I See A Lot Of New Writers Struggling With Pacing Dialogue So Here's Some Tips. First Off, Unlearn Your

I see a lot of new writers struggling with pacing dialogue so here's some tips. First off, unlearn your distaste for "said." If you need to quickly remind readers who is speaking without distracting them, put "said."

Second, if the dialogue is meant to be happening rapidly, cut tags out for several lines. Example:

"Give me the map."

"What map?"

"Don't play dumb with me. Hand it over."

"Not until you give me the keys."

"What keys?"

See how quickly this moves? Every beat is another piece of dialogue, feeding the exchange back and forth. We can slow this down by adding tags that carry some description. This makes the reader spend longer on the passage. Example:

"Give me the map," she demanded, holding out her hand.

"What map?" he asked, face a picture of perfect innocence.

"Don't play dumb with me," she said.

See how much slower this exchange feels now? We didn't add any new information and yet the beats have totally changed. Think of description as something that adds time. To demonstrate, consider this example:

"Don't play dumb with me. Hand it over."

He didn't answer right away. "Not until you give me the keys," he said finally.

How do we make the reader pause in a more natural and effective way? By adding description and tags. Example:

"Don't play dumb with me," she spat, voice dripping venom. "Hand it over."

He stared at her outstretched hand, palm empty. Somewhere in the distance, a coyote howled.

"Not until you give me the keys," he said with a sigh.

See? Without using a single time indicator, we showed a pause, by slowing down the reader and filling those beats with description. Remember that people visualize at the same speed they read. If you need to slow them down, make them read more words. For faster, more intense exchanges, skip all but necessary clarifying tags, as in the very first example.

Lastly, consider the rhythm of your passage. See this example:

"Give me the map," she spat, hand outstretched.

"What map?" he asked, shrugging.

"Don't play dumb with me," she said, narrowing her eyes.

This is repetitive. Avoid using the same pattern of tags and description two or more times in a row. You can fix this by reworking your passage to include more or different descriptions, but for a quick fix, try changing the tags into stand alone sentences and/or moving them before the dialogue. To fix the passage above, we might try this:

"Give me the map," she spat, hand outstretched.

He shrugged. "What map?"

"Don't play dumb with me," she said. Her eyes narrowed.

See how much more natural that is? And we changed nothing but the order and punctuation. Removing the repetition helps you avoid pulling the reader out of the story by reminding them that they're reading. A good dialogue passage should be remembered in your reader's minds as a movie scene.

More Posts from Bluslvrlion and Others

1 year ago

the mistletoe

The Mistletoe

continuation below ⬇️

The Mistletoe
The Mistletoe
The Mistletoe
The Mistletoe
The Mistletoe
The Mistletoe

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1 year ago

you’re twelve years old and you break your father’s hand when he hi-fives you. the first thing you learn is that the smallest slip up can hurt the people you love. your (foster) father smiles and says it’s okay (it’s not). 

your parents are not your parents. the idyllic farming community that raised you is not your home. you’re a You-Don’t-Know-What from You-Don’t-Know-Where. all you know for sure is that you’re not human. 

so you can fly. so you can run fast. so you can lift cars. so what? why do you even have this power? what should you even do with it? 

your father said do what’s right, so that’s what you do. 

you stop a robbery. the man’s knife shatters against your skin and you see the same fear in his eyes that you saw in your father’s when you were twelve. you catch a falling child before it can hit the water. his mother looks at you like you’re a god. 

they love you, even though they don’t know you. the most powerful man in the world hates you because they love you. 

you wanted to write when you were younger. you wanted to tell stories that needed to be told. you never wanted to star in them. you never wanted super-geniuses and demi-goddesses looking to you for advice; like you have any idea how to handle threats to reality itself. you’re just a kid from smallville who’s trying to do the best he can with what he’s given. 

you try and get back to the farm as much as you can. it feels normal being back among the open wheat; where everyone smiles because you’re that nice Kent boy. 

when you were younger, you pretended to fly, hands out to your sides and running through the tall grass by the river. it doesn’t look as beautiful from on high; the details get lost and the colors of your hometown blur together from a mile above ground. 

the problem with flying is that it puts you so far above people you care about


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1 year ago

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1 year ago

I was talking to one of my cis guy friends, and I called him “the big man” and he said, “that just made me very happy.” And the tone in his voice, I just knew exactly how he felt, “that’s gender euphoria!” I exclaimed. 

I don’t know why I never realized, but yeah. Cis people experience euphoria. Like many cis guys who go to the gym do it to affirm their gender. The cis men who get mad at being emasculated–they’re experiencing dysphoria! Trans people aren’t different or odd for experiencing these things. We’re just like everyone else, and somehow nobody talks about it! 

Like my femboy friend gets euphoria from being gnc, but he gets dysphoria by the idea of someone calling him a girl or using the wrong pronouns. Cause cis people have their own gender identities, they just happen to align with their agab. 

It all makes sense. 

I feel like cis people might understand if we explained it like this. Maybe I’m just being hopeful though. I’ve always just thought the “well they feel like the opposite” explanation is lacking any amount of personal relation that a cis person could attach to. 


