Talking Body Language Scene by Scene
When you talk to someone face-to-face, your mind processes more than what they say. Subconsciously, you register the way her voice sounds, the way her eyes meet yours, the expression on her face, the way she stands, the gestures she makes, even the distance she likes to keep between her and other people. All of these things together put her words in context and tell you whether to like her, respect her, mistrust her or fear her.
Ideally as you are writing a scene in your work of fiction, you want to be able to visualize that scene. You want your reader to be able to:
- See the specific location and the furnishings and objects in it, a macro view.
- Zoom in on one or two unique details, an oddly painted chair, a wall color, a particular painting, a collectible, a micro view.
- Connect their visualization of the macro and micro view to a better understanding of one or more of your characters. A specific detail is there because one of your characters put it there or chose the location because of it. What does that say about your character?
- What actions do they interrupt as they turn to each other and speak?
- How do they navigate around the setting?
- What actions do you see that would tell the story even if you didn't have any dialogue?
- How does that character stand and move that's different from every other character?
- How does that make other characters react to her?
- Does she have a specific gesture she makes frequently? When does she make it? What triggers it?
- Is she aware she is making that gesture?
- Does she like the gesture? Does it embarrass her?
- Do other characters like it? Dislike it?
That's what you need to put in your book.
The mannerisms section of the character worksheet contains 108 quirks and mannerisms to help you get started. But it's just a jumping off point. Hopefully, by the time you even get to that section, you will know enough about your character to have a clear picture in your head.
- Is she a confident character who stands with her shoulders back and her head high?
- Is she a go-getter who leads with her chin?
- Does she slouch because she lacks confidence or was bullied as a child?
- Does she have ADHD or too much nervous energy that translates into a constantly jiggling foot.
- Does she suck her hair because that's more socially acceptable than sucking your thumb?
- Is she curious and tactile, constantly touching something?
- Does she hug herself because she's the only person who ever gave her any reassurance?
We all know that dialogue is spoken aloud, right? I take that literally. If I can't read my dialogue out loud and have it sound natural, I'm not doing my job as a writer. But even more than that, every dialogue sequence in the book has to:
- Identify who is speaking even if I take out the dialogue tags.
- Move the story forward by changing something: an outcome, an opinion, a relationship.
- Contain an underlying tension between the characters over and above the main outcome above. One character wants something. Another character wants something else. Who is going to get what they want?
- Reveal more about each character than we knew before.
To get there, think about what verbal habits your character has picked up and what those say about that character.
- Does she have a specific word she uses frequently?
- When does she use that word?
- How does her word choice affect other characters? What does it make others think or feel?
- What kind of nicknames or terms of endearment does she give to other characters? What does that say about her?
- Does she have a specific way of phrasing something?
- Does she speak fast or slow?
- How does her mood affect the pace of her speech? The timbre, pitch or tone of her voice?
- What does her speech say about where she's from? Is that due to pronunciation? To word choice?
Give each of your characters something unique to say. Don't overuse it, but don't miss the opportunity to let your character speak with distinction.
For further reading:
The Character Worksheet Series
Download the Character Worksheet
Gender Differences: Female Body Language
Gender Differences: Male Body Language
Using Body Language to Create Believable Characters
Emotional Body Language
Angela Ackerman's Emotion Thesaurus
Flesh Out Your Writing with Body Language
Pick a Personality: Keirsey Temperaments (including speech patterns)
Pick a Personality Style: People Styles (including speech patterns)
Avoid Creative Dialogue Tag Syndrome
Dialogue Tags vs. Action Leads/Inserts Part 1
Un-Clone Your Characters Using Distinctive Dialogue
What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People by Joe Navarro
The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan and Barbara Pease
Writing Dialogue for Scripts: Effective dialogue for film, tv, radio and stage by Rib Davis
Write Great Dialogue by Gloria Kempton
Speaking of Dialogue by Sammie L. Justesen
Dialogue Tags vs. Action Leads/Inserts Part 2