How does dialogue research usually work?
I have written about this before! I also call them cheat sheets. They’re particularly handy for fanfiction. One of the biggest things I see in fanfiction is that because the author has done no dialogue research, the dialogue patterns fall into the author’s ‘default’ which is still very readable and very enjoyable, but doesn’t always feel very authentic to the character. Sometimes it’s really only a handful of things to keep in mind (where the cheat sheet comes in handy) that becomes all the difference between ‘this story is cool’ and ‘your characters sound really authentic / even if they’re doing something radically different / are in an AU.’
These days I use word documents instead of pen and paper, especially for lengthy projects. With a movie, it’s easier to work with pen/paper, and Stardew Valley was the same. With Detroit: Become Human, especially because I am writing for so many characters, I need a word document.
Things to pay attention to re: dialogue research:
* Specific word/language quirks. Hank is more likely to say ‘goddamn’ and ‘Jesus Christ’ than he is to say ‘fuck’ (though he uses this liberally too.) In editing, I often take out a lot of his ‘fucks’ and replace them with blasphemy.
Connor is less likely to use contractions, he will always prefer to say ‘I will’ over ‘I’ll’ and ‘going to’ over ‘gonna.’ Also notice what characters do and don’t say. Do they use manners? Do they omit standard ‘thank you’ and ‘pleases.’ Do they swear? Do they use idioms? Hilarious metaphors? Are they creative? (Hank called Connor a poodle, it was great and I wrote it down, lmao). Etc.
* Styles of conversation. Kara is a people pleaser and even once she’s Deviated, her speech patterns all centre around centring and caring for someone else, even if she’s scared for her life. Therefore, Kara will never just gossip about some really rad dress she saw in a store that she loved, unless you’re taking her extremely outside of herself. But she might say ‘Oh! I think this dress really compliments that suit you have, Luther, don’t you think we’d be good together?’ She will always circle her dialogue around another person. In Eversion she does this every time around Luther, Hank, the kids she looks after at school, Connor, even Sumo.
* Physical body language when speaking. This includes eye contact, position of the arms and legs, whether a character likes to be seating or standing, are they animate or passive.
* Volume and tone. Are they loud or soft? Do they use a lot of emphasis? Or do they not? Are they wry and quietly sarcastic, or are they earnest and is their voice full of emotion? I’ve started doing a dialogue/cheat sheet for Bungou Stray Dogs, and Dazai’s voice is pretty much only emotive in two different scenarios: When shit-stirring, or when he’s genuinely calling out to someone in alarm. (And thirdly, when he’s being petulant). And even then, his voice is very flat (or bored) when he’s say, talking to Chuuya or other characters. People can write him as very emotive in fanfiction dialogue, giving him exclamation points, making him be emotional where he’s really not at all in terms of tone and volume. Unless he’s teasing Kunikida or Chuuya, Dazai is - volume and tone wise - a straight shooter with a flat tone of voice. Fandom tends to reduce him to a singsong Chuuuuuuyaaaaaa~ and forget who he is most of the time.
This isn’t necessarily a huge problem, many people remember him at his most emotive, because they are some of the funniest, most dramatic, or most entertaining scenes - so you can still get a good story out of that. But I just like to be very loyal to dialogue patterns whenever I can be. And I can tell when someone isn’t doing that. (Most people aren’t fussy over this).
* Amount of dialogue. Connor actually speaks very little in the game, overall and he’s usually only reporting on cases. We get to see when he’s having difficulties because of changes in his LED or the ‘dysfunction’ moments. He almost never talks about his own feelings on things, except - in very careful ways - to Amanda. And even then, he does so safely, in ways that are designed to protect and separate him from potential Deviancy. So in Eversion you’ll notice that Connor - when in conversation with others - normally only speaks in single sentences each time, unless he’s talking about a case or a different subject or another person.
Dialogue research is also sometimes when you’ll see a show doesn’t have very good writing, a lot of the characters in DBH don’t actually have distinctive verbal styles, so you have to go to body language instead, and make inferences.
I also make cheat sheets to a point for my OCs. This is why Gwyn is more likely to say ‘okay’ than ‘all right’ (Augus is more likely to say ‘all right’), and why Eran has fairly formal speaking patterns that are earnest, whereas Mosk is informal and deceptive.
Finally, how to use a cheat sheet? Write your chapter, go back with the cheat sheet in mind and see if your character has done any of the things on the sheet. They don’t need to do all of the things. But they should have at least done some of them, if they had dialogue. Or read the cheat sheet before writing a chapter, and keep a handful of things in mind. After a few chapters in a multi-chapter story, you’ll remember those things anyway.
But it never hurts to go back and double check. Many authors (esp those who aren’t dialogue focused) will eventually subtly make the dialogue more comfortable for their own internal speech patterns, and that will very often take at least some of the characters further away from their more authentic dialogue stylings.
Dialogue is something I pay attention to innately anyway, and it’s always been that way. It’s one of my primary focuses in my writing and that works for me. But actually sitting down and researching dialogue (even for only one episode) will strengthen anyone’s writing. Especially if the characters you’re writing get so much of their character from the way they say things. And it’s so delightful to say, read an extreme AU and get an instant feel for the character in this new world and scenario, just from their voice and dialogue alone.