Too Grammatical…

If you like war stories, you no doubt got a chuckle at the above one. Hell, if you’re a Marine, you’re probably still laughing about it. But it does bring up an important point when it comes to dialogue:

Perfect grammar don’t sound right to a native speaker!

When you learn a language, it’s very formal and exact. You’re learning the “perfect” version of the language, all the rules and details that a teacher of that language loves.

But if you walk down a street speaking like a grammar textbook, you’re gonna get some funny looks. Wander into a war zone, and a Marine might shoot your ass!

That’s because native speakers don’t speak a language perfectly. There are idiosyncrasies to consider, accents and dialects, vernacular and slang, and other little quirks that make words come to life in different ways depending on where you are.

C.M. Saunders and I both speak English as our native tongue. But if you were to have a conversation with each of us (or watch us have a conversation), we’d sound very different. He’s Welsh. I’m Appalachian. We both speak English, but the way we use it, the words we choose, and even the way we sound are completely different.

Which brings me back to my point:

You need to remember those quirks and imperfections when writing dialogue.

I’m not saying your writing should be so accurate it’s unrecognizable to someone who isn’t from the same area as your character--do not try to spell out accents phonetically*. But there should be little nuances that show your character’s version of the language and make their speech unique.

Perfect grammar in dialogue is boring and stiff. It shows a lack of personality for the character and pushes away the reader. That’s why most editors give writers a little more freedom in dialogue to let the characters express themselves. And it’s something you should consider the next time you pick up your pen.

*For more on this, see the blog post "Dialogue Tips" from Rebecca--um, I mean Professor Cuthbert.