to, common slang, etc. You can make a separate dialogue sheet, or attach one to your character sheet. You don’t want to reach catch-phrase level, but you do want to note down particulars. If you have a character who speaks English as a second language, for example, they are more likely to code-switch; use certain native words in otherwise English sentences (this also depends on who they’re speaking to!).

Character voice also reflects if you’re writing first person POV and character thoughts. Even if you’re writing in third person, you should consider how a character would describe a scene; you may be able to paint a better picture overall if you lean toward their point of view or at least lend to your describing ability.

Author Voice. This refers to your style of writing, the language you lean towards using and the tone you tend to convey. In the outline stage, you’re not going to think about this too much; it really comes out in your writing. Don’t worry about author voice right now, but you can keep it in mind while drafting.

Today, note down the difference in dialogue between your characters. Look for influences in their background as well as how their language changes depending on who they speak to.

On Dialogue:

8 Tips for Writing Dialogue

Writing Story Dialogue

Writing Dialogue: Go For Realistic, Not Real Life

10 Tips for Writing Better Dialogue

10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Dialogue

Character Points to Consider When Writing Dialogue

Things to Keep in Mind When Writing Dialogue

On Author’s Voice:

10 Steps to Finding Your Voice

Understanding Voice and Tone in Writing

10 Steps to Finding Your Writing Voice

25 Things Writers Should Know About Finding Their Voice

On Character’s Voice:

Nine Kick-Ass Exercises to Find Your Character Voice

How to Create Distinctive Character Voices

Writing Distinct Character Voices

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Plot A Month, Week 3, Day 1: The Inciting Event

I’ve been working on the assumption that you have a decent idea of your plot right now, but if you do or don’t, looking back at the Inciting Event is still a really important step to take.

What is the Inciting Event? The Inciting Event is what kicks off the plot of your novel. It can happened right away, or you can spend some time establishing your world and characters. You need to keep in mind a few things when it comes to this:

The Inciting Event is Change. Regardless of how big, small, or obvious it is, this is what will bring change to your character’s life. If you find yourself getting lost while plotting, keep what the change is and where it leads to in mind.

The Inciting Event is Conflict. The inciting event must bring some sort of conflict in the main character’s life. I mentioned before there are two types of conflict you need to have in mind, internal and external. If your Inciting Event only brings one, that’s fine, but the other one must follow. If no conflict arises from the Inciting Event, there is no Inciting Event.

The Inciting Event brings Action. I hate passive characters, but I’m not going to tell you flat-out you can’t have one. I will tell you, however, that action must follow the Inciting Event, whether or not your character is the one driving it.

If the second half of your story is floundering, it may be because the Inciting Event isn’t strong enough. Even if it is and you’re still floundering, think of it this way:

Change Must Continue. Let your character relax or ‘have a breather’ lets tension slip and loses the reader’s interest. The IE was Shit Happening, and in the middle Shit Must Continue to Happen.

Conflict Must Increase. Quick, what makes the situation worse for your characters? Do it. Do the thing. Don’t hold back because you feel for your characters. Make it worse. Make them suffer.

Don’t Let the Action Stop. You want to have an emotional confrontation scene, but hesitate because it’s not action. Do it! That is action! That is characters acting towards something, pursuing it even if it’s foolhardy or wrong. When you fail is when the action stops, when the character sits and stares at a wall for four months. Unless staring at a wall is leading to Great Thoughts that show us the character is accomplishing something, toss it. Keep the characters moving mentally and emotionally, even when they’re standing still.

Take a long, hard look at your Inciting Event. What changes did it bring? What is it lacking? If it’s not lacking, where do you lose your momentum? Is it because the Inciting Event doesn’t matter anymore? Make it matter. Punch your characters in the goddamn face until they act.

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Ankle hang drop.