➺ Scanned
➺ Surveyed
➺ Examined
➺ Inspected
➺ Searched
➺ Swept their gaze across
➺ Looked over
➺ Studied
➺ Pored over
➺ Scrutinized
...or if they're admiring something:
➵ Beheld
➵ Gazed at
➵ Admired
➵ Marveled at
➵ Took in
➵ Drank in
➵ Appreciated
➵ Feasted their eyes on
➵ Reveled in
➵ Absorbed
...or if they're shocked or horrified:
̗̀➛ Witnessed
̗̀➛ Stared at
̗̀➛ Gawked at
̗̀➛ Recoiled from the sight of
̗̀➛ Bore witness to
̗̀➛ Froze at the sight of
̗̀➛ Locked eyes on
̗̀➛ Gaped at
̗̀➛ Couldn't look away from
̗̀➛ Found themselves staring at
Things Real People Do in Dialogue (For Your Next Story)
Okay, let’s be real—dialogue can make or break a scene. You want your characters to sound natural, like actual humans talking, not robots reading a script. So, how do you write dialogue that feels real without it turning into a mess of awkward pauses and “ums”? Here’s a little cheat sheet of what real people actually do when they talk (and you can totally steal these for your next story):
1. People Interrupt Each Other All the Time
In real conversations, nobody waits for the perfect moment to speak. We interrupt, cut each other off, and finish each other's sentences. Throw in some overlaps or interruptions in your dialogue to make it feel more dynamic and less like a rehearsed play.
2. They Don’t Always Say What They Mean
Real people are masters of dodging. They’ll say one thing but mean something totally different (hello, passive-aggressive banter). Or they’ll just avoid the question entirely. Let your characters be vague, sarcastic, or just plain evasive sometimes—it makes their conversations feel more layered.
3. People Trail Off...
We don’t always finish our sentences. Sometimes we just... stop talking because we assume the other person gets what we’re trying to say. Use that in your dialogue! Let a sentence trail off into nothing. It adds realism and shows the comfort (or awkwardness) between characters.
4. Repeating Words Is Normal
In real life, people repeat words when they’re excited, nervous, or trying to make a point. It’s not a sign of bad writing—it’s how we talk. Let your characters get a little repetitive now and then. It adds a rhythm to their speech that feels more genuine.
5. Fillers Are Your Friends
People say "um," "uh," "like," "you know," all the time. Not every character needs to sound polished or poetic. Sprinkle in some filler words where it makes sense, especially if the character is nervous or thinking on their feet.
6. Not Everyone Speaks in Complete Sentences
Sometimes, people just throw out fragments instead of complete sentences, especially when emotions are high. Short, choppy dialogue can convey tension or excitement. Instead of saying “I really think we need to talk about this,” try “We need to talk. Now.”
7. Body Language Is Part of the Conversation
Real people don’t just communicate with words; they use facial expressions, gestures, and body language. When your characters are talking, think about what they’re doing—are they fidgeting? Smiling? Crossing their arms? Those little actions can add a lot of subtext to the dialogue without needing extra words.
8. Awkward Silences Are Golden
People don’t talk non-stop. Sometimes, they stop mid-conversation to think, or because things just got weird. Don’t be afraid to add a beat of awkward silence, a long pause, or a meaningful look between characters. It can say more than words.
9. People Talk Over Themselves When They're Nervous
When we’re anxious, we tend to talk too fast, go back to rephrase what we just said, or add unnecessary details. If your character’s nervous, let them ramble a bit or correct themselves. It’s a great way to show their internal state through dialogue.
10. Inside Jokes and Shared History
Real people have history. Sometimes they reference something that happened off-page, or they share an inside joke only they get. This makes your dialogue feel lived-in and shows that your characters have a life beyond the scene. Throw in a callback to something earlier, or a joke only two characters understand.
11. No One Explains Everything
People leave stuff out. We assume the person we’re talking to knows what we’re talking about, so we skip over background details. Instead of having your character explain everything for the reader’s benefit, let some things go unsaid. It’ll feel more natural—and trust your reader to keep up!
12. Characters Have Different Voices
Real people don’t all talk the same way. Your characters shouldn’t either! Pay attention to their unique quirks—does one character use slang? Does another speak more formally? Maybe someone’s always cutting people off while another is super polite. Give them different voices and patterns of speech so their dialogue feels authentic to them.
13. People Change the Subject
In real life, conversations don’t always stay on track. People get sidetracked, jump to random topics, or avoid certain subjects altogether. If your characters are uncomfortable or trying to dodge a question, let them awkwardly change the subject or ramble to fill the space.
