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it's probably just me, mr. inarticulate, but if I read dialogue that doesn't use a contraction, it sounds terrible. No matter what kind of character, it could be a posh British prime minister -- "you are" sounds horrible.
"We are going to go out tonight" - nope, no one talks like that. "We're gonna go out tonight." still a horrible line of dialogue, but at least i can hear someone saying it that way.
More often than now, I read dialogue that doesn't break words down into contractions when I feel they should be.
im a big fan of "gonna" and "wanna," also. "want to" often sounds clunky. Those should be accepted words on final draft.
like i said, maybe it's just me.
I'd list my "work" here, but I don't know how to hyperlink.
"Career" Highlights -2, count em, 2 credits on my IMDB page. -One time a fairly prominent producer e-mailed me back. -I have made more than $1000 with my writing! -I've won 2 mugs... and a thong. (polaroids of me in thong available for $10 through PM)
@vc_wg - because I crave attention
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mcornetto
Posted: February 6th, 2012, 6:23pm
Guest User
Some people do talk without contractions - especially non-Americans who are speaking properly.
It's all a matter of who you are portraying.
I use contractions when I have average people speaking to one another. I would not use them if my character was giving a speech. I likely would not use them if I were dealing with well-educated people in a work environment but I might use them for the same people after work hours. It really would depend on the character.
I'm with Michael on this one. It's all a matter of who and what context. I do find myself using a lot of contractions nowadays, especially "wanna" and "gonna." They work quite well in natural, informal dialogue scenes.
I find that the majority of Americans, particularly the younger crowd always use contractions. If I'm writing an older character or an authority figure, I never use contractions.