Friday 18 June 2010

MY CHARACTERS WON'T SHUT UP!

My characters yada yada way too much. 

... blah blah blah blah blah ...


They talk so much that they forget they have to actually move in order to move forward in life; one foot in front of the other to get to their destination/goal. You'd think it would be easy. Right? But no, they're all talk and no action. Bloody idiots. Don't they realise that they're ruining my story? Don't they realise that I can't get them what they want until they get off the freaking phone and reach for it themselves? Who do they think I am? Their puppet master? They need a damn good talking to, if you ask me. If only they'd let me get a word in once in a while ...


How about your character's? Do they talk until they're blue in their virtual faces? Or are you always trying to keep up with them to find out how they feel?

39 comments:

  1. Dialogue is my bane...

    But not that of my characters, they don't mind sounding quaint and antiquated -antiquainted?

    I think my characters talk as much as the story demands and I reckon that my characters are relatively well behaved. They tend to want to know what comes next so they charge on... can't vouch for how they appear to third party readers.

    I'm curious to hear what the writers will have to say about this. : j

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh yes. I have revisions on the one WiP so they are pushing me. Scenes keep popping up in my head as my characters show me what they want next.
    I had to start another WiP because those characters started fighting with the 1st WiP characters for attention. My kids think I'm a little crazy because I zone out so much trying to listen to all the voices in my head.
    You are not alone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mine like to talk but I've never let them go to far.

    ReplyDelete
  4. OMG, THANK YOU FOR THIS!

    Mine have been torturing me for 3 (or is it 4? I'm losing touch with reality thanks to them...) days now. They are bickering, arguing, and I have no idea where it came from or where it's going.

    It's the same damn scene over and over, they change a word here or there, trying to perfect the argument but it is driving me MAD. Think it's bad when a song gets stuck in your head? At least that has a catchy tune. These characters need to MOVE ON before I kill them both off.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Depends on the character. I've got some surly buggers who can't find their words to save their lives.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I pretty much know how they feel from the get go. Of course that understanding deepens and grows. They do tend to be chatty. That's the issue I'm having right now. My mc wants to communicate so much in the opener that it bogs the flow.

    Must take out my scissors. Yikes. Not to harm my character, silly. Cutting words.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi, Does that mean you have more ideas to write about? surely that's a good thing.

    Have a great week-end;
    Yvonne,

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOL. Mine don't tell me what they want. They just do it! But that's okay with me, I trust them. Though I do have to reine in their dialogue once in awhile.

    ReplyDelete
  9. On my first drafts, my character talk like hell, girl. I just cut them short with every revision untill I´m satisfied. Its all about ownership: Tell those bisnatches you are the boss! YOU! lol

    I know, its so hard! I prefer them talking how they feel, then showing. Yes, I´m a teller not a "shower"....ARGH, but life ain´t an easy ride sis, I am totally with you on that boat.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm not so great at dialogue so I kind of wish my characters would talk more. It's probably all my fault.

    Today's guest blogger is Faith Hough.

    ReplyDelete
  11. My characters talk to me all the time. They drive me crazy. Until they decide to disappear and not talk at all. Which drives me crazy. I think it has something to do with cleaning the house. They stop talking, I clean the house, they come back. Weird.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Mine haven't said squat to me lately. Maybe I should plan a romantic night out so we can reconnect...

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love it when my characters talk a lot, then all kinds of things come through. When they don't then it means I'm not into it like I should. That I'm *not listening*

    ReplyDelete
  14. I don't mind so much when my characters ramble on the page - when I've had enough, my red pen will show them who's boss. It's when they bicker in my sleep that I take exception!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I find that my characters want to talk at bed-time. It's so annoying when this happens because I know I have to listen. I'm pretty sure I'm the cause of this though, I'm far too controlling of them when I'm writing. This is the only time they really have to have their say.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Well, they never talk to me. They talk to the other characters and force me to eavesdrop.

    And usually, they are NOT from the book I'm currently working on, either. *frustrated glare that they ignore*

    ReplyDelete
  17. Mine were chatty in the beginning, but I curbed that behavior real quick.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dang it, I'm just trying to get them START talking!
    It's almost like they don't want to share the story yet!
    They won't say a WORD!
    I stare at a blank screen, and nothing.
    If they keep this up, they'll be deleted.

