Screenwriting : Drunk Characters. by Andy Celis

Good Irish Whisky works for me. I don't think you write 'drunken' dialog; I think you show your character behaving drunkenly and write normal straight up dialog. Let the Actor & Director figure out how to deliver the lines.

Maybe find a script with drunk characters and see how that was handled.... Arthur.(1981) Leaving Las Vegas (1995). Animal House (1978) A Star Is Born (2018). Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (1998)

It depends on how drunk they are. Usually, the more drunk someone is the louder they will get (especially at a party). They'll slur their words, have to lean