Great tips as always, I'd love to get your take on writing characters in terms of dialogue to distinguish gender and age. There don't seem to be a lot of resources on Amazon or Google. I've read Sizzling Dialogue and Craig Martelle's books, as well as your series on writing craft/publishing, but I'd love to find more specifics on dialogue and gender. Brandon Sanderson just did a video on writing characters who are smarter than the author which was also super interesting.
I don't make any effort to distinguish dialogue based on gender, though motivations tend to shift along that axis. Age is a matter of research, but it's fun research. What's the target age you want to Google? What video game are they playing right now? Make some coffee, and find a Discord relating to that game. Go read the chat for a while, and see what they talk about. Use Urban Dictionary liberally.
@@ChrisFoxWrites I write cozy mystery for adults and I'm trying to work on my dialogue skills but I'm finding it tricky to sound like different characters at the moment, male versus female, and American versus British, etc. I'm reading lots of fiction to see if I can work out how they have done it, but I'd love to find a craft book or audiobook so I can really hone that skill. I have Anatomy of Story, Story Grid, Save the Cat, all the usual, but I'd love to find something very specific to dialogue. I tend to have all ages of characters in my books but I don't think my readers would be so familiar with specific word usage. My ultimate goal would be that folks could distinguish the characters without me putting the names - their age, background, or gender. Rather than each character just sounding like me all the time:) Even suggestions for fiction books that do this really well would be great as a place to start. So I thought I'd put it out there in case anyone has suggestions, or for a future craft book.
@@SarahJaneWeldon Robert McKee has a book on Dialogue called: Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen. I haven't read it in a while so check it out if it meets your needs.
@@jackjacoby9466 I was going to suggest this to. Also when I was researching my film which was about university student I went to universities in my area and also their forums and spoke/read their speech patterns. Obviously told them why I was there and why I may have to record their voice. Good fun and made a better real dialogue between them. This also ties into characters motivations as Chris was saying. You usually speak the way you do on the people you have interacted the most with. I usually start with their childhood background and work toward the scene I am in. Now it's easy if you have already written scenes before. Otherwise it's like building a time line from scratch starting from birth.
Sarah Jane Weldon I’d suggest you don’t go by gender or age, but rather by personality. There are a couple easy fixes for different styles of dialogue: humor, cursing, word choice, diction and context. For example children will use shorter sentences with simpler words. And they might not get every concept. People from certain backgrounds may use a type of slang (use sparingly though) and someone who is interested in a topic might sometimes use language used in that particular setting. Even the typical emotional state of the character could tell you what they would say. Bout with all this, context is the most important. The information you want to convey in dialogue is vital, garnish it with extras later. If we know who is in the scene, knowing who is speaking is already worth a lot.
The camera doesn't have manual focus. With my logitech there is a software option. With this Nexigo there is not. All the logitech cameras were sold out, so I went with an off brand since that's all that's left after the world's Zoom swarm had their fill =)
I want to know more about the kid who murdered the teacher and hid the body.
Wow every time I watch one of your videos I get so many gold nuggets out of it thank you so much Chris
Love the intro. Its just so lively that i smile every it opens.
Very useful. The Malfoy comparison really solidified it.
Wyatt Swollen sat in the waiting room, waiting for the nurse to call him in...
Thanks for the video. By the way, I forgot to mention I like the new intro.
Great tips as always, I'd love to get your take on writing characters in terms of dialogue to distinguish gender and age. There don't seem to be a lot of resources on Amazon or Google. I've read Sizzling Dialogue and Craig Martelle's books, as well as your series on writing craft/publishing, but I'd love to find more specifics on dialogue and gender. Brandon Sanderson just did a video on writing characters who are smarter than the author which was also super interesting.
I don't make any effort to distinguish dialogue based on gender, though motivations tend to shift along that axis. Age is a matter of research, but it's fun research. What's the target age you want to Google? What video game are they playing right now? Make some coffee, and find a Discord relating to that game. Go read the chat for a while, and see what they talk about. Use Urban Dictionary liberally.
@@ChrisFoxWrites I write cozy mystery for adults and I'm trying to work on my dialogue skills but I'm finding it tricky to sound like different characters at the moment, male versus female, and American versus British, etc. I'm reading lots of fiction to see if I can work out how they have done it, but I'd love to find a craft book or audiobook so I can really hone that skill. I have Anatomy of Story, Story Grid, Save the Cat, all the usual, but I'd love to find something very specific to dialogue. I tend to have all ages of characters in my books but I don't think my readers would be so familiar with specific word usage. My ultimate goal would be that folks could distinguish the characters without me putting the names - their age, background, or gender. Rather than each character just sounding like me all the time:) Even suggestions for fiction books that do this really well would be great as a place to start. So I thought I'd put it out there in case anyone has suggestions, or for a future craft book.
@@SarahJaneWeldon Robert McKee has a book on Dialogue called: Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen. I haven't read it in a while so check it out if it meets your needs.
@@jackjacoby9466 I was going to suggest this to.
Also when I was researching my film which was about university student I went to universities in my area and also their forums and spoke/read their speech patterns. Obviously told them why I was there and why I may have to record their voice. Good fun and made a better real dialogue between them. This also ties into characters motivations as Chris was saying. You usually speak the way you do on the people you have interacted the most with. I usually start with their childhood background and work toward the scene I am in. Now it's easy if you have already written scenes before. Otherwise it's like building a time line from scratch starting from birth.
Sarah Jane Weldon I’d suggest you don’t go by gender or age, but rather by personality. There are a couple easy fixes for different styles of dialogue: humor, cursing, word choice, diction and context. For example children will use shorter sentences with simpler words. And they might not get every concept. People from certain backgrounds may use a type of slang (use sparingly though) and someone who is interested in a topic might sometimes use language used in that particular setting. Even the typical emotional state of the character could tell you what they would say.
Bout with all this, context is the most important. The information you want to convey in dialogue is vital, garnish it with extras later. If we know who is in the scene, knowing who is speaking is already worth a lot.
Great advice!
I'm kind of thinking it's bad that I can't remember the first three actions of any of the characters in my first book.
This is great! And so helpful. Thank you Chris !
Just wondering how did you find your artists? or did you learn yourself??
Best. Intro. Ever!
Thanks for the tips.
This one is simple and super easy to use as well as easy to Muse with.
A puh, a chi, a puh puh a chi, a puh, a chi, a wang wang wang wang!
Hey Chris. If you are using autofocus, that is what is going to cause it. Your best bet is to manually set it.
The camera doesn't have manual focus. With my logitech there is a software option. With this Nexigo there is not. All the logitech cameras were sold out, so I went with an off brand since that's all that's left after the world's Zoom swarm had their fill =)
@@ChrisFoxWrites lol the price of a pandemic.