Conversations Need Lumps

One of the ways you can tell the difference between mashed potatoes you get a restaurant versus that you get home is well, the ones you get at home is the ones from home have a couple of lumps here and there. When you get them from a restaurant, these scenes are perfect. They're smooth, they're creamy, and they have peaks. They're great. But they're boring. 

When you are at home, however, they have a little bit more character to them. The flavor may be off just a little bit. They're going to have lumps. They're going to have flaws. It sort of makes your mashed potatoes all sorts of interesting. You actually have a lot of people that base their Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday memories off of those lumpy mashed potatoes. Sure, you're gonna have a lot of people tell you that the best ways to make perfect mashed potatoes but those tend to be a little bit boring. There's nothing exciting about them. 

They're just there. The imperfections make the mashed potatoes that much better.

Well, your conversations need to have their own lumps. You need to have those little flaws in there. They may have absolutely nothing to do with character, plot development, or anything major; they're just there for you to have a little bit of fun with. You're always gonna have some sort of talk about the weather. Let's talk about sports teams. Did Clarissa actually say those things? You need those lumps in the conversations that are just there to add a little bit of flavor. You just need things in the conversation that are to make the conversation flow and not really do anything.

A problem is that a lot of writers tend to forget about that and go straight for those really huge exposition dumps that pretty much don't really go anywhere. You've got two people talking about the ruthless warlord and his tactics. Great. Unfortunately, that's not what you would call a realistic conversation because even if you got two grizzled veterans that are trying to figure out how to break into the warlords keep. you're also going to hear the occasional little bit of gossip in between the tactical discussions, a little bit of how the kids are doing, that the general is a schmuck, and maybe even where to find a decent meal.

Those little details don't add to the story, but they make those characters seem a little more real. Sure, they can add details we need to worry about later, but they can also just make those characters seem more like real people. Those imperfections, those reflections and details, make the conversations more real. 

If you throw those lumps into your conversations, they're going to make those conversations have a little bit more spice, a little bit more flavor, and they're going to be a lot more interesting. And people are actually gonna remember those a little bit more, just like lumps in home-made mashed potatoes. So remember that conversations have lumps and you need to figure out a way to put them in there. Those lumps can make for some delicious conversation, so put them in!