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You Take A Deep Breath As You Walk To School. It's Been A Few Weeks Since The Argument. You Had Started
You take a deep breath as you walk to school. It's been a few weeks since the argument. You had started noticing the boy's brother at school. He's very shy and often at the butt of everyone's jokes. He tends to hide in corners and sit by himself. But today you're going to change that. Your class is going to have a group project and, since he's in the same class, you're going to make sure to be in the same group. Then you'll be able to talk to him and get to know him. You glance at his brother nervously. It'll be easy. The argument you two had flashes through your mind. You really don't want to be around him, and becoming friends with his brother will make that very hard to avoid, but his brother is so lonely. You take another deep breath, bracing yourself. You're just going to have to deal with it...
More Posts from Bitterfairy98
Me, reading most of a piece: Outstanding! I love! Fabulous!
Me, reading said piece’s dialogue: That’s not- that’s not how people… talk.
Few tips for anyone writing something very difficult: dialogue.
1. Awkward people do not confidently proclaim heavy statements.
If your character is awkward, anxious, or easily gets nervous, they will not smoothly declare “I love you with all my heart, and I have family issues”. If they’re uncomfortable in social situations, they won’t magically turn confident. Now don’t get me wrong, I love love love a well-portrayed outspoken, confident character. And those characters can probably state emotions easier. But an awkward character cannot.
2. Nervous stuttering (unrelated to a speech impediment) d-does not s-s-sound like t-this.
Try talking to yourself (I’m not crazy) and seeing how this would really sound. A good way to do an aggressive stutter is to fall back and repeat a couple of words. Ex. “What if- what if we- what if we just…” Another trick is to remember that there are varying level to a nervous stutter. If you’re hardly nervous you won’t have an aggressive stutter like that.
3: It’s okay to say “said” every once in a while.
Good god, please don’t avoid it like the plague. It shouldn’t be common, but it shouldn’t be your worst fear. We don’t want another case of “Slughorn ejaculated,”
Feel free to reblog with any corrections, or your own tips!
Edit: Dear god please check the notes. They’re SO helpful.
You walk to school with Jr's brother, glancing at Jr as you pass him. He's watching his brother intently. You look at his brother, "How do you manage to get along with Jr? I'm trying, really, but I feel like I'm getting no where..." He shrugs, smiling a small smile, "I guess it's different when you're together all the time... Just be persistent is the only advice I can give you..." You nod and keep walking. Persistence. You can do that. You press your lips together. After school you'll figure out something else to do with him. You can do this…
You walk to school with Jr’s brother, stopping by Jr to talk. Jr rolls his eyes, "Hurry up and go to school. You're gonna be late." His brother nods, tugging on your shirt. You frown, "I just wanted to say hi..." "Hi. Now go away." Jr crosses his arms uninvitingly. You huff and walk the rest of the way to school. Why does he have to be so difficult? Just yesterday you were helping his brother together with his homework. Getting along just fine. Now he won't hardly even look at you. You sigh and sit at your desk. Maybe it'll get better. Maybe he'll slowly start being friendly more often. Maybe you can teach him to be more friendly. You rest your chin in your hand, thinking about what you can drag him along to do next....
You glance at the boy on your way to school. You stop when you see his brother standing next to him, talking. It's been a week since you started your project with his brother. You've managed to make him your grudging friend, which you're excited about. You walk over to them and his brother breaks off whatever he was saying and looks at you. You smile, "hey. What's up?" He shrugs, "nothing. Just saying by to Junior." You blink, "Your names Junior?" Junior glares at his brother, who immediately shrinks, cheeks burning red, "s-s-sorry...." Junior looks at you, "So? It's none of your business." You shrug, "There's nothing wrong with it. I was just surprised." Junior glares, "it's still none of your business." You sigh and look at his brother, "Come on. We're gonna be late." He hesitates, glancing at Jr. Jr nods at him and he hurries over. You walk to school, shaking your head. Why does he have to be such a jerk?