What are the challenges in writing dynamic character dialogues?

One of the struggles here is maintaining a consistent voice. Let's take for example, your story is about a 'woman becoming'. And it begins from Dymphna's childhood. (Dymphna's core personality is her quiet nature). She becomes a teenager. From a teenager to a young adult. To a young adult in love with her man. To a young woman. To a heartbroken woman. To a married woman finding purpose in life, marriage, and ministry. The readers will mostly remember that core personality common to her... Her being quiet. Definitely there'll be changes in Dymphna. But that core still remains. So no matter what stage in her life. You have to maintain that trait in her. Why? It's easier for your audience to identify her amidst other characters.

L'une des clés pour avoir un personnage cohérent et attachant est qu'il doit lui-même être cohérent. Cela ne veut pas dire qu'il ne peut pas évoluer ou que sa nature profonde ne peut pas changer au fil de l'histoire (via divers événements). Je pense que cela passe d'abord par un travail personnel. En effet, pour que nos personnages gardent leur substance et ne se détourne pas du caractère qui est le leur, nous ne devons pas écrire sous l'influence de notre propre tempérament ou émotions. J'entends par là que nous ne devons pas laisser notre humeur du moment influer sur notre écriture. Cela ne veut pas dire que nous ne pouvons pas nous en servir comme moteur.

Maintaining consistent voices for each character throughout the dialogue is crucial. Each character should have a distinct way of speaking that reflects their personality, background, and motivations. Struggling to keep these voices consistent can lead to confusion and weaken the authenticity of the interactions.

With fewer and fewer mindful readers who are disciplined enough to search for underlying meanings in prose, natural dialogue has become more important. It is not as easy as it may look because it requires a knowledge of psychology matched to personality types.

Todo eso depende de qué tipo de historia uno quiera contar. Hay diálogos para cada tipo de narrativa. Los personajes que tienen voces consistentes en general prevalecen en la historia y son objeto de cari?o de los lectores.

Creating dialogues that convey emotional depth requires skill and nuance. Characters should express their feelings realistically, with dialogue that reflects their emotional states. Balancing subtlety and clarity while avoiding melodrama or flat emotions is a constant challenge for writers aiming for impactful dialogues.

Je fais ici le pont avec la fin de mon précédent commentaire. Nos émotions peuvent être un excellent moteur lorsque nous écrivons. Ce sont elles qui nous aident à savoir comment un personnage doit réagir ou penser selon la situation. Il faut également faire un travail de mise à l'écart ou de recul vis-à-vis de nos personnages, et réussir à les observer en tant que personnes à part entière. Il est ainsi plus facile de les analyser et de savoir quelle sera leur réaction. J'aime prendre André Gide en exemple, notamment avec son carnet de notes sur Les Faux Monnayeurs, ou il explique cette fa?on qu'il a de créer et rendre vivants et indépendants ses personnages. Comme s'il n'en était plus le créateur.

One of my biggest lessons in writing was the need to have a full life, outside of my written work. In taking note of my feelings, taking note of emotional cues and observing why people act the way they do, this helps in crafting scenes. Primarily, people enjoy stories that carry them forward not only plot-wise, but emotionally. A story that goes through them as much as they go through the story. As such, emotion, and how it is depicted or expressed, is key. To help with this, reread your written dialogue as a conversation between two people. Tell if this is how a character going through what they are going through would respond. Do not (only) go for shock value, but aim for emotional relatability.

We must be able to explore human characteristics beyond our own reality. We must escape the natural tendency to fashion characters beyond what we have experience with. If a character is suffering mental illness and the writer has no understanding of such illness than studying and immersion into the subject is a must.

Characters from different backgrounds or cultures may have unique speech patterns, idioms, or cultural references. Incorporating these nuances authentically without resorting to stereotypes or caricatures requires sensitivity and research. Missteps in handling cultural nuances can detract from the realism and impact of character dialogues. Overcoming these challenges involves careful attention to detail, character development, and empathy. By focusing on voice consistency, emotional authenticity, and cultural sensitivity, writers can create dynamic dialogues that resonate with readers and bring their characters to life.

Consider writing as if it were a script and you had to keep the dialogue relatively brief, but add the visuals of the scene.. How will you use the 5 senses to convey the emotional depth of the scene. This will help you create stories that engage at an emotional level.

Cultural, social, and personality nuances in dialogue can truly be the lifeblood of a plot-driven narrative. How does the character speak? Do they tend to raise their voice, nervously stutter, or possess a unique accent influenced by various factors? Perhaps they keep saying "literally" or continually bring up references to sci-fi films in their conversations. Such nuances make characters believable, relatable, and ultimately assist in immersing you in the character's mindset, allowing for the creation of authentic dialogue.

Les nuances culturelles peuvent adopter diverses formes. Elles peuvent être très différentes grace à des univers de fiction comme la fantasy ou la science fiction, ou plus intimes et floues, comme dans des drames. Ce travail ne va donc pas être totalement le même selon ce que l'on souhaite écrire, et selon nos personnages. Il faut donc avant toute chose bien cerner le monde dans lequel ils vont évoluer, ses limites, ses délimitations, etc.

One thing I've found helpful is to always remember that I do not know everything. This gives me a sense of discovery, wonder, and an openness to learn, especially when interacting with people. In approaching crafting characters and their dialogue, realising that there is more for you (the writer) to learn from the character than there is for you to express through the character keeps you in a frame of mind to explore and research more about the character, what their background entails, and how it can and does influence their interactions with others and with the world you have created in your story.

I learnt from Jerry B. Jenkins, and from observing Ted Dekker's writing style, to avoid the fat of excessive descriptions in the midst of dialogue. Once you have established the scene and who is speaking, trust the theatre of your readers' minds to take the story out of your hands and continue painting the picture in their minds. This helps in allowing the scene to communicate pacing, and allows you to get out of the way so as not to slow down what ought to be a dynamic scene.

In my experience, your use of dialogue tags does not need to be excessive. For two-person dialogue, you may begin the scene by using the tags to establish in the reader's mind who is speaking. From there on out, the dialogue can continue without the tags. By so doing, you have cut out unnecessary fat and allowed the story to flow at its own necessary pace. Tags and explanations may come in at times where a pause is necessary. If a third person joins the dialogue, the tags may be necessary to note when they do speak. It's all about imagining you are in the room when these characters are conversing, and establishing the shot. Trust the theatre of the reader's mind.

A writer owns his character so he knows his character's body language, his heart & his mind . Writers knows everything about his character, infact when they write they live their character's life , and all Writers do that, also it depends simply like who is speaking to whom. They write dialogues to expose character's personality. They write as if they themselves have spoken that. To give real edge to the scene. Writing dialogues is an art because it all depends on dialogues. Storyline is base but people remember dialogues for years. So prepare a strong benchmark before writing your character and his dialogues. I still remember some stories are famous because of its dialogues only. Dialogues are soul of a story and a writer is a creator.