Writing a stutterer

AriesEmily · Apr 4, 2014

Hello. I want to write a book about a woman who stutters. I am not sure how to actually write her stutters. For instance, there are two types of stuttering- sound repetitions and blocks. Sound repetitions are what we commonly think of such as, mu-mu-mu-mother. Blocks are when the vocal cords close so no air is flowing. In these cases, the stutterer opens their mouth, and nothing comes out as the flow of air is cutting off the ability for sound to be produced. I am not sure how to write this clearly in words, especially dialogue, and not have it be totally annoying to read. I am a stutterer, so I know exactly how it happens and how to explain it in clinical terms, as I did more or less above, but how to write a novel with a character who stutters is a challenge. For me, blocks are more common. My character sings, and she does not stutter then, which will be a major way she expresses herself. This holds true for many stutterers, including myself, when there is rhythm, we somehow are able to not stutter. (if only I could sing everything...) Any suggestions on how to write stuttering dialogue?

00Pepper · Apr 4, 2014

That's a really good question and I'm interested to see the ideas too. I'll think about it and post if I come up with anything.

Question: When you open your mouth and nothing comes out is it like an exaggerated pause and then you say what you want to say or do you start in the middle of a word?

Example: "-ease pass the butter."

cornflake · Apr 4, 2014

AriesEmily said:
Hello. I want to write a book about a woman who stutters. I am not sure how to actually write her stutters. For instance, there are two types of stuttering- sound repetitions and blocks. Sound repetitions are what we commonly think of such as, mu-mu-mu-mother. Blocks are when the vocal cords close so no air is flowing. In these cases, the stutterer opens their mouth, and nothing comes out as the flow of air is cutting off the ability for sound to be produced. I am not sure how to write this clearly in words, especially dialogue, and not have it be totally annoying to read. I am a stutterer, so I know exactly how it happens and how to explain it in clinical terms, as I did more or less above, but how to write a novel with a character who stutters is a challenge. For me, blocks are more common. My character sings, and she does not stutter then, which will be a major way she expresses herself. This holds true for many stutterers, including myself, when there is rhythm, we somehow are able to not stutter. (if only I could sing everything...) Any suggestions on how to write stuttering dialogue?

I wouldn't.

Like writing a character with a heavy accent or dialect, if writing a speech problem, I'd use it very sparingly as, as you note, it's annoying and hard to read.

If you explain it - either from the character's perspective or someone else's, and then use it only sparingly, but have people occasionally react to it (again either the MC or another character), it'll be clear but not overwhelming.

Think about it like writing a really strong accent. You wouldn't want to spell out, 'mah maw done tole me...' You'd have someone talking about the slow, southern drawl and dialect and you'd sprinkle an example here or there so no one has to struggle to parse it in text.

King Neptune · Apr 4, 2014

I would suggest that you do not try to reproduce what it would actually sound like, because it would look messy on the page. The sound repetition is what is easiest to write and what people usually think of. You might try having the character have the stutter once every time she had dialogue. That would show the stutter without cluttering the page too much.

This situation is much like someone who speaks some dialect. You want it clear that the person speaks oddly, but you don't want to slow reading too much.

AriesEmily · Apr 4, 2014

Thanks for the replies. When I have a block, it is at the start of the word. Like, "I saw my.....(exhale, breathe) mother yesterday." Bilabials, where you put your lips together to produce sound, (m,p,b, etc) are my worst. I get the idea of writing it like a dialect, but I also don't want to diminish the fact that the MC stutters as this is a focal plot point. The crux of the story is that the MC is a small time singer who has the ability to make it big, but refuses to do so because she doesn't want the pressure of having to be in the spotlight and stutter. So as a major plot point, I hate to gloss over it or sprinkle it in, as in real life it's often not a sprinkle but more a bucket of water, yet still don't want it to be annoying to read. (Although part of me wants to make it annoying to force readers to live a day in the life... But mama's gotta pay the rent!)

kuwisdelu · Apr 4, 2014

Have you read Black Swan Green by David Mitchell?

