Dialogue that is too witty?

It depends how well a character knows another character's humour and wit, doesn't it.

I can sit with my husband, my sister and my brother-in-law, and we can have hours of endless witty chatter. That's because we can feed off each other's sense of humour and we understand where each other is coming from. Even just me and my husband, or me and my sister, on our won, can spend a long time having conversations like this.

You should hear some of the witty conversations my husband and I have in bed, and no, I don't mean about sex, we just like to make each other laugh. We also do this in the car, in shops, anywhere. We can joke for ages over anything, it's why we get on so well.

I sometimes have a couple of characters talk like this in my novels too.


Elodie

The best way to tell is with a few beta readers. Sometimes we fall into the trap of writing funny bits that on we get.

Consistency, methinks. The same characters when interacting together might usually be witty, but perhaps not so much with others--or maybe they try and it fails?

If the characters are witty and they're witty toward each other -- and if it's relevant to the story -- then I don't see a problem. Now if you break out of character for them, then it's "forced." True, as the author, you have control over what you write, but IMHO, your characters are not puppets. They have to do or say things based on their personalities. If they're usually serious people and suddenly they get into a repartee, then it's not believable and jarring -- unless there's a damn good reason.

Elodie-Caroline said:

It depends how well a character knows another character's humour and wit, doesn't it.

I can sit with my husband, my sister and my brother-in-law, and we can have hours of endless witty chatter. That's because we can feed off each other's sense of humour and we understand where each other is coming from. Even just me and my husband, or me and my sister, on our won, can spend a long time having conversations like this.

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I agree with this. As long as it's "in character" for people to have that kind of snappy, witty banter, then it works. A lot of people do it IRL, myself included.

"So, is there such thing as dialogue that is too witty?" You don't want all your characters sounding the same. A book made up entirely of characters that sound like Noel Coward would become tiresome, as well as being unbelievable. Of course Noel Coward wrote plays where everybody sounded like Noel Coward, but the rules may be a little different for the stage.

maestrowork said:

If the characters are witty and they're witty toward each other -- and if it's relevant to the story -- then I don't see a problem. Now if you break out of character for them, then it's "forced." True, as the author, you have control over what you write, but IMHO, your characters are not puppets. They have to do or say things based on their personalities. If they're usually serious people and suddenly they get into a repartee, then it's not believable and jarring -- unless there's a damn good reason.

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I agree.

but I had to laugh when you mentioned Gilmore Girls because I immediately thought of that show or Dawson's Creek. I always thought those kids sounded much too old for high school (but it didn't stop me from watching. )

Cato said:

So I was writing last night and a particular conversation between two characters that I would consider to be witty kind of gave me the sense that it was too witty. I mean, nobody would talk like that in real life, but since I ultimately control what they say (and have a lot of time to think about it thoroughly) I can make pretty much each sentence or reply witty. When you read it all at once it comes pretty fast, and I'm not sure if anyone's that fast.

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Your instincts are probably correct. I've caught myself "being clever" after having gained some objective distance, and it made me wince in pain. So if that's what you've done, time will likely tell.

Don't worry about it now. Soldier on and kill your darlings later, after a cooling off period, when they'll stand out more.

I think yes, dialogue can be too witty, but that's only if everyone in the entire novel is like chock-full of one-liners and they're all witty in the same way. I think it's hard to overdo real wit, as long as it fits each character.

For example, Greys Anatomy actually has some pretty awesome lines ("what are you looking at?" " the bigger picture.") But the thing is, you wouldn't consider most of the characters as witty. Those great one-liners come out when they surprise us by showing a deeper side to their character; not because they're all so uber-cool all the time.

Said a lot more than I meant to. Hope it all made sense.

Smile,
-Feathers

Pah! I sneer a Grey's Anatomy, House is a far richer source for witty banter.
For example;

Dr. Wilson: That smugness of yours really is an attractive quality.
Dr. Gregory House: Thank you. It was either that or get my hair highlighted. Smugness is easier to maintain.

Or even;
Dr. Wilson: At least I try.
Dr. Gregory House: Well, as long as you're trying to be good, you can do whatever you want.
Dr. Wilson: And as long as you're not trying, you can say whatever you want.
Dr. Gregory House: So between us we can do anything. We can rule the world!

Brilliant, tear inducing humour.