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1 year ago
Obsessed With This Concept
Obsessed With This Concept
Obsessed With This Concept
Obsessed With This Concept

Obsessed with this concept

(the fact that the ravens annoy the wolves sksksnsjksn)


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1 year ago

For everyone that can’t access Twitter right now here’s a nice break down of musk’s reasons to rebrand as x

For Everyone That Can’t Access Twitter Right Now Here’s A Nice Break Down Of Musk’s Reasons To
For Everyone That Can’t Access Twitter Right Now Here’s A Nice Break Down Of Musk’s Reasons To
For Everyone That Can’t Access Twitter Right Now Here’s A Nice Break Down Of Musk’s Reasons To
For Everyone That Can’t Access Twitter Right Now Here’s A Nice Break Down Of Musk’s Reasons To
For Everyone That Can’t Access Twitter Right Now Here’s A Nice Break Down Of Musk’s Reasons To
For Everyone That Can’t Access Twitter Right Now Here’s A Nice Break Down Of Musk’s Reasons To
For Everyone That Can’t Access Twitter Right Now Here’s A Nice Break Down Of Musk’s Reasons To
For Everyone That Can’t Access Twitter Right Now Here’s A Nice Break Down Of Musk’s Reasons To
For Everyone That Can’t Access Twitter Right Now Here’s A Nice Break Down Of Musk’s Reasons To

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1 year ago

Enid: What time is it?

Wednesday: I don’t know, pass me my cello and we’ll find out.

Wednesday: *Plays the cello loudly and extremely out of tune*

Xavier: WHO THE FUCK IS PLAYING THE CELLO AT TWO IN THE MORNING?!

Wednesday: It’s 2 am.


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1 year ago
wednesday addams is really autistic, and here’s why.
by me, someone who is sooooo neurotypical and normal about fictional characters.
plus, i push my wenclair agenda
quick recap™ on autism (+ a disclaimer):

autism is a developmental disorder that generally presents in differences in social interaction, repetitive behaviors and obsessive interests.
AUTISM IS A SPECTRUM.
no two people with autism are going to have the exact same symptoms. everyone with autism presents in a different way.

disclaimer: this is just based on MY PERSONAL interpretation of the character. if you really don't want her to be autistic then you can just ignore this. and if you go misinterpreting my point that’s a you problem.
reason #1 - lack of social awareness

c’mon. it’s like, a premise of her character.
one of the hallmark traits of autism is difficulty with social interaction, which wednesday clearly represents in the show.
she is shown to dislike social interaction, more than can be chalked up to an introverted personality.
autistic people may also struggle to understand how others are feeling during a conversation; hence, why wednesday inadvertently hurts so many feelings over the course of the show.
essentially, she’s shown to have a complete lack of social understanding that leads to a few key plot points of the show.
reason #2 - obsession with all things deathly 
as another key part of her character, it would not be a stretch to say that wednesday’s special interest is death, and all things that come with it.
wednesday is fascinated by death, and will gladly share relevant knowledge even though she dislikes conversation.
for example, she is shown to know a lot about poisonous plants, execution methods, crime investigation and postmortem practices such as autopsies and taxidermy. 
special interests, or intense focus on specific topics, is another extremely common symptom of autism.
reason #3 - averse to touch

unfortunately for a certain someone, physical touch is really not wednesday’s thing.
hypersensitivity to (especially light) touch, which is common in autistic individuals, could be what makes wednesday hate being touched so much.
‘but wait! enid does hug her in episode 8!’
i know. we all love that scene.
the thing is, light touch is generally the problem with autistic people, and firm touch, like a strong hug (as we see in ep. 8) from a trusted person can actually provide deep compressions that can be very soothing. this serves the same purpose as a weighted blanket.
reason #4 - ‘allergic to color’

maybe wednesday is just really goth.
or maybe she has a sensitivity to bright colors that, like physical touch, can make her feel overwhelmed very easily.
autistic people can often feel overwhelmed by bright lights and colors, and prefer more neutral colors because they’re less stimulating.
this could be why wednesday prefers dark tones like black, and is so easily irritated by the bright colors that enid loves.
reason #5 - adherence to routine

people with autism tend to be very dedicated to their daily schedule, as is wednesday.
wednesday takes an hour out of every day to write her novel, and is inflexible when enid asks to spend that time doing something else.
she also dedicates nighttimes to playing her cello.
(incidentally, the fact that she plays the cello is interesting in itself - instruments such as the cello and violin are popular with neurodiverse people because the vibrations from stringed instruments can be soothing to people with sensory issues.)
reason #6 - monotone voice and limited facial expressions

as part of their differences in social interaction, autistic people often express themselves in ways that are seen as atypical.
often, they will speak in a flat or monotone voice, as wednesday does.
wednesday also rarely shows her emotions on her face. she rarely cries, laughs or smiles, which are outward expressions of emotion that might not come naturally to autistic people.
this is a symptom of autism commonly seen in autistic-coded characters, like wednesday or captain holt of brooklyn nine-nine.
reason #7 - apparent lack of empathy

a common facet of the impaired social skills that often come with autism is the inability to understand when others are hurt or upset.
(this was touched on in the first example but will be explained more in depth here.)
wednesday does come across as cold and uncaring, and often hurts others’ feelings (xavier, enid) without meaning to.
it’s clear that hurting people isn’t her intention and that she really does care, which is shown, for example, after enid leaves and when thing gets stabbed.
she is also confused by and unable to interpret emotional outbursts.
in conclusion, she’s big autistic.

+ some other interesting things / examples:

the fact that she wears all black where no one else does (eg the fencing scene) makes her stand out and could symbolically represent how a lot of autistic people feel different from others & unable to fit in.
after her iconic dance number she is shown taking a break alone in a quiet room, which could be her needing to recharge after spending time in an overwhelming environment.
no, she doesn’t participate in physical stims like hand flapping, which is a stereotypical sign of autism, but a lot of autistic people, especially girls, learn to mask their stims early on to appear ‘normal’, which takes a lot of energy. hence why wednesday spends so much time alone.

thank you all for coming to my presentation!

there’s like. there’s probably more this is just off the top of my head.

there’s transcripts in the alt text if you don’t want to squint :)


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1 year ago

Hey, hey! Friendly reminder to make sure your supposedly “fearless” character gets their darkest fear revealed in the worst way possible so they break down into a vulnerable shaking mess in front of all the people they care about 

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