I just stumbled upon your blog! I really like it. I have a question for you and I would be very happy if you could answer it.Great question and I'm sure GITS readers will have lots to say in response. Let me first say that you've already taken a huge step toward learning how to write good dialogue, simply by recognizing this is an issue. Many aspiring screenwriters do not, reflected in the fact that all their characters sound pretty much the same. So being attuned to this concern in and of itself has set you onto a good path.
My problem is with dialogue. It always appears or feels that the majority of my characters start sounding like myself. Do you have any advice as to how I could step away from my own voice and come into the character's?
The next thing is this: How much of characters sounding like your "own voice" derives from the actual written dialogue versus the way you 'hear' the dialogue? Is it possible that the characters, in fact, do sound distinguishable from each other, but you are only capable of seeing your hand in the writing of all your dialogue? I suppose the best way to test this out is for you to have other people read your script, then ask them point blank: Did the characters sound like unique individual or did they all sound just like me?
But assuming your characters actually do come off sounding like you, my best piece of advice is simply this: Go into your characters. As deeply as you can. Dig into them - their backstories, personal histories, personalities, and so on. If you can ground each of your characters within their own personal history, then that should result in each of them having their own voice. It stands to reason because their dialogue will be a unique reflection of where they lived (region can affect accent and colloquialisms), what type of education they had (can affect the breadth of their vocabulary), what type of jobs they've had (slang and lingo), what type of personality they have (introvert versus extrovert, chatty versus quite), and on and on and on. Think about it: How we talk and what we say is directly tied to who we are. Therefore, the more you know about who each of your characters are, in theory at least that should impact their respective ways of communicating verbally.
Another thing to do is pay particular attention to dialogue when you watch movies. For example, we just screened the Pixar movie Up in my newest screenwriting class at UNC - and I was struck by how distinctive each of the characters' 'voices' were. Here are some representative lines from various key characters:
Carl Frederickson: I am nobody's master, got it? [points cane at Dug] I don't want you here... [points cane at Kevin] I don't want you here... [addresses Russell] I'm stuck with you, but if you two don't clear out of here by the time...Carl sounds like a cranky old man with language (e.g., "clear out") that fits his age.
Russell: I've never been in a floating house before. Look at this stuff. Wow! You're going on a trip?
Alpha: Soon enough the bird will be ours yet again. Find the scent, my compadres, and you too shall have much rewardings from Master for the toil factor you wage.
Dug: My master made me this collar. He is a good and smart master and he made me this collar so that I may speak. Squirrel!
Charles Muntz: You know Carl, these people who come here, they all tell pretty good stories. [He walks to a row of human skulls on a shelf, each of which is wearing a hat of some kind] A surveyor making a map... [he knocks over the first skull] A botanist cataloging plants... [he knocks over the second skull] An old man taking his house to Paradise Falls... and that's the best one yet. I can't wait to hear how it ends.
Russell is an excited kid, again with language suitable for his age, gender, and upbringing ("Look at this stuff. Wow!").
Compare the two dogs: Alpha the self-important officious leader ("you too shall have much rewardings from Master for the toil factor you wage") to the excited, good-natured, and gregarious Dug ("He is a good and smart master").
Then Muntz who reveals himself as the obsessed wounded hero that he is.
So watch movies and read scripts - and when you do, take special note of how the writers managed to distinguish each character's 'voice.'
Also if you have Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriting software, you can print out every side of dialogue per each character, one at a time. That way you can read a character's dialogue in continuum which should give you a sense of whether they have a distinctive voice, and if they do, perhaps punch it up so it has even more of that unique feel and tone.
Finally read your dialogue aloud. You'd be amazed at how much you'll tweak the written words based on how it sounds when you say and hear it aloud.
Hope those thoughts are helpful. How about you, GITS readers? What do you do to give your characters unique, distinctive voices?
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3 comments:
Try going and listening to people. It sounds simple, but you can find some dramatic/hilarious moments just by listening.
School, work, home, wherever. Just go and find some people, you don't even have to talk to them. The most important part is just to make sure you get a feel for how they're speaking, what they're speaking about, and if it catches your attention why it's interesting.
I get into the mindset of a particular character and do a pass specifically looking at that character's lines.
I find it helps to have a good ear for different accents, euphemisms, manners of speech. And I think that can be learned by watching movies with real unique characters.
Old movies from the 30s-50s tend to be heavy on dialogue, and provide lots of great example for different kinds of speech. There's the street-smart wiseguy, the country bumpkin, the haughty princess, the down-home matron, and on and on.
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