Wednesday 15 November 2017

ideas from Pinterest || dialogue: snark

Apparently people have enjoyed my 'ideas from Pinterest' series; the post with explosion-related dialogue prompts is one of the three most popular posts on my blog. Which is awesome. (And disturbing.)

If you haven't read these posts, they're here:


...feel free to check them out. *winks*

And today - you may have guessed it from the title, but shush, you - I have another dialogue prompt post for you!

Snark. (Sarcasm. Witty banter. That stuff. I'm just going to pretend this is a serious category of dialogue prompts.)

........
"Somehow you don't even have to open your mouth to make my head hurt."

"Don't give me attitude. I have one of my own."

"You can't just sit there all day."
"Never underestimate my ability to idle."

"Turns out separate planets wasn't far enough, huh?"

"Never take advice from me."

"There's no need to repeat yourself. I ignored you fine the first time."



"I am under no obligation to make sense to you."

"I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong."

"That's enough, old me."
[This may or may not be borrowed from an X-Men comic.]

"How am I going to explain THIS??"
"Aliens?"
"...aliens."

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot you right now."
"...I'm driving?"

"The real treasure is the memories we made along the way."
"I almost died!"
"Ah, yes. That was my fondest memory."

"Sorry I hung up on you, I didn't mean to answer the call."

"I'm afraid I've been thinking..."
"Always a dangerous pastime."
- Halt, probably. Several times over. 

"Look, only one of us is right. The other one is you."

"Silence, you uneducated peanut." 

"Everything about this screams 'recipe for disaster'."
"I don't-"
"You'd hear it yourself, but you haven't stopped talking."
 
"Are you clinically insane, or just incredibly annoying?"
"I don't know, but probably both."

"Why are you glaring at me?"
"I'm hoping you'll spontaneously combust."

"Any shorter and you'd probably fade out of existence."

"I have neither the time nor the crayons to explain this to you."
........

So! There you have twenty-one dialogue prompts. All taken from Pinterest - none of them are my own creation (although I did modify a few). Use them as crazily as you wish! And I'd love to hear about any character you might use them for.

Do you use Pinterest as a writing tool? Drop your links in the comments, if you like! I'm always open to procrastinating on Pinterest :) WAIT NO I DIDN'T SAY THAT. PINTEREST IS COMPLETELY A WRITING TOOL OKAY.

Which of these dialogue prompts is your favourite? Which of your characters is most snarky? Do you make your characters bicker to boost your word count?? (please say it isn't just me...) What's the most witty line your characters have said?

32 comments:

  1. Oh, goodness, I love this! My characters need to be more snarky...I may mine this field in the future. Mwah ha ha...

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  2. This is awesome! I loved each and every one of them! I especially appreciate that you used a cat picture for your heading.

    I've actually used the "I'd agree with you, but we'd both be wrong" line before.

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    1. Thanks, Sarah! ...I couldn't find a good picture for the heading, and then realised I'd been going about it all wrong. Cats were OBVIOUSLY the way to go. ;)

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  3. I saw that sarcastic looking cat and settled myself in for some sarcasm xD One of my favorites was, "I have neither time nor crayons to explain this to you". But the rest are amazing. As to most sarcastic character....Um....I have no idea. But I can see Rilan and Awyeria using this:
    "The real treasure is the memories we made along the way."
    "I almost died!"
    "Ah, yes. That was my fondest memory."

    I think I'm going to use that....

    ~Ceci
    alooongtimeagoinagalaxyfarfaraway.blogspot.com

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    1. I picked that cat because it definitely looked like it was feeling the snark xD

      OOH your characters sound cool, Ceci! If that quote fits their character, I'd love to read more about them xD

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  4. Lol you know how much I love these prompts xD my favorite was the one : "but I almost died!" "Yes that was my fondest memory." xDD

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    1. I know you do, Lisa ;) Actually, reading your post about your superhero story was what reminded me that I hadn't written a Pinterest post for a while... so thanks! ;D

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  5. Seriously. This is great!!!!

    "Give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot you right now."
    "...I'm driving?"

    THAT. YES. THAT ONE.

    Starky characters are wonderful.

    Wait...was that a typo? *glances at word* Nope. Not in the least.

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    1. I think that quote was from a movie originally, and found its way onto Pinterest? BUT I WANT TO USE IT SO BAD xD

      BAHAHA EXCELLENT 'TYPO', JULIAN. xD

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  6. Haha, this is great!! :D My favorite was probably "Give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot you right now." "...I'm driving?" LOL!

    I make my characters bicker all. the. time. But they aren't as snarky as I'd like them to be. :P One of the wittiest lines my characters have said (that I can think of) is probably "You're nicer... maybe you should get shot more often."

    I love Pinterest, and yes, I use it as a writing tool. ;) Here's the link to my profile:
    https://www.pinterest.com/karyssan/

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    1. "Maybe you should get shot more often" < That's a GREAT witty line, Karyssa! And my characters bicker all the time too! - mostly for the word count and to make up for the lack of a plot. (They've actually commented on that. Nothing like a bit of fourth-wall breaking for a NaNo project...)

      Pinterest is totally a writing tool ;) Thanks for dropping your link - I'll go check it out!