Wit is highly subjective, I think. What is Witty to one may be construed as snobby, boring, contrite, backtalking or indulgent depending on the audience and I think it would be difficult to determine whether dialogue is too witty. It just has be natural to the characters involved. I don't know many 16 year olds who sound like Juno, but her banter was definitely consistent with her character.

Feathers said:

I think yes, dialogue can be too witty, but that's only if everyone in the entire novel is like chock-full of one-liners and they're all witty in the same way.

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Well said. All you need to do is think about the plethora of really bad TV sitcoms, and you find it full of dialogue of this kind. Avoid it.

caw

Elodie-Caroline said:

I can sit with my husband, my sister and my brother-in-law, and we can have hours of endless witty chatter. That's because we can feed off each other's sense of humour and we understand where each other is coming from. Even just me and my husband, or me and my sister, on our won, can spend a long time having conversations like this. Elodie

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I agree with this too. I can sit with a specific bunch of mates and be literally crying with laughter at the banter ;-)

When writing dialogue, it has to sound natural. So if you have a witty character, fair enough. If they suddenly start being clever/witty/sarcastic when before they weren't like this, it's going to jar and sound fake.

The fact of the matter is, people in RL do not speak like you write, or how characters on TV speak. Very few people can come up with perfect one-liners, witty remarks or accurate arguments on the spot. I think in writing it doesn't really matter though, as long as the dialogue fits your characters.

Clare

One of the great pleasures of reading fiction, for many people, is reading dialogue that's wittier than anything we could come up with in real life; so I wouldn't worry about over-the-top wittiness unless
(a) it doesn't fit with the tone of the novel as a whole
(b) it doesn't fit with the tone of that particular scene
(c) it doesn't fit with the characterization of that character.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer has great witty dialogue, but some characters are sarcastic and defensive, or sarcastic and angry, or funny and naive, or funny and shallow, etc.

And some people think that BtVS is over-the-top in terms of witty dialogue, but sarcasm is a first language for a lot of people my age, so I didn't think so. Would those characters have been that witty in real life? Well, no. But they wouldn't have been putting stakes through vampires' hearts, either. It's called fiction. Some genres (I'm thinking of certain romances, specifically?) have great leeway for dialogue that few people are witty enough to come up with on the spur of the moment.

There have been times when I've been in conversation with friends (long ago...no such luck nowadays) and the things we've said or come up with were just ridiculously funny and clever. I still have one conversation we wrote down and passed around on paper and when I read it I think, "We actually came up with this stuff??" I've even managed it on my own. Then there have been times when everything out of my mouth has been stupid. ;_; Wit seems to be a hit-or-miss thing; sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not with some people. Some people manage to be witty almost always (ah, I remember a few of those from high school, I envied them so much!), and some people just don't have any at all (me when I'm anxious, for example).

Once in a while I wonder if the dialogue in my stories is too witty, but since I'm not a terribly witty person myself, maybe I worry myself too much! In any case, yes, there can be too much wit, but if the character is particularly clever, it fits. You just have to make sure that the OTHER character(s) involved in the dialogue are equally witty for it to work. And obviously, not all the characters in the story can be terribly witty or else it will definitely sound forced. There must be a few people whose wit is rather dull or nonexistent.

In fact, I think it's the non-witty people who might provide the greatest source of wit from the witty people. I've found that in real life, often it's the stupid or blank reactions of the nonwits that help the wits stay so witty. Or something. Wow this is confusing.

I have a character who is cocky and self assured and often comes off as a callous ass, and sometimes as a very witty person. Some other characters act as perfect foils, and others just think he's a jerk. I wrote this "wit" into him specifically. It is the context that makes it come out. If he's bantering with an old friend, he acts differently than when he is trying to make a financial deal, or trying to seduce someone.

Another thing you might want to look into is how easily or hard the dialogue comes to you when writing it. If you have to work really hard at it, then you might be trying too hard to be witty. But on the other hand, if witty dialogue is coming easily for you for every character, then that's a sign to look out for, too.

is it consistent with your rest of your story? it doesnt have to be realistic if your book is not striving for 100% realism

Dialog in books doesn't sound like real people talking. It's an artificial, artistic convention that the readers accept as real people talking.

Maybe if people talked the same in real life, as they do in books, people wouldn't get their wires crossed eh

James D. Macdonald said:

Dialog in books doesn't sound like real people talking. It's an artificial, artistic convention that the readers accept as real people talking.

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