Tips on how to be a more casual conversational writer?

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I talk out loud as I write, kinda weird but it works. Also, Try memorizing your copy and reciting it to others in casual conversation. If it feels formal saying it to someone, it most likely is. Good luck friend.

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I do this too and I look like a crazy fool, but I write like a crazy fool too so, win.

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Read scripts of tv shows you like

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Listen to podcasts (of the conversation variety, not the soapbox kind)

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This post made me very sad

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Why?

Echoing one of the posts above, take note of shows that have dialogue that feels really natural. High Maintenance is great with this.

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Get the book “Crafty Screenwriting” by Alex Epstein. It has a very good chapter on how to craft realistic dialogue, which is very helpful in learning how to write looser and more conversational.

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Write it fast and edit things later. Like, just write with the language that pops into your head as if you were talking to yourself. Then all you gotta do is cut down from there.

I talk to myself till it sounds right

Eavesdrop. Walking down the street. In coffee shops. Reality TV, even.

Listen to how other people talk and take note.

If it's copy meant to be read, write it like a text instead of an ad. Scroll through reddit. It's full of people sounding like people.

If it's dialogue, start ripping chunks out of it. People don't talk right. Thoughts get redirected mid sentence. Grammar is meh. Conversation is reactionary.

Just listen to the voices in your head and trust them (to the extent that voices in your head should be trusted.)

Read everything you write out loud. Ask others to read it out loud for you so you can hear how it sounds. Let proper grammar go (gasp!).

Thanks all!

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