Not-so Well Spoken

I need to get this on the table: I do not always speak well. Hell, I don't always write well, either, objectively speaking. And that is okay.

It isn't difficult to make peace with this. The most compelling, silver-tongued language aficionados have moments where they can't or don't feel like putting in the effort. And let's face it, it's almost never necessary to crank up the wordsmithery to 10: most things can be communicated effectively with clear, simple verbiage.

Why is it then, that I often feel the need to make my characters well spoken all the time? Sure, some of them are naturally going to speak with more bravado and linguistic mastery than others, but just like real life, NO ONE speaks masterfully all the time. Outside of context and situational propriety, it's unnatural, exhausting, and just plain unrealistic.

Sometimes I write a line of dialogue and pause. "This is what they said?" I question it, not the why but the how. Then I question the how. The point got across, the answer or comment was concise, and there was contextually no need for the character to grandstand. They are just talking, communicating normally, as they should be. And I, the writer, am taking issue with that?

This is a me problem. For shame.

If I feel the need for every line from every character to be deep and 'quote worthy', then I am thrusting absurd expectations on them. If I don't hold myself to that standard, how ridiculous is it to hold someone else, fictional or otherwise, to it?

And very often, as with real people, they sometimes say some incredibly quote worthy things. I am surprised by well spoken they sometimes are, and they offer little gems of dialogue that trickle down and filter through normal speech like gold panning.

So yes, sometimes I speak well. Sometimes I say some incredibly thought provoking things and I can be helpful and compelling and convincing. I can write things that surprise me, things that are so good that I read it back and say, "Holy shitake, I wrote this?!"

Other times brain goes plunk and everyone gets the speech and writing equivalent of a microwaved dinner from me.

Not everyone speaks and writes to high degrees of finery at all times. Some people simply can't, for many reasons, and that is absolutely fine. The important thing is that we communicate, and lest I forget:

Good communication isn't complex. Being understood is always more important than being bespoke.