A Third Moodboard For My On-going Fic On Ao3Map Of The Soul As Im Posting Its 10th Chapter!

A third moodboard for my on-going fic on Ao3 “Map of the Soul” as I’m posting its 10th chapter!

I never expected this story to be that epic (and that big!) but I love writing it so much! 💖I’ve become quickly attached to the characters and the places. And we’ll be travelling some more! 🛫

It’s Jungkook day!! Happy birthday to our golden maknae! 

The first person you need to entertain with your creations is you. if no one else is going to enjoy it but you, you might as well have as much fun as possible making it. (inspired by @raeofalbion)

🐰🥛🐥

So I struggle badly with writing dialogue sometimes. Any tips for that?

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My #1 tip for writing dialogue is to change paragraph every time you change speakers. Yes, even if they only say one word. That change of paragraph is a signal to the reader that a new person is talking, and not changing paragraphs makes dialogue a lot more difficult to read. 

As for the actual words of dialogue, there are a few things that I do in my own fics which work for me. See if any of them seem like they might work for you:

pick a few slang terms or idioms that the character uses in character and use them once or twice in your fic. Careful: overdoing it could end up sounding unnatural.

which brings me to point 2: say your dialogue out loud. Or at least, play it out in your head without the narration that goes with it. Does it sound like a real conversation? 

a way to make it sound more ‘real’ is to have characters interrupt each other, or have them trail off without finishing their sentences

take into account the situation the characters are in and adjust their speech accordingly. People get more formal/casual in their speech depending on who they’re talking to and what the purpose of the conversation is

don’t feel like you need to have narration with every line. If the conversation is going back and forth really quickly, you can give a sense of that speed by just putting the dialogue text without saying “he said” or “she whispered” etc. 

when you do add the narration, remember that “said” is a wonderful word and great to use when it doesn’t matter what tone or volume the character is using. Said is the default. Any time you use another word, that draws attention to the way the character is talking. Use that to your advantage! By using other words (shout, admonish, chide, etc) you draw your reader’s attention to that dialogue and that can be a great way to point out plot-relevant information or interactions

I could go on, but I don’t want to load you down to much with my way of doing things. How about the rest of you? How do you write dialogue? And if you’re a reader, what kinds of things make you feel like the conversation was really happening?

A world without you is a world without color.