Wattpad Rants

24. Stuttering

"Coffee smiled, extending her hand, "What's your name?" she asked politely.

Adam's stomach stirred, not used to meeting new people. Eventually, he replied, "I-I-I-I'm A-Adam," he stuttered tersely.

"Oh, alright then. Do you want to be part of my story?" Coffee asked once more, trying to keep her voice gentle at the fact that he was quite obviously uncomfortable.

Adam twiddled his fingers, "W-W-Well, I-I... I've n-n-never b-been ch-ch-ch-chosen f-for a st-story," he responded meagerly, his lips forming a smile. "B-But I-I-I-I-I'd like to... give i-it a... try."

"Okay, do you have any interests?"

Adam bit his lip nervously, "U-Um I stutter a lot?"

Coffee taps her foot impatiently, having already lost her temper. Knowing full well that this man supposedly didn't have a speech impediment, she stomped away, grumbling, "I need to make a chapter about this," under her breath."

Buddy, unless you have a canon speech impediment, I'm not buying that. Okay, listen. You can't make your main character badass if they can't form a coherent sentence.

Listen, I know that "good girls" and shy introverted characters (most likely love interests) are prevalent on this site. But seriously, do you really have to give them that much of a stutter?

I understand, a little stutter here, a little mutter there, totally acceptable. But when it's with every character, every friend, every time they speak? I can only suspend my disbelief for so long!

Again, first time meeting another character who might make them uncomfortable? Totally fine to showcase how they might be nervous. After the twentieth chapter of knowing this person; why are they still struggling to speak?

Do you ever wonder why characters in movies or TV shows don't stutter that often even though there are introverted characters? It's because a stutter takes up time they could be using to continue the story.

Listen, it's okay if one or two of your characters are known for being introverted and tend to stutter when speaking to louder or new people. That's a way to give them personality and differentiate them from other characters.

Hmm, who's an introverted character you have to know...

Fluttershy, you are my candidate.

Now, Fluttershy—as implied by her name—is a very shy pony. She has a habit of ducking and boxing herself up around new individuals (like just watch the first episode when she meets Twilight, it is brutal). This makes her pretty relatable for us introverts. Even through her struggles though, she still makes friends with people who aren't a while lot like her.

But there's this thing about her that makes her interesting. Not only does she care about her friends, but she seems to open up around animals.

AND THERE IT IS. She has a passion. That's what makes her such a loveable character. She has something that she likes to balance out the fact we don't hear from her often.

Now, a good chunk of the time I see introverts on Wattpad, they have no personality other than being "the introvert". This is honestly really sad because I want to root for them but I hear more stuttering than I do about their art, or their instruments, or their sports, or their magic, or whatever.

PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU for once just write "they said quietly" rather than "I-I-I-I-I".

And honestly, at least make the stutters realistic. Tell me which one looks more like a real person said it:

Option one: H-Hi! I'm uh... Adam. I-It's nice to meet you.

Option two: I-I-I-I'm A-Adam. It's nice to meet um... y-you.

If you didn't get it, the answer was one; it sounds more like a real person.

Now, to dissect it *laugh a manically*. First off, does anyone realistically stutter three times in a row? Do it yourself, pretend to stutter on any word. I can guarantee that after three stutters it'll sound weirdly unnatural. Maybe it's just me, but after stuttering three times I just lose my train of thought and wonder if I've developed some speech impediment.

Okay, now the other thing that sticks out. Who stutters on the word you? Please, tell me, I'll wait. Imagine walking up to a person and saying the equivalent of, "Yuh-you." That's basically what "Y-You," sounds like. Usually, it's a "You um..." or something of the sort.

Whenever you are writing a stutter, say it out loud to yourself and think about whether someone would realistically say that. It'll help a lot.

~•~

778 words

"Here's to hoping Adam can one day star in his own story. Do you ever see characters stutter around people who they should know well? It actually infuriates me sometimes because I have some SUPER introverted friends and even they don't stutter that much. Can you tell I'm prolonging my amount of time left before inevitably having to make a chapter about good girls and bad boys? Anywho, vote if it was relatable, comment with your thoughts, and I'll see you next chapter!"

- Coffee