Lately I’ve been struggling with a flashback scene of two characters, a man and a woman, who ultimately become lovers but who are, in the scene I’m now writing, merely teenagers fumbling through their first date.
I’m finding it tough. Excruciating, actually. Not because I don’t love these two people (I do) and not because I don’t have all the faith in the world that they belong together (because they do). What has me so at odds is how to write age-appropriate dialog for them. I cannot seem to “write down.”
I don’t know about you, but nothing drives me battier than when I read dialog of young characters who have the wit and vocabulary and general worldliness of people FIVE TIMES THEIR AGE.
Now I know today’s teenagers are savvy. Very savvy. They are much sharper and far more informed than I ever was, even in those uber-angst John Hughes years. But really. In any era. In any century. Gramaphone or Ipod, teenagers have to talk like teenagers.
And yet, here I am! Finding myself in danger of committing my peeve. I repeatedly make our hero and heroine too witty, their banter too clever, their interests too unlikely. Because I know how to write them at forty. The trick is figuring out how to write them with that same attraction, that same connection, at seventeen.
Anyone else have or have had this dilemma in your writing? Do you agree that it’s hard to write authentic dialog for characters who are out of your age group, be it older or younger? Are you often tempted to make their conversations smarter/sexier/wittier/generally more or less mature than you know is believable?
As the parent of a teenager, I’m struck by how much they do NOT say. They are extraordinarily inarticulate. Especially the boys. Lots of silences. Maybe the secret to writing their dialogue is to just get rid of most of it. 🙂
Hi Ilana. Thanks for stopping in and leaving your thoughts–And the heads up–I’m the mom of two little ones who can’t fathom the teenage days!
You know, I did find myself making use of a lot of quieter moments in the scene after all. You’re right: We all struggle to find our words, especially in our youth, when the dramas are so especially intense and leave us at a loss for articulation.
Erika, I can understand your frustration! In my novel, I have to write a dialogue between a mother and a five year old girl but I’ve never really been around any five year olds, I don’t know how they talk or act… I’m afraid of letting her talk like a fifteen year old or worst, like a two year old.
I guess we’re going to go outside to the ‘real world’ and do as much observation as possible and take notes. Then come back to our ‘creative world’ and write what we’ve learned 🙂
Lua, you know, I think children are SO hard to write. I have a four year old and a two year old and yet I always shy away from having kiddos in my novel–it’s not that I don’t have the reference (which I clearly do) but rather I struggle to make their dialog believable. Is that odd? In my WIP I have a nine year old and that I think is also a tough age–I don’t want to make her too unaware, but I also don’t want her to be too jaded…
Perhaps hanging out with some teens will help. AT a coffee shop and the mall you could eavesdrop!!
Good idea, Jennifer–Hmmm…my husband teaches juniors–maybe I could sit in on one of his biology classes.
I definitely agree with jennifer — go observe! I once hung out at a “skater shop” and park to get the lingo and descriptions of a certain character right. I have more trouble with adult dialog, though — I guess that says a lot about my maturity level 😉
A skater shop! I like the sound of that. Do tell! Did you go incognito? Did you glean any good phrases that you just can’t stop using? (ie, Hella–does anyone use that anymore?)
I just had to look “Hella” up in the Urban Dictionary…so, no, I didn’t hear that one. This was about six years ago, and a couple of times I had my four kids (down to the infant carrier) with me, so definitely not incognito. But, the skater dudes didn’t seem to mind. I heard “wicked” a lot, and a lot of inappropriate stuff (thus the reason I had to stop bringing my kids) 😉 Fun, though!
I heard novelist Raffaella Barker read from one of her novels and then do a Q&A at the Edinburgh Festival a few years back. Someone commented on how apt her teenage dialogue was in her novels and asked how she did it. She had teenagers of her own, which obviously helped, but she said she drove them and their friends around quite a bit. She didn’t speak to them much in the car journeys, just LISTENED!
So I’m with Amanda, go hang somewhere – remember 21 Jump Street – maybe you could pull something like that off?
Hi Downith, thanks for that. Listening is key. Anywhere and everywhere.
Do I remember 21 Jump Street? Oh man, do I ever. LOVED that show. Well, REALLY loved Johnny Depp, but the show had its other moments too.
I can imagine how difficult it must be…!!! I think it must be frustrating, because you know they don’t react or talk or see the world as you do. Maybe you could try reading some YA novels?
Most of my characters are a few years or decades older than myself. I find it much easier to write up then to write down.
Good thought, June. I agree, writing up is always easier. Would you believe last night I downloaded Fast Times at Ridgemont High–it is, of course, a classic, but I hoped it would provide the infusion of teen angst I needed (and I am writing in the early 80’s so the timing was key) and indeed, it did the trick!
Good question, Erika. And scary. I agree that the best way to get a handle on how teens talk is to observe them. Not only what they say, but how they behave under that. They’re far more protective of their feelings than fortysomethings and are likely to cover up with poise and swagger. Nail how they feel inside and what they don’t want to show – and you’ll probably nail their dialogue.
Roz, thanks so much for stopping by! I think you hit the nail on the head with the idea of teenagers as self-protective. Where we pour our hearts out as adults (many of us, anyway), teens hold so much in. I have come to realize that trend is key in their exchanges, especially when the conversation confronts anything emotional and potentially exposing.
I can vouch for teens in central California still using Hella … hella good, hella fun, etc.
I agree the best way to get dialogue right is to eavesdrop.
I often listen to video of family gatherings, or interviews, or reality shows (REAL reality) to pick up vocabulary, speech patterns, and accents.
Hella lives! Thanks for letting me know, Linda–maybe I could still be considered hip even after moving out of California nearly 20 years ago!
Reality shows–a great tip.
I have the perfect solution to your dilemma! Can’t you channel your teen years and think back to the conversations Oil and Water used to have in the Shaker RC?
I have the perfect solution to your dilemma! Can’t you channel your teen years and think back to the conversations Oil and Water used to have in the Shaker RC?
Of course! But wait–was I Oil or was I Water?
Quaker State was oil. Poland Spring is water. Get it?
Ah, Dave. NOW I get it…ah, youth.