Writing Anyone ever think about making their characters say something VERY out-of-pocket but stop yourself from writing it

[DekuKurohi]

Exactly as the title said. Usually when it comes to very dramatic scene or attempt at more morbid or dark humor (Or whatever you wanna call it).

Maybe like an intrusive thoughts about making your characters say something that would probably not be super appropriate. Maybe you think it was funny but other people probably won't find it funny, or thinking the statement might be a bit too much even for a serious and dark scene.

Very demeaning and insensitive comments, slurs (in-universe or otherwise), and so on.

I don't really have anything TOO out there as far as this kind of things goes (As far as I remembered) but the one I omitted (Or just haven't gotten around to it) is to have an major side character from my most recent story jokingly calling the heroine a "Chaser" because the MC is a (Magically affirming) transgender woman, which would had confused most characters who heard the comment since MC has the case of multiple identities and such only a select few knows about.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Humor has to be approached very carefully in dramatic scenes. If you try to do some marvel shit, you ruin all of the tension. You can have humor in some of these moments, but the execution has to be good.

For example, if the world is very bleak, you can have a character who makes an offhand dark humor joke about it. But I would never do it in serious moments. I can think of a way that it's possible without killing the tension, but it has to be some kind of awkward joke that potentially helps the situation. A potential specific situation is a character where nothing good ever happens to them, so when the world is ending they say something like, "that's just my fucking life," and laugh about it. But this is not exactly funny but helping with the feeling of dread.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

For most of my characters, those kinds of comments ARE appropriate - though I often have to change things around for WHICH character says them to make them "fit" - a comment seemed cool and fitting but did not quite belong to the person I originally had saying it, so I wind up having to redo about six lines of dialogue to give the line to the right person.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

My characters often say out of pocket stuff normally so that I have an excuse to put random stuff in there. It matches with their voice. Like in ferinheight 451, Clarice says random out of pocket things because she is a spaz with a lot of ideas and questions.

 

[StoneInky]

Not the urge to say, but do.

The urge to force the MC to eat a fetus, their still unborn sibling. Or make them sever their feet by stepping on a sharp knife. Or have them give up their chance to escape, to save their only supportive parental figure... who ends up dying anyway. Etc.

It'll be a pain to write the aftermath, so it usually ends as an intrusive thought.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

... you're supposed to stop yourself?

(Henry gets caught sneaking something into a government building)
“Care to explain what this is, Henry?” he asked.
“A bomb.”

I had to turn away before he could see my face. Ethan was HOT when he beat up the elderly!

“HORSEBUTT!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “HORSEBUTT! HORSEBUTT! HORSEBUTT!”
Ethan was there in an instant, grabbing my face and forcing me to look away from the HORSEBUTT! HORSEBUTT! HORSE—

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

I just make it so my character naturally thinks such morbid thoughts. Circumstances can get you thinking sometimes.

 

[LuoirM]

That's half my character personality and I love it. You can say it's self-insert intrusive thoughts for someone with mild autism lol

I.e

 

[Wolfsiege]

The only two things that will stop me from making a dark joke is, "Will this get me erased?" and "Does this fit in the world?"

For the first, I stop myself from writing it down.

For the second, the answer is to create slurs specific to the fantasy races you create, so that you can make those jokes.

 

[SimonZagorski]

Exactly as the title said. Usually when it comes to very dramatic scene or attempt at more morbid or dark humor (Or whatever you wanna call it).

Maybe like an intrusive thoughts about making your characters say something that would probably not be super appropriate. Maybe you think it was funny but other people probably won't find it funny, or thinking the statement might be a bit too much even for a serious and dark scene.

Very demeaning and insensitive comments, slurs (in-universe or otherwise), and so on.

I don't really have anything TOO out there as far as this kind of things goes (As far as I remembered) but the one I omitted (Or just haven't gotten around to it) is to have an major side character from my most recent story jokingly calling the heroine a "Chaser" because the MC is a (Magically affirming) transgender woman, which would had confused most characters who heard the comment since MC has the case of multiple identities and such only a select few knows about.

Sometimes the the joke I think of or out of pocket content is still added just in strike through. And other inside jokes are also added subtly between me and my editor lmao

 

[soupsabaw]

I nearly made a male character call a woman a "bitch" and like... she's evil and she lowkey deserved it but woahhhhh I deleted it fast ? anything else I don't really care. My characters are the shameless ones, not meeeee

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I nearly made a male character call a woman a "bitch" and like... she's evil and she lowkey deserved it but woahhhhh I deleted it fast ? anything else I don't really care. My characters are the shameless ones, not meeeee

I have a male villain use that repeatedly (and get slammed for it, usually verbally first, then physically)...
"Stop confusing me with your mother."

 

[Edeshei]

Exactly as the title said. Usually when it comes to very dramatic scene or attempt at more morbid or dark humor (Or whatever you wanna call it).

Maybe like an intrusive thoughts about making your characters say something that would probably not be super appropriate. Maybe you think it was funny but other people probably won't find it funny, or thinking the statement might be a bit too much even for a serious and dark scene.

Very demeaning and insensitive comments, slurs (in-universe or otherwise), and so on.

I don't really have anything TOO out there as far as this kind of things goes (As far as I remembered) but the one I omitted (Or just haven't gotten around to it) is to have an major side character from my most recent story jokingly calling the heroine a "Chaser" because the MC is a (Magically affirming) transgender woman, which would had confused most characters who heard the comment since MC has the case of multiple identities and such only a select few knows about.

I had to delete a whole chapter cuz i made the whole scene and exposition too GORE-ISH ? the character is detached and unhinged but he aint a psycho ??

 

[HisDivineShadow]

something like this? Never! ??

• — Fine, Chris. But tomorrow, I'm not getting off you. A beat of frozen silence.
  Chris's crooked grin appeared immediately - the kind that promised teasing for years.
  Evan had to cover a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. — Oh, come on! — Gerda flushed, realizing exactly what she'd said.
  
  

 

[sbdrag]

I mean, as long as it's in character for them to say something out of pocket, absolutely they will lol

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I just realized recently that I have a bunch of supporting characters explicitly (though I had not realized it at the time) to make these kinds of comments so the MC does not have to...