It’s Natural.

Something that took forever for me to learn with fanfiction dialogue.

it’s okay to make your character stumble over, and to think about their words.

It’s okay to give characters speech patterns and let me tell you why;

It’s natural.

Every single person has a speech pattern. We all speak differently, we speak like our personalities and it’s a good way to get to know a character.

Something I’ve noticed in YA books in the characters speaking without filler words like ‘well’, ‘anyway’, ‘like’, ‘literally’.

And remember: it’s okay to use these! Make your dialogue more realistic, and more human!

Sometimes, people talk slower, and have to think about what they want to say.

Sometimes, people stumble over their words because they’re anxious.

Sometimes, people talk really fast and blur their words together because they’re afraid to forget what they want to say!

Selective people prefer not to talk at all, and like to stay mute for their own safety or comfort, and the best you can do is respect them for choosing it.

It’s okay to use phrases like, ‘yknow’, ‘uh’, ‘uhm’, ‘mhm’ because it’s how we speak in the real world.

It’s okay to have characters hum in thought, or use their body to portray that they’re thinking!

Some people fiddle with something in their hands while thinking!

Some people bite their lips in thought.

Some people hum under their breath while they think.

Silent ways of telling the reader that your character is thinking words that they’re not ready to say yet!!

It’s okay to have your character repeat words and or phrases when excited and when they can’t contain it! Sometimes, we just get so excited, that we aren’t thinking about how many times we say things.

It’s okay to write a character repeating themselves, especially if they want to get their point across to someone/if someone didn’t understand their point in the first place.

Non-verbal replies!!!

Shrugging of the shoulders, incoherent mumbles, hand gestures, use the power of writing to describe a reply or phrase with facial expressions, or physical movement!! Silence is okay too, if it’s needed!

Silence can speak just as much as words!

Dialogue is important.

Dialogue that flows and is human is i m p o r t a n t!!