"Knowing just what to say."

No one naturally speaks in an eloquent manner.

It takes a lot of training to articulate ourselves in our speech, regardless of how well we grasp a language. The realm of monologue may require well constructed dialogue, but in terms of a simple conversation, the majority of us suffer from 'speech disfluency'. When it comes to portraying characters in dialogue, we should make good use of speech disfluency in order to breathe life and personality into them.

What is Speech Disfluency?

Speech Disfluency is a term that refers to any break in, what would otherwise be, fluent speech. Examples of such that occur in natural dialogue are:

• False starts, repeated syllables
• Vocables (uh-huh, hmm), words that have no form but still convey meaning
• Pauses (silence, usually to indicate confusion or deep thought)
• Mispronounciation of words, 'tongue twisters'
• Inconsistent pacing, slowing down or speeding up speech to convey a character's feelings or emotion

When utilised for the purpose of characterisation, speech disfluency attributes an additional dimension to a character's personality. You can illustrate a considerable portion of a character, purely through simulating the way they talk. To elucidate this concept, I'll be presenting a character's personality, while only using dialogue to do so.

Meet Roger

"Hi ya. Umm... ma name's Roger. I'm 54 years old. And I'm 'ere 'cause I'm... cause I'm. Because I'm... addicted... to alcohol."

"I've been drinkin' booze for uhh... uhh... for a long time. A long, long time. It's broken... broken my family. My missus. Uh... uhh, she... she left. My kids don't... don't 'sociate... don't wanna speak to me. Don't wanna see me... anymore. I fink.,. I uh, I... n-need help. Some serious help I fink."

"They said... if I could get sober. Uhhh, maybe we could... sort suttin' out. My kids I mean. She didn't know... still doesn't.... know I've seen my son a few times. Court said I can't... but he... he doesn't care."

"I just... I just wanna see us together again. A family... again. I want us all back home again. Maybe we could. If I just get sober.... maybe we could."

What did the four groups of dialogue tell you about Roger, outside of what he explicitly said himself? Did his unique way of speaking infer any type of personality? What about the description of his circumstances? Is it possible that he was painting a scenario in his favour? Did you detect that the story was not all that it seemed? Was it clear that he couldn't take responsibility for his actions?

There's a lot that can be conveyed through dialogue, that doesn't have to boil down to basic exposition. Each time a character speaks is an opportunity to present what is novel about them. The same information should be presented differently, depending on the character that is speaking. This way, you have distinct, believable characters that all fulfill different roles in the story and for the reader.

Dialogue doesn't need to advance the plot

Some writers advise that dialogue should always advance the plot. I disagree, and to follow such stringent rules is to limit your ability to present your characters in a believable manner. Some of the best dialogue that one has read or seen in media, has had absolutely no relation to the plot or central narrative. The only important thing about dialogue is that it should always portray the characters.

Let's say you have a story about a criminal mastermind, who's speaking to their partner-in-crime whilst preparing for a heist. According to the advice mentioned above, their conversations should essentially boil down to the heist, seeing as it is most relevant to the plot. However, in this story, the partner-in-crime is always presented chewing gum whenever they're anxious. The criminal mastermind hates the sound of chewing gum. Whilst preparing their scheme, the mastermind starts an argument with their partner, that the sound of their chewing drives them insane. This conversation doesn't have any relevance to the plot, and is not mentioned again in the story. However, during the heist, the partner doesn't chew any gum, and is visibly unnerved throughout.

Despite not establishing any exposition explaining this, thanks to the set up via the dialogue, we are able to understand and empathise with the characters we see. This opportunity comes from showing, not telling the audience what you want them to understand. As a result, our characters appear much more believable to them. By facilitating characterisation through dialogue, we open up many opportunities for our stories to captivate the audience. So it's important that we know exactly what our character's need to say, especially when they don't.