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  7. I loved reading this post, Jem!! My favorite is the thinking is dangerous one.

    I've experimented with sarcastic banter, I still need to refine it a little.

    Catherine
    catherinesrebellingmuse.blogspot.com

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    1. I think my family might use the 'thinking - a dangerous pastime' one occasionally??

      Thanks for reading, Catherine!

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  8. Hahaha these are great. Fantastic post. My favorite is "Silence, you uneducated peanut." XD Pinterest has some of the BEST dialogue and story prompts!

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    1. Thanks, Olivia! :) Pinterest is definitely a great distraction - uh, I mean, tool?? - for writers looking for inspiration!

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  9. "There's no need to repeat yourself. I ignored you fine the first time." "Sorry I hung up on you, I didn't mean to answer the call." "Look, only one of us is right. The other one is you." - those were some of my favourites. I hope I'd never use them in real life conversations, but I know my brother would find them funny so I'll probably read some of them to him. Thanks for the post - I'm sure these would prompt some pretty entertaining dialogue!

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    1. Great point, Jessica - in real life, we need to make sure our words are ultimately uplifting. Your comment made me think deeper about what I like about snarky characters: I want to see their sarcastic dialogue, but I also want them to have deep friendships and truly care about each other, whether they'd admit it or not. :)

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  10. This is hilarious! Snark is the best!!! XD

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    1. I know, right? xD Thanks for stoppping by, Gray!

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  11. BSHAKLJAOIURHAJHKJDHADLJAAKJHDFKSOIUAAKDFI I CAN'T. THIS IS NOT FAIR WHY IS THIS SO PERFECT???? I NEED THESE ALL IN MY STORIES + REAL LIFE ASAP.
    WHY AREN'T PEOPLE THIS SNARKY TO ME IN REAL LIFE??? (or maybe they are and I dont notice because I'm too busy being annoyed at them.... HMM MAYBE THIS IS A THING I MUST INVESTIGATE THIS NOW.)

    I can't even pick a favourite one because they are all too perfect. I NEED TO WRITE WOW THANK YOU SO MUCH, SLR, NOW I AM VERY INSPIRED THAAAAANKSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    (wow this was SHORT look at me being responsible and writing tiny comments so that your eyeballs don't fall out and your brain doesn't short circuit from boredom)
    NOW I GET TO GO CHECK OUT YOUR OTHER POSTS...

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    1. ESSSSTHER I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED YOU'D ENJOY THIS POST. Love of snark? like WOW THAT CAME OUT OF THE BLUE.

      I'd kind of like to have snarky dialogue in real life?? except I need at least 24 hours to prepare my witty responses. And then I'm trying to go to sleep and sit bolt upright and hiss because it's too late NOW, silly brain, why couldn't you come up with that earlier?

      YESS you need to go write now ;) [I need to go write now. hahaha *dies*]

      (oh my eyeballs are long gone. My glasses are to disguise the fact.)

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    2. *GLARES*.... XD

      I KNOW!!! But the times when I actually DO come up with a snarky comeback ON TIME I'm just like: "OH YEAH SPORADIC DANCE OF VICTORY GUYS!!" and they are all like: "blank stares" (yeah they actually say that it's weird) so it kinda ruins the moment??
      (lol the fact that I can say this kind of thing to you is kind of amazing, I mean, I've known you for like... I don't even know how long?? feels like forever)

      BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!! *wipes tears from eyes* You're a hoot, SLR.

      (oh okay perfect, I won't make the same mistake again)

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    3. *snarky glare back*

      (This is certainly much more comfortable than when I've known someone for the same amount of time in real life??) (of course, if we met in real life, I could probably make it go awkward? I'm skilled like that. SKILLED.) *tapdance of victory* *on the table* (for... no particular reason? except yOU WERE DANCING FIRST.)

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  12. *grins at Ranger's Apprentice reference*

    I LOVE THESE. *flails* My church friends and I use "I'd agree with you but then we'd both be wrong" pretty frequently, haha! xD

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    1. RANGER'S APPRENTICE IS AWESOME *highfive*

      That's definitely one that suits real life use, Lila! (of course, we say it in love... ;)

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  13. Haha, these prompts are awesome! My favorite is
    "Look, only one of us is right. The other one is you."
    I love your blog! I'm so glad I found it :)

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    1. Welcome to my blog, Abi - and thanks for following! :D

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  14. I love the aliens one. And the crayons one. That might be my favorite. All of them are so awesome though. I love snarky dialogue! I'm not great at writing it, but sometimes my characters get snarky for no reason and it doesn't really fit with what's going on, but I don't want to stop them, so I just let them cleverly insult everyone for a few pages and then we move on.

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    1. That's perfectly acceptable... after all, most readers love snark [okay, I'm probably over-generalizing here - but I like reading snark!], PLUS you get a few extra pages. And often the characters reveal a fear or need or wish or something, so then we can get a deeper understanding of the characters. Basically, there is no downside to writing snark ;P

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  15. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot you right now."
    "...I'm driving?"
    My absolute favourite piece of snark ever. It's probably the sort of thing I'd say. :D

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    1. That was one of my favourites too ;) Glad you enjoyed, Chelsea!

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