If not, read it.

Sage · Apr 4, 2014

Minimize for sure. I have a stuttering character, and with betas' and more betas' and agents' and finally my editor's advice, I kept cutting down her stutter until it was only a letter or two that she had difficulty with.

Kashmirgirl1976 · Apr 4, 2014

My brother and father stutter. So, using my experience with them, with regard to a stutterer in my story, I simply use Wh-wh-what (for example) when writing dialogue. Since she only stutters/stammers when nervous or anxious, I don't go overboard.

Or, perhaps you can give your character an inner monologue when she feels she can't process an entire sentence.

Bufty · Apr 5, 2014

Is the book about stuttering or is it simply a case that the character has a stutter.

If the latter, be very very very sparing in your phonetically expressed stuttery dialogue. Check Sage's post above. Readers are not dumb and if they know from the start that a character has a stutter they don't need to have it spelled out in every sentence.

Jorshington · Apr 5, 2014

I'd recommend ta look at Stephen King's IT. One of the main characters--I believe it's Bill Denbrough?--stuttered a lot, and you can see how King handled it.

Filigree · Apr 5, 2014

A good friend stuttered in high school. When I needed to write a character who stutters under stress, I fell back on memories of her speech patterns. Mostly it looks like what Kashmirgirl noted: "A - a - abcd." Not every word in every sentence. It gets the idea across.

Bufty · Apr 5, 2014

The main thing is for the reader to be aware from the start that the character has a speech impediment.

There can be all sorts of reasons why a character stumbles over a word and it doesn't automatically mean a character has a stutter.

Bolero · Apr 5, 2014

Bit of brainstorming for you.

For blocks you could put in a bit of what it feels like as in:

She had to take a breath before continuing

His impatient foot tapping closed her throat

(The latter being maybe a bit melodramatic...)

Maybe have a tiny scene in a shop where a rude assistant yells "next" over her head when she is too slow to ask for things.

So go for brief bits of colour and emotion. Those times when the stuttering hurts her. Maybe a bit of joy if she has say a whole afternoon without a stutter.

Or if she sings in the choir, could go from her singing happily to struggling to talk to other choristers over coffee afterwards.

Ken · Apr 5, 2014

Yep, "minimal." Don't want 'em sounding like Porky Pig ;-)

AriesEmily · Apr 8, 2014

Thanks everyone. The character's stuttering will be a focus of the book, not just a trait of the MC.

Bufty · Apr 9, 2014

I don't follow what you mean by that. Is the book a non-fiction treatise on stuttering?

AriesEmily said:
Thanks everyone. The character's stuttering will be a focus of the book, not just a trait of the MC.

00Pepper · Apr 9, 2014

AriesEmily said:
Thanks everyone. The character's stuttering will be a focus of the book, not just a trait of the MC.

I get what you're saying and I also think everyone that is saying "minimize" is right too. If it were me I'd probably do something like highlight it in the beginning with some dialogue and explanation. Then continue with the story without writing out the stutter for every line of dialogue - letting it just be understood that whatever she is saying is said with a stutter. Instead you could emphasis other people's reaction to her stutter. Also, I'd probably sprinkle the stutter through the story in important spots of the story or in a place where it's humorous or an embarassing situation. Basically just to remind the reader of how bad the stutter actually is.

kuwisdelu · Apr 9, 2014

AriesEmily said:
Thanks everyone. The character's stuttering will be a focus of the book, not just a trait of the MC.

I'll recommend this once more for emphasis then.

kuwisdelu said:
Have you read Black Swan Green by David Mitchell?

If not, read it.

It's a major theme in the book.

suemont · Apr 9, 2014

Perfect Score by Susan Roebuck has a stutterer in it.

Writing a stutterer

AriesEmily

00Pepper

Super Pepper

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

King Neptune

AriesEmily

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

Kashmirgirl1976

Recouping My Lost Marbles

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

Jorshington

Big Daddy

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

Bolero

Ken

AriesEmily

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

00Pepper

Super Pepper

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

suemont