From: julie@pascal.org   
      
   On Thursday, May 15, 2014 7:41:13 PM UTC-6, bre...@sff.net wrote:   
   > On 5/15/2014 6:48 PM, John W Kennedy wrote:   
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   > > On 2014-05-15 22:20:47 +0000, Brenda Clough said:   
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   > >> On 5/15/2014 4:02 PM, William Vetter wrote:   
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   > >>> On Wednesday, May 14, 2014 7:19:40 PM UTC-4, bre...@sff.net wrote:   
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   > >>>> On 5/14/2014 7:19 AM, David Friedman wrote:   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>>> On 5/13/14 10:51 PM, C. E. Gee wrote:   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>>>> I've noticed, many writers have problems with dialog as they don't   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>>>> socialize with such people. Many writers graduate from college, then   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>>>> go on to fairly high-end careers, working with others of like   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>>>> backgrounds. And they socialize mostly with others of similar   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>>>> backgrounds.   
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   > >>>>>>   
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   > >>>>> I expect I've socialized with a fair range, given my SCA   
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   > >>>>> involvement. I   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>>> suspect the problem is that I don't have an ear for it, don't   
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   > >>>>> notice and   
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   > >>>>   
   >    
   > >>>>> remember how different people speak.   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>>>   
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   > >>>> It is a mistake to model your dialog upon what you see on TV or in   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>> movies -- screenwriters get big money for writing that dialog, and   
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   > >>>> it is   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>> not like life.   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>> However, it is not difficult to hear real-life conversation.   
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   > >>>> Restaurants   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>> and bars are good for this, especially those who do not have TVs or   
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   > >>>> loud   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>> background music. Conventions and meetings, offices (all the time spent   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>> in doctors' waiting rooms can be usefully spent eavesdropping in the   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>> office staff). Public transport, movie and theater lobbies, airport   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>>> lounges -- there are millions of places to hang and listen to people.   
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   > >>>>   
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   > >>> Go to a go go bar during the day shift. You can study women all you   
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   > >>> want, stare at them, and nobody will challenge you, because it's the   
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   > >>> norm there. Some of them are ethnic, homegirls, done a little time,   
   >    
   > >>> were hookers in Europe. A lot of types that authors try to write about.   
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   > >>>   
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   > >>> Learn to say "maybe later" to all of them, or it will get expensive.   
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   > >> And if you do that, be well aware that they are not all women, or even   
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   > >> most women.   
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   > >   
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   > > Increasingly, they are. A few years ago I saw a newspaper piece about   
   >    
   > > former stockbrokers in NYC who had turned to stripping, and I just   
   >    
   > > yesterday read an interview with an Eng-lit PhD (and self-identified   
   >    
   > > feminist) who's decided that being a stripper not only pays several   
   >    
   > > times as much as being an "adjunct", but is also more fulfilling, not to   
   >    
   > > mention that it makes it easier to follow her husband if his job   
   >    
   > > transfers him, and she gets more hours a day with her kids.   
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   > The very fact that there was a newspaper article about them shows that    
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   > they are unusual. I would no more model all female speech upon strippers    
   >    
   > than I would model all male speech upon that of Chippendales.   
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   >    
   >    
   > Brenda   
      
      
   Bottom line, though, I think is that a character is an individual and not a   
   representative of a group so it really shouldn't matter where you get your   
   templates from, or how typical your unsuspecting speech models are, but that   
   you can pick out a few    
   unique habits of speech or word choice to abscond with for your own uses.   
      
   Julie   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)