Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh for hosting this support Group.
Recently I went back to my WIP dark fantasy, Reaper's Novice. I had combined it with the A-Z challenge, which was a challenge in itself, but had a lot of fun along the way, and met lot's of wonderful people.
The challenging thing about my YA dark fantasy is writing the dialogue. That's not been easy. I've been hanging around teens (my son is one) my ears perked up, trying to catch on, but the kids sort of stop talking when I'm hanging around them. And give me weird looks, so I end up shifting on my feet, or head out to buy pizza to loosen them up abit. And the rest of the time, they talk in low voices and grunt and laugh. On the behaviour side of a teen, I've got it 100%, but dialogues, that's a challenge.
I'm really curious to hear what other writers go about this issue. What do you do? Any advice?
You might have to try going out somewhere like the mall and or an arcade...Lingo changes so fast with young people. One can't keep up..Another suggestion is go on a chat and just watch how they talk.
ReplyDeleteStrange you brought this up. This has been something I've been thinking about a lot lately while working on my urban fantasy story. I don't have any teens around me and I don't watch shows featuring teens. So there's not a whole lot of teen culture influencing me right now. But I think my characters' voices are strong enough to pull me through.
ReplyDeleteOne quick warning though, I've noticed a lot of other writers are leaping at the opportunity to insert modern slang in their YA books to make them edgy. I feel you have to sometimes be careful when using modern slang. It's real easy to date your book if you use too many of the terms that tend to go out of style really fast. My trick to the whole problem is to use slang that doesn't go out of fashion while avoiding most of the trendy ones. Of course, there's no right or wrong to this. But it's something to consider.
I people watch outside the home. I have keen ears and people tend not to take notice of me. So I hear a lot of things!
ReplyDelete@Savannah: Oh I think the chat is a great idea. Hadn't thought about it.:D Thanks!
ReplyDelete@Kevis: Thanks, Kevis! I agree on you on that. :)using modern slang slipped my mind. really worth considering so I don't stamp the date/time all over the story. Thanks again. :)
@Christine: I'm begining to think people watching outside the home is a great idea. Wont cause any nervousness and everyone is free when expressing themselves. Thanks, Christine. :)
Teens say the funniest things, so have fun eavesdropping :)
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