All Questions
Tagged with dialogue description
20 questions
1
vote
2
answers
299
views
How do you describe someone who's talking while brushing their teeth?
I don't think there's a specific word for that, so how would you describe it?
The scene is that someone shouts something while they're in the bathroom, brushing their teeth. It's still intelligible, ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
893
views
How to describe when someone hesitates before speaking?
I find myself repeatedly saying "he/she hesitated" when I feel like there's something else I could say. I've been experimenting but with the character in question, all I can think of is, &...
- 33
3
votes
3
answers
129
views
How to write a protagonist in 1st POV, who is talkative?
My character is very talkative. As the narrator, how is she to balance her talkativeness in dialogue, narration, and description without making it boring, too long, or make it seem like she's dumping ...
- 31
-1
votes
4
answers
523
views
Characters' tone/pitch in dialogue
How does one go about showing a characters tone/pitch while talking?
For example, if someone said something that someone else doesn't believe and they reacted like:
bullsHIIt
or
whaAATt
Where the ...
- 441
3
votes
2
answers
646
views
How do you write pause in a dialogue without making it look flat?
At times in conversations, there are pauses for various reasons; in videos, the contexts of these pauses are clear because of the characters facial expression. But while writing, at first you can use ...
- 255
5
votes
3
answers
203
views
How can I specify the speaker in the dialogue without repeating the hero's name?
Let's say my character is Alex, a young man and an actor. I'm describing a long dialogue of him and another person. I need to specify he is a person speaking quite often so the reader is not confused ...
- 609
13
votes
5
answers
14k
views
Writing "hahaha" versus describing the laugh
When posting an excerpt of my book on a critiquing site, someone commented on my use of "hahaha" inside the dialogue instead of just having a laughing verb after or before it. They said it ...
- 4,053
4
votes
5
answers
2k
views
How can I write an annoying character without annoying the reader?
My story has a group of five refugees traveling across the kingdom. One of them is preachy and pretty much useless (unused to physical labor, trying to convert the heathens in the group). She's ...
user36961
10
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How to avoid pages of dialogue?
I'm starting my story with my protagonist found (by the police), bleeding at a crime scene. When he wakes up, he has no recollection i.e. he's lost his memory. He's interrogated by two Inspectors, ...
- 1,641
10
votes
4
answers
9k
views
Is shaking of the head positive or negative?
When you say a character shook their head, does that mean they nodded, as in "yes", or they shook it sideways, signifying the answer is "no?"
- 2,404
12
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How to create tension during a conversation
In my novel my protagonist speaks to a man while being held at gun point. She (protagonist) tried to kill him. He was her boss, was involved in her best friend's death and wants the protagonist dead. ...
- 431
2
votes
3
answers
187
views
Is it okay to sum up unimportant dialogue in the description? Let me explain
Like many, I’m a huge fan of the HBO series True Detective. I was reading the script for the second episode and I noticed this:
INT. STATE CID - NIGHT
Hart and Cohle enter the squad room, ...
- 835
1
vote
4
answers
5k
views
How much dialogue in a first date scene?
Something I always get stuck with is how to describe a first date. E.g. I have a story where 2 characters are on a blind date, so they have to get to know each other. How much of the date should be ...
5
votes
4
answers
931
views
How to avoid repetitive sentences? (Describing actions, he/she)
I was just wondering if anybody had some tips on how to avoid repetitively describing characters' actions in the same way? Here is an example which I'm struggling to reform, mostly because I keep ...
- 51
10
votes
5
answers
8k
views
Pregnancy in writing - A bit difficult
In one of my stories, I have a chapter that is all about a woman's first pregnancy and her experience. It is a fictional woman but still, because my writing tends to be on the scientific side of ...
- 415
2
votes
2
answers
458
views
What is a good ratio of description/action to talking?
Background
I probably am wording this badly and that's why when I searched the site I didn't get an answer. So I was wondering, because the recent totally epic chapter of my masterpiece novel ...
- 4,439
2
votes
4
answers
957
views
How do I convey messages that are clear, but unspoken?
So much of communication is nonverbal - facial expressions, body language. Often, it's entirely clear what somebody is thinking and conveying even if they aren't saying a word.
How can I portray this ...
- 28.3k
0
votes
1
answer
252
views
Do you capitalize the names of governments in a story?
I know that names of countries, states, cities, and counties are always capitalized, but what about governments and organizations? In my novella there are basically 2 sections of space, and each have ...
- 416
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How do I write in the language of a strict, serious character without using too much exposition?
I am working on a series of short stories and am having trouble bringing out the characteristics of one of my characters in descriptions and in his dialogue. My story is set in South Korea.
One ...
- 31
3
votes
2
answers
500
views
First conversation scenes I've written (looking for errors, conventions, and improvements according to writing standards)
I would like to know if I'm doing something wrong (according to writing standards) in the following conversation and how to improve it to help readability, quality and feeling (making it more ...
- 12.4k