Writing Dialogue for Preschoolers · 1:46am Jun 4th, 2016
Today we’re going to discuss a writing topic that some might call overly specialized: writing dialogue for a very specific age group. A good story, however, should strive to make all its components as accurate and tonally appropriate as possible. Even if a character has only a few lines of dialogue, even if a skill or item only appears in one scene, its presence still has an impact on the reader’s willing suspension and mood.
With that in mind, let’s discuss dialogue for preschoolers (3-5 year-olds). All this comes with usual caveats that everyone—including your fictional characters—are individuals and may vary. There can be a lot of variance between age groups as well, even between a 3 year-old and a 3.5 year-old.
Sentence structure: Preschoolers know how to speak in longer sentences. Younger children (usually in the 2-2.5) range tend to use telegraphic speech: sentences that are composed of a few words that carry a lot of meaning. “Me hungry.” “Want ball.” “Stop it.” etc.
Preschoolers, meanwhile, have grasped the verb-subject-object sentence structure and can form longer sentences. “Someone stole your sandwich” or “A firefighter has to wear special clothes” and other adult -sounding sentiments would be perfectly normal coming from a preschooler.
Vocabulary: Preschoolers tend to use a smaller vocabulary than adults. This doesn’t mean it is that small, though. A child might not know what “miniscule” means, but they could easily know lots of synonyms like tiny, small,
Children also tend to relate things in terms they can understand. Instead of a “small key” it might be a “baby key”. Or instead of a “big ball” it might be a “daddy ball”.
This can vary greatly, however, depending on the child’s experience and schooling. A child with a firefighter or scuba diver for a parent might be familiar with complicated terms like “oxygen tank” or “breathing apparatus”. A child could easily know words like humongous or massive and apply them in appropriate contexts. And the older the child is, the more orders of magnitude their vocabulary grows by.
Stuttering: Preschool children often will stutter by repeating a particular word several times; ex: “But she-she-she took my truck!” This is usually a sort of placeholder while they formulate their thoughts and figure out what they want to say.
Other types of stuttering can also occur, for the same reason. It’s not usually a speech impediment/medical condition, and so the other types of stuttering commonly seen in fiction don’t make as much sense for a preschooler.
Pronunciation/enunciation: Preschoolers will often mispronounce words in different ways. Things like pronouncing letters that aren’t there (“Jennifers”) or saying the wrong letter sound (“Kinberly” instead of “Kimberly”) happen often. Preschoolers also might leave syllables or letters or phonemes out of words, especially longer words.
Abstract concepts: Children of this age can process some abstract concepts, but it varies depending on the complexity and the terms used to describe it. Something like photosynthesis (plants eating sunlight) or a rhyme (words that sound the same at the end) might be easier to explain than a law (rules that help people stay safe, and police officers help people to follow) or evaporation (water turning into steam because it is really hot). A child might know what a monster is, but not more specific varieties like a zombie or vampire. They may know what flowers are, but not that there are different types and sub-types of flowers.
As above, different children will have different experiences, and this can affect their understanding of abstract concepts greatly. Generally, the bigger the scale or scope of the concept (like the past or history), the harder it is for children to understand.
Thought process: this one is the last because it is the hardest to describe, and varies even more than some of these other areas. Preschoolers (like all children) tend to process information and see the world a lot differently than adults. Their moral compass and thought process act differently from adults ones.
A major aspect is scientifically referred to as Egocentrism: this is the idea that young children have not yet developed empathy. They see the world as it relates to themselves, and things like putting themselves in the shoes of others is actually beyond them.
Another is how children’s logical process works. Children do understand cause and effect (to varying degrees), but how they connect the dots of it varies wildly. If all fast cars are loud, then being loud must make you go fast. Jean Piaget’s conservation taks are a famous example of this unique logic.
This is a difficult topic to illustrate because, again, all children are different and the details vary wildly. Even these simplified examples may not be entirely accurate.
The takeaway here is that, preschoolers can and should say some outrageous things. Being ridiculous by adult standards, however, doesn’t preclude them from being logical.
Some common traps to avoid: Don’t make all your children sound the same—different age groups all have different speech patterns and vocabulary levels.
Pick an age and remain consistent—don’t make the age of your characters vague in order to excuse writing them badly.
Consider if children really need a place in your story—sometimes, it's better to tailor a story to fit your ability level. Writing something you aren't prepared for or have no experience with can drag your story down. Being a good writer can often mean knowing your limits and writing around them. You wouldn't write a sex scene if you were a virgin, right? (on second thought, don't answer that: we've all seen the clop around here).
