alloftheprompts:

thoughtsfromthewritersdesk:

ourinquisitorialness:

writer problems: when your character is supposed to be really clever and quick-witted and eloquent, and you’re just…not…those things

Does anyone have any tips for this problem? It would save your favorite writing blogger a lot of headache

The solution to this problem is in that you have an advantage over your character in that you have time they do not. 

Your character needs to come up with a clever remark or witty quip on the spot and you feel under pressure because you yourself are not the sort of person who does that and can’t seem to have the right words when you come to the point in the scene.

But unlike your character, you don’t have just some fifteen seconds to think of that smart comeback, or the solution to the puzzle in front of them.

You have all the time you need. You can research, and brainstorm, and refine, and edit. You can sit down with your writing partner and discuss a variety of possible options. You can study how humor works and how great speakers use language. You can rewrite your character’s dialogue twelve and twenty times to get the rule of three right and to insert clever wordplay. You can triple check meanings of the words and fact-check your character’s science metaphors. 

Time is on your side.

(Also, you are probably much smarter than you think.)