Have You Ever Been to Odyssey?

I struggle with writing dialogue. It’s a lot easier for me to describe a scene and the action therein than it is to capture natural sounding words between characters, and I find that frustrating. While I did get an instructional book to help me with that (and starting to feel some improvement), I think the greatest example of good dialogue has been Adventures in Odyssey.

            I’ve been listening to AIO for as long as I can remember and still listen pretty much daily. I feel like the characters are a part of my family. I wish I could sit at the counter with Mr. Whittaker and ask for advice while sipping on a Wod-Fam-Choc-Sod (and have had one at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. Super yummy!) Connie is like a childhood friend who has matured alongside me. Eugene is the brilliant guy who could help me with a mathematical problem. Like many other girls, I had a crush on Jason. Wooton and Penny make me smile. The whole world of Odyssey feels like a second home.

            Apart from the video series, everything revolves around audio alone, so it naturally must be very dialogue heavy. Sure, there’s creative sound-scaping, superb foley work, and great music, but the dialogue really makes it. We get to know the characters via their interactions with each other, and the writers do a great job of showing instead of merely telling.

            I’ve listened to other audio dramas before that have not done such a good job, where characters blatantly describe what others are doing. “Look out! He’s holding a gun!” “Why are you up on top of the building like this?” “It sure is nice to be driving in this car.” Sure, expositional dialogue has his place, especially in audio drama, but it can often be avoided, which AIO is excellent at doing.

            As I’m trying to grow in my writing, I’m become increasingly attentive to storytelling around me. I pay careful attention to how dialogue is constructed and try to apply that to the stories I’m working on. The actors set great emotional tones, so I think about how to describe that without sounding too obvious. Slowly but surely, I think I’m starting to get the hang of it.

            In addition, I love how each character has a unique voice – and not just because of the stellar voice acting. The writers are meticulous in how the characters speak. That can also change depending on who they’re talking to, what is going on around them, and how they are growing as a character. But they all stay consistent and true to who they are as a character. Nobody speaks like Eugene!

            I’m thankful that AIO is still producing episodes today, and not just for me to analyze. These stories have been so formative to who I am today, and I can hardly remember a time without them. I look forward to many more episodes to come, and I hope that the lessons I’ve learned will be well reflected in the stories I write.