this might be an unusual or uncool question, so feel free to tell me to kick rocks, but do you have any recommendations or tips for getting into writing bethyl fanfiction, especially their character voice? i’m not the kind of person who can bear to rewatch over and over, so repeatedly going over early twd isn’t much of an option, and the way you write them feels so natural. i want to start and contribute to the bethylheads that still remain, but i also feel pretty embarrassed about the idea of being plain bad.
Hey! Not an uncool question at all! đź’š
You're absolutely right that whatever competence I have with the character voices lies in the fact that I've rewatched the most relevant episodes repeatedly—and I do mean extreme & batshit degrees of the word "repeatedly"—and that whenever I've felt like I'm struggling to find their voices, I've revisited the source material. This was especially true early on when I was new to writing the pairing.
The thing is, I can't tell you how to write these characters. Each of us perceives them through the prism of our own experiences, you know? So there are certain aspects of both Beth and Daryl that haunt and bedevil me in particular, and that I tend to focus on in my storytelling, whereas other authors will find that other aspects speak to them. We also read different things between the lines of what's portrayed on screen for the same reason. That's how we end up with rich & diverse fandoms where people interpret and portray characters differently, and I think that's a good thing! That said, this is why it can be useful to revisit the source material rather than simply respond to existing fanworks. The former will be your unique perspective on a shared piece of art. The latter often becomes a game of Telephone.
So, as a character exercise for you starting out, I suggest sitting down and asking yourself what you like about the characters. Try to whittle your answers down to attributes, behaviours, and actions. What do you dislike about the characters? What compels you about their connection with each other? What do you think draws them together? Your answers are probably the ideas you'll most enjoy writing towards. For example, if one of your favourite Daryl qualities is that he's observant, write towards that. If you dislike his comfort with violence, write towards that. If you like that Beth holds people to a high ethical standard, write towards that. If you dislike that she can be impulsive, write towards that. This will give you a lot of information not only about what resonates with you, but will also help you identify your biases and judgments. Also, always take some time to consider how any kind of attribute is a benefit or detriment to the character. How does Daryl benefit from being protective of others? How does he suffer? How does Beth benefit from being optimistic? How does she suffer? Then, probably the most important question: how do you suppose these qualities influence their actions?
You can also do classic character exercises, like: write about them grocery shopping together. Write about Character A taking Character B to the emergency room because they broke a toe. Write about them getting a flat tire out on the highway in the middle of nowhere.
As for dialogue, I do find that repeated rewatching has cemented their actual voices for me, so that both of them sort of live in my head all the time, which is probably not sane or normal, but here we are. I can offer some tips that I tend to rely on, though:
Beth drops her Gs more regularly and conspicuously than Daryl (ex: sleepin', drinkin') though Daryl drops them at times, too.
Be wary of doing too much to highlight Daryl's accent and background. Say dialogue out loud to ensure it makes sense and sounds like him. Things can go from sounding accurate to sounding like Hagrid very quickly.
Daryl will almost always sound more Darylish if you drop pronouns and let sentences be fragments.
I hope some of that is helpful for you! It's pointless for me to tell you not to worry about being bad, because I think anybody who cares will, of course, worry about that. But caring about what you create is the first step toward creating something you're proud of, and what's more—every single writer whose work you've ever admired was once bad at it, and probably still has days when they're bad at it, or feel like they're bad at it. If you can, I encourage you to take a few minutes and read Shitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott to ground yourself in the long and proud lineage of writers writing stuff badly.
Good luck with your writing, and remember that whatever you, specifically, have to say about these characters is valuable and wanted. You may already be planting the seeds for the story that will become somebody's new favourite. đź’š
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