Who Writes Your Dialogue?

[gnomi]

I have a vague idea that I have posted on this topic in the past, but I can't find it and I admit that I am working today on a serious Squeaker-induced sleep deficit, so just go with it.

Twice today I have referenced popular culture in conversations with mabfan, and it reminded me just how much of my daily conversation is either taken directly from or in the style of dialogue writers that I admire. Today it was Joss Whedon (mabfan: Did I fall asleep? gnomi-in-Topher-voice: For a little while. mabfan: Shall I go now?) and Aaron Sorkin ("Turns out, I have a rose garden" in reference to a resource I hadn't realized I had at work). But sometimes it's William Goldman ("As you wish," "Who are those guys?") or Marta Kauffman/David Crane ("Could it be any colder?") or some other writer I'm not thinking of right now.

I know mabfan and I aren't the only ones who do this. So... who writes your dialogue?

Comments

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, it's Monty Python. Sometimes, it's LOLcats. It really all depends on the circumstance.

[madfilkentist]

Meredith Wilson, when I was complaining about MBTA service a while back: "Trouble, with a capital T and that stands for T."

[tpau]

quite a lot of Bujold... i have this Thing about it :)

[llennhoff.livejournal.com]

I'm often heavily influenced by the prose style of whoever I am reading at the time. I used to plan for this when considering what books to take while waiting for a job interview or just before a date.

I have a large repertoire of canned quotes that pop out at inappropriate moments. One of the signs of my aging is how much more often I have to explain my references now.

[aunt-becca.livejournal.com]

Mike Judge (Office Space is a favorite in our home). Larry David, Steven Speilberg, Ricky Gervais.

[sdelmonte]

I try to quote The Simpsons at least once a day.

We quote a lot of Joss, a decent amount of Dr Who, and pretty much everything else. Someday, Batya and I will be like the Tamarians, and speak entirely in references that only we understand.

Which is itself a reference.

[llennhoff.livejournal.com]

When that episode first aired multiple friends contacted me to tell me that we finally found the planet I was from.

[byrne.livejournal.com]

Douglas Adams, Monty Python, William Goldman, Joss Whedon.

Mostly Douglas Adams, lately.

[madknits.livejournal.com]

James Goldsmith.
Eleanor: King, king, king. What a greedy little trinity.

Henry: Let's defy them all and live forever.

Eleanor: Tusk to tusk, through all eternity!

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

George S. Kaufman, the Pythons, Kaufman/Crane, William S. Goldman. Christopher Moore.

[jamietr.livejournal.com]

Recently: Aaron Sorkin, David E. Kelly and Larry Gelbart.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally, I just checked out the newspaper for the town I lived in when I was in England. One of the headlines read "Blessed are the Cheesemakers." It was an article about a Stilton dairy that just received a grant of £1.2 million.

[fynixsoul.livejournal.com]

lately, xkcd. This is not turning out well, however.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Gilbert and Sullivan. And Terry Pratchett. Naomi Novik, too, right now, because I'm re-reading the Temeraire series, but I don't expect that'll last.

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

usually joss and the spn writing staff, occasionally the criminal minds writing staff as well.

who writes the lines...

[laceymcbain.livejournal.com]

That's an awesome question. It often depends on what I've been watching, but I'd say things that consistently creep in are Star Wars and Star Trek references, the Simpsons, Monty Python, Buffy ... and from the one season of Criminal Minds that we watched subtitled in Swedish, I always say "Kanske. Kanske inte" instead of "maybe - maybe not." *G*

[perpet.livejournal.com]

"The Simpsons" writing staff takes care of us a lot. We can get just about anything back to a "Simpsons" reference. Occasinally Sorkin writes mine, and the way I'll add -y to nouns to make them into something else ("Wow that wind is really rip my lips off-y.") is definitely Whedon-related.

Occasionally, my slang comes from Rex Stout ("Lovin' babe" having replaced cursing when cursing is wholly inappropriate), and my to-the-point conversations get lifted from Ed McBain.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

'Scuse, I'm ADD. Find something that doesn't trigger a reference. Worse, it's usually blended. Such as: "Wheel of kohelet, turn turn turn, tell us the lesson that we must learn." "He who waits for the wind will not sow -- but he will get federal subsidy checks."

[batyatoon]

*chokes*

[ghilledhu.livejournal.com]

The number of "Ghostbusters" quotes that have crept into my daily speech is sort of alarming.

[(Anonymous)]

I collect spores, mold, and fungus.

[gem225.livejournal.com]

Lately, Shakespeare and the writers of Bones. Makes for an odd combination.