    ReplyDelete
  19. They don't talk in my head but I do have to make sure that dialogue runs are actually moving the story forward!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm sorry your characters are being difficult! Sometimes my characters talk a lot, but it normally goes well with the pace of the novel. Sorry you're having a hard time!

    ReplyDelete
  21. My characters talk non-stop! Sometimes I have dialogue running in my head even when I'm not writing. How scary is that?

    ReplyDelete
  22. My characters have finally learned to talk to each other. I forgot to add dialogue at first, so am now adding it into the chapters that need it.
    If they talk too much, I will kill them off, I appear to be doing a lot of that lately. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  23. My character tend not to talk much. I usually don't care during the first draft, but have to give them free voice in subsequent drafts. They like to move pretty fast, but by the end, It becomes a character based novel.

    ReplyDelete
  24. My characters talk A LOT; so much, in fact, that sometimes I wonder if it just might be easier to turn my WIP into a play. But then, no...

    ReplyDelete
  25. Elspeth: Ha! I was thinking today that I might be better at screenplays ... But, you're right ... no :o)

    ReplyDelete
  26. I often find that writing is easy, but getting from one scene to the next is what proves difficult, and making a scene HAVE A POINT.

    When I first read the title, I thught you meant that you're one of the types of writers that has their characters talking to them. Like, telling the author what to do and stuff. I don't mean while writing, I mean in real life. In which case, for that half a second,I envied you.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I hate it. Dialgoue can be fun, and other times it can be chore. Depends on my mood ;-)

    But most of the time my character want to talk! I just have to get up the drive to let them. ;-)

    ~JD

    ReplyDelete
  28. Maybe your characters could talk to my characters and we could get some work done?? :) Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  29. lol mine definitely distract me from the plot too! Have fun with that...

    ReplyDelete
  30. Oh yes. When I'm editing I have to go back afterwards and take *all* of the beginnings and ends of their conversations out...

    ReplyDelete
  31. Mine too. lol. Sometimes they don't even talk too much in dialogue, sometimes it's in narration. :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. My first drafts are always very dialog heavy--it is EXACTLY how I get the story OUT of me. They meander, they kvetch... they talk a lot! It is the edit where I decide what stays (and is incredibly clever) and what slows the pace down or speeds it up inappropriately (usually talk slows, but not always)

    Good luck straightening them out!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I love writing dialogue, so sadly my characters sometimes talk too much too!

    ReplyDelete
  34. My characters are so noisy that if I wasn't a writer, I'd be committed by now for schizophrenia.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Like others have said, it depends on what I'm trying to do and what the characters are doing. There are points when I have characters conversing for great lengths, but I mostly use it as a device for illuminating backstory, setting up for action to come, revealing inner thoughts of characters and their personalities, or to get across a particular philosophy or theme my story is trying to convey (kind of like Ayn Rand I suppose). I see it as part of showing and not telling in a sense--in other words instead of me (the author) telling in narrative, I let my character express my ideas for me.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  36. Looking forward to your Movie Dirty Dozen on Monday!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Part of my problem is that I dislike writing dialogue. all these things---> ", get on my nerves. Then I struggle to find the voice that fits the character. When I'm reading too little dialogue gets on my nerves as well. Too much can do the same. I'm still trying to figure out how to strike a balance so that I can get on with it and write.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Worse - mine just sit around and think. Will you please DO something, people?? LOL

    Glad I'm not the only one that has to work to put the SHOW and ACTION in there! :)

    ReplyDelete
  39. I am my main character and I write what's on my mind. And it goes yada-yada non-stop too sometimes :)

    ReplyDelete

“I'm using my art to comment on what I see. You don't have to agree with it.” ~John Mellencamp

“Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without comment is a wonderful social grace” ~Judith S. Marin

“I don't ever try to make a serious social comment.” ~Paul McCartney

“I'd make a comment at a meeting and nobody would even acknowledge me. Then some man would say the same thing and they'd all nod.” ~Charlotte Bunch

“Probably what my comment meant was that I don't care about the circumstances if I can tell the truth.” ~Sally Kirkland

“We're not going to pay attention to the silliness and the petty comments. And quite frankly, women have joined me in this effort, and so it's not about appearances. It's about effectiveness.” ~Katherine Harris