Do some research—like any part of writing, some firsthand experience cant hurt. Watching and listening to some children can make a huge difference in the verisimilitude of your writing. A little bit of observation and investigation can go a long way. You wouldn’t write a story about lockpicking without doing some research on that, right?
Thanks for reading. As always, any criticism, comments, or questions are always welcome!
Found this interesting? Check out my previous post on this topic: On Writing Children Characters
Nice read ^_^
So by all of this logic, would say that Sweetie Belle is a preschooler in some stories when they write her in for the sake of random comedy?
3996935 The children in the show are so badly written that it is hard to pin down their ages, even on an episode-by-episode basis. If I had to categorize any of the CMC, I would probably say they are closest to grade schoolers. They are too logical and well-spoken to be below that, but they aren't really mature or competent enough to be middle schoolers. From what we've seen, their school also has a curriculum that is based on desks and pre-planned lessons, but covers pretty basic topics like cutie marks and family.
I think "worst portrayals of children in fiction" is going to be one of my next blog posts. FIM certainly is going to get a slot on it
3997059 They're certainly not consistent, really. Though one could argue that, because at least two of them were raised by Elements of Harmony, maybe they're just smarter than the other kids?
In all honesty, I thought this was going to be a "Writing Dialogue For Dummies."
Still a good read.
3997134 Being an Element of Harmony isn't an indicator of parenting quality one way or the other. We haven't seen enough of either relationship to make any assumptions about it (especially Sweetie Belle's, since it's not clear if she lives with her parents or not).
Even if one wanted to take a lazy shortcut like "oh they're just smarter than normal kids", the show completely nullifies that option. The CMC are so monumentally stupid and shortsighted, that they clearly aren't any "smarter" or more developmentally capable than the other children. The only times they succeed are mandated by the plot, and many episodes actually go out of the way to show the CMC being incompetent.
3997297 What makes you think they're so stupid in the show?
Thanks Cleverpun.
3997308 Their behavior. Combined with their Vague Age and inconsistent writing, they're too annoying to give the benefit of the doubt.
3998560 Are you saying the Crusaders are annoying?
3998566 I'm also saying they are badly written.
3998568 I think if they had been written 100% like actual children their age, more Bronies would have hated any episodes centered around them.
The writing in this show is definitely sporadic in quality. Especially the CMC. I remember learning about writing for kids back in the early 90's when I took a course on children's literature and this show is so fail when it comes to writing particular age groups. Sometimes the CMC are spot on for foals supposedly in first or second grade and sometimes they act like teenagers. I dunno-I think what makes the show special is how chaotic the quality is. IMO if they tried harder to be better about writing and plot the show would end up losing a lot of its charm.
That said when it had a regular writing team and story editor at least it was consistently mostly good. The last two seasons (especially season six) are suffering from having lost Amy (to Disney), Tabitha (to the movie) and Larson (now doing his Pennyroyal Academy book thing).
4023536 I don't think I can ever advocate inconsistent or lazy writing as a good thing.
What drew me to the show wasn't it's "chaotic" nature. Rather, it was the strong characters (both their writing and personalities). Eventually, when it came time to write fanfic, those personalities and the construction of the world are what made it so easy to write in. There is enough details given to tell interesting stories, but there is also a large amount of things left unsaid/open to speculation.
The CMC showcase all the times when these attributes are ignored. They lack interesting personalities or good writing, and all their plots are repetitions of the same ideas.
Admittedly, I stopped watching the show because I felt the plotlines had gotten stale and the characters were no longer well written. So while I dislike the CMC, they're hardly the only exemplar of bad writing in the show
4024753 Oh I agree. Half way through season five the writing tanked and season six has been a crapfest save for Gauntlet of Fire (the best Spike episode and worth a watch IMO). I think their having lost so many core writers hurt the overall tone of the show. Hasbro has a few decent writers that seemed to get the characters but they're not using them.
I think I've accepted that the show has maybe one more season in it. I'll watch just because I'm too in love with the characters not to. It makes me sad but I do love them very much and can't give up on them yet. Maybe it's the Dash in me. I gotta see things through because the characters aren't just characters they're my friends. I feel like I'm not a good friend if I love them at their best but leave them at their worst.
That's just my way of looking at it though. I'm a silly sentimental sap. I can totally understand your not being into it anymore.