14. Reactions Aren’t Always Immediate
People don’t always respond right away. They pause, they think, they hesitate. Sometimes they don’t know what to say, and that delay can speak volumes. Give your characters a moment to process before they respond—it’ll make the conversation feel more natural.
Important note: Please don’t use all of these tips in one dialogue at once.
🧪 Character Arcs 101: what they are, what they aren’t, and how to make them hurt
by rin t. (resident chaos scribe of thewriteadviceforwriters)
Okay so here’s the thing. You can give me all the pretty pinterest moodboards and soft trauma playlists in the world, but if your character doesn’t change, I will send them back to the factory.
Let’s talk about character arcs. Not vibes. Not tragic backstory flavoring. Actual. Arcs. (It hurts but we’ll get through it together.)
─────── ✦ ───────
💡 what a character arc IS:
a transformational journey (keyword: transformation)
the internal response to external pressure (aka plot consequences)
a shift in worldview, behavior, belief, self-concept
the emotional architecture of your story
the reason we care
💥 what a character arc is NOT:
a sad monologue halfway through act 2
a single cool scene where they yell or cry
a moral they magically learn by the end
a “development” label slapped on a flatline
─────── ✦ ───────
✨ THE 3 BASIC FLAVORS OF ARC (and how to emotionally damage your characters accordingly):
Positive Arc
They start with a flaw, false belief, or fear that limits them. Through the events of the story (and many Ls), they confront that internal lie, grow, and emerge changed.
Hurt factor: Drag them through the mud. Make them fight to believe in themselves. Break their trust, make them doubt. Let them earn their ending.
Negative Arc
They begin whole(ish) and devolve. They fail to overcome their flaw or false belief. This arc ends in ruin, corruption, or defeat.
Hurt factor: Let them almost have a chance. Build hope. Then show how they sabotage it, or how the world takes it anyway. Twist the knife.
Flat/Static Arc
They don’t change, but the world around them does. They hold onto a core truth, and it’s their constancy that drives change in others. Think: mentor, revolutionary, or truth-teller type.
Hurt factor: Make the world push back. Make their values cost them something. The tension comes from holding steady in chaos.
─────── ✦ ───────
🎯 how to build an arc that actually HITS (no ✨soft lessons✨, just internal structure):
Lie they believe: What false thing do they think about themselves or the world? (“I’m unlovable.” “Power = safety.” “I’m only valuable if I’m useful.”)
Want vs. need: What do they think they want? What do they actually need to grow?
Wound/backstory scar: What made them like this? You don’t need a tragic past™ but you do need cause and effect.
Turning point: What moment forces them to question their worldview? What event cracks the surface?
Moment of choice: Do they change? Or not? What decision seals their arc?
🧪 Pro tip: this is not a worksheet. This is scaffolding. The arc lives in the story, not just your doc notes. The lie isn’t revealed in a monologue, it’s felt through consequences, relationships, mistakes.
─────── ✦ ───────
🛠️ things to actually do with this:
Write scenes where the character’s flaw messes things up. Like, they lose something. A person. A plan. Their cool. Make the flaw hurt.
Track their beliefs like a timeline. How do they start? What chips away at it? When does the shift stick?
Use relationships as arc mirrors. Who challenges them? Enables them? Forces reflection? Internal change is almost never solo.
Revisit the lie. Circle back to it at least three times in escalating intensity. Reminder > confrontation > transformation.
─────── ✦ ───────
🌊 bonus pain level: REVERSE THE ARC
Wanna make it really hurt? Set them up for one arc, and give them the opposite.
They think they’re growing into a better person. But actually, they’re losing themselves.
They think they’re spiraling. But they’re really healing. Let them be surprised. Let the reader be surprised.
─────── ✦ ───────
TL;DR: If your plot is a skeleton, your character arc is the nervous system.
The change is the thing. Don’t just dress it up in trauma. Don’t let your character learn nothing. Make them face themselves.
And yeah. Make it hurt a little. (Or a lot. I won’t stop you.)
—rin t.
// thewriteadviceforwriters
// plotting pain professionally since forever
P.S. I made a free mini eBook about the 5 biggest mistakes writers make in the first 10 pages 👀 you can grab it here for FREE:
✦ A free (and actually helpful) guide to leveling up your first 10 pages ✦If you're unsure whether your opening is ✨doing enough✨ to hook re
⟢ Please support me by reposting, liking, following, and commenting on this post. If it doesn't resonate with you, please remember that a birth chart must be read as a whole.
If your Mercury is in Capricorn, in the 10th house, or tied to Saturn, writing can feel slow and deliberate. You don’t just say things, you go over them, question them, and reshape them until they feel right. There’s a constant pressure to be clear and precise. At first, it can feel like you’re holding yourself back but later, it becomes your strength. You choose your words carefully, and for that reason, they carry weight.
Examples: Joan Didion, "The Year of Magical Thinking" (2005); Wallace Stegner, Crossing to Safety (1987)
If your Moon is in Gemini, in the 3rd house, or tied to Mercury, you tend to run your feelings through words. You’re not just feeling something, you’re already thinking about it at the same time. Your mind keeps talking, even when you’re alone. That shows in how you write. It sounds like someone speaking, like thoughts happening in real time, sometimes going around the point before getting there. It feels natural, like you’re working it out as you go.
If Mercury is in Scorpio, in the 8th house, or tightly aspected by Pluto, you don’t trust what’s visible. You write what sits underneath. Tension, control, unspoken motives. Your stories don’t explain everything, they imply it. There’s intensity in your voice because you don’t look away.
Examples: Donna Tartt, "The Secret History" (1992); Bret Easton Ellis, "American Psycho" (1991)
If your Sun or Mercury connects to Uranus, or sits in Aquarius or the 11th house, your writing may be observant, not immersive. You notice patterns, contradictions, and the way people function inside systems. Even personal stories expand into something collective. Structure may not be linear, but the perspective is sharp.
Genres: dystopia, social commentary, speculative fiction
Examples: Aldous Huxley, "Brave New World" (1932); Kazuo Ishiguro, "Never Let Me Go" (2005)
If your Moon is in Taurus, in the 2nd house, or connected to Venus, you don’t write emotions directly. You translate them into texture, space, atmosphere. Things are felt before they’re understood. Your writing slows down time instead of pushing it forward.
Genres: slice of life, descriptive fiction, slow narratives
Examples: Banana Yoshimoto, "Moshi moshi" (2014); Peter Mayle, "A Year in Provence" (1989)
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
Credits to @ariaiscursed and @academiaatitsfinest (images) and to @saradika-graphics (divider)
I’m not one of those people who finds Akito’s actions justifiable because of her trauma, but I really appreciate the parallels between her and Tohru. They both have a desire to keep their connections eternal and unchanged. For Tohru, this began after her father’s death. Kyoko was so focused on her grief that she neglected Tohru and nearly took her own life. In an attempt to give her mother something to live for, Tohru took on her father’s polite/formal speaking style and became the perfect daughter. The belief that she needs to act a specific way to maintain her relationships spread to the rest of her life. While Tohru’s kindness is genuine, her motivation isn’t completely selfless. She’s nice to people because she wants them to stay. The show portrays her extreme kindness as a strength, but her motive is cast in a negative light. When Kyoko passes, Tohru is scared to love anyone more than she loved her mom because that might weaken their connection. This fear stopped her from moving forward in life. Bonds are not meant to be eternal. Change leads to growth. (TOHRU IS NOT A MARY SUE BTW!!)
Akito also lost her father at a young age, but unlike in Tohru’s situation, her mother permanently rejects her afterwards. This gave Akito a fear of abandonment and causes her to aggressively cling to the other zodiac members. As the head of the family, she believes that she’s owed a relationship with them. She maintains these bonds with extreme force, lashing out at the possibility of them caring for anyone else.
The protagonist and antagonist having the same core fear allowed the story to explore the theme from both angles. Whether you’re convincing people to stay through carefully crafted kindness or needless cruelty, it won’t guarantee genuine connection. Choice > Obligation. Growth > Comfort.
Here are a handful of quick tips to help you write believable characters!
1. A character’s arc doesn’t need to grow linearly. Your protagonist doesn’t have to go from being weak to strong, shy to confident, or novice to professional in one straight line. It’s more realistic if they mess up their progress on the way and even decline a bit before reaching their goal.
2. Their past affects their present. Make their backstory matter by having their past events shape them into who they are. Growing up with strict parents might lead to a sneaky character, and a bad car accident might leave them fearful of driving.
3. Give reoccurring side characters something that makes them easily recognizable. This could be a scar, a unique hairstyle, an accent, or a location they’re always found at, etc.
4. Make sure their dialogue matches their personality. To make your characters more believable in conversation, give them speech patterns. Does the shy character mumble too low for anyone to ever hear, does the nervous one pace around and make everyone else on edge?
5. Make your characters unpredictable. Real people do unexpected things all the time, and this can make life more exciting. The strict, straight-A student who decides to drink at a party. The pristine princess who likes to visit the muddy farm animals. When character’s decide to do things spontaneously or in the heat of the moment, it can create amazing twists and turns.
6. Give even your minor character's a motive. This isn’t to say that all your characters need deep, intricate motives. However, every character should need or want something, and their actions should reflect that. What’s the motive behind a side character who follows your protagonist on their adventure? Perhaps they’ve always had dreams of leaving their small village or they want to protect your protagonist because of secret feelings.
