writing advice?Ok so

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writing advice?Ok so

writing advice?

Ok so I'm writing a fantasy short story, and one of my scenes (it's not a major event in the story but I'm a perfectionist) is like a domestic/family scene. I don't usually write this kind of scenario, in most of my ideas parents play very little role. But I feel like it's kind of essential for this particular story, and it also keeps the general idea from being too much of a cliché. 

Soooo to get to the point I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to write REALISTIC parent-child dialogue, because I keep trying to write but it doesn't sound correct somehow. I'd appreciate anything...

~ Evergreen  

submitted by Evergreen, age who knows?, The Library
(April 15, 2020 - 3:26 pm)

back to the Inkwell

How old is the child in question? Because parents will talk to children in a different way depending on the child's age. 

Also, what kind of feeling are you going for? Tense, loving, bittersweet? 

For a general idea though, in a classic parent to teen conversation, the parents would talk to their child as if talking to an almost equal. Teenagers understand more than younger children so parents are more willing to explain. 

If you're still having trouble, simply insert yourself as the main character and your parents as their parents in the story! Some of the best writing comes from your personal experience, so it might be easier to write this paticular part if you imagine yourself in the situation.

Hope this helps! I might be able to give you some more advice if you tell me what sort of feeling you're going for, and how old the main character is. 

Also... now I'm really curious what it's about. I wanna read it!  

submitted by Moonfrost , age Who Cares?, Mars
(April 16, 2020 - 1:12 pm)
submitted by TOP
(April 29, 2020 - 11:01 am)

Can you show us this scene? It's often easier to know what's wrong than to know exactly what the right image is.

Personally, I'm not quite sure how to do it either- I expect you should try to remember a real-life case where you've seen this kind of dialogue. You might also consider what exactly the parent-child relationship is in this case. If you look it up there's probably a few articles about this sort of thing on the web.

submitted by Xa'opve, age 17, Idea Farm
(May 3, 2020 - 12:52 pm)