Do you do this? You just get home from a party (it might have been with your in-laws) and you can't seem to settle down. Your mind is swirling with all the things you WISH you'd said. Sure, it's mostly about politics, so you wouldn't have been changing anybody's mind, but still you wish that these really salient points that are practically dripping out of your nostrils would have decided to make an appearance an hour ago.
I can't help it, but I'm a terrible dialogue re-doer. It doesn't even have to be a particularly interesting conversation, but I still find myself replaying pieces of it in my mind. And in my mind I'm always rewording the things I said in real life.
I'm this way when it comes to conversations that I haven't even HAD yet. I'm particularly notorious for rehearsing phone calls. My husband is always laughing at me because I do the same things with calls that he has to make. I always want to do a little role play before the actual event, to warm up, stretch out those vocal muscles. But he thinks it's completely neurotic.
So maybe it's an annoying character trait, but if you're a writer it can come in handy. Right? Being able to hear dialogue in your head can be extremely helpful (as long as the voices aren't telling you to jump off tall buildings or get too cozy with sharp objects).
So what about you? Do you suffer from dialogue do-over?
Yes, I suffer from dialogue do-over. There are ALWAYS things I wish I had said. That's what I love so much about writing. You can do all the do-over you need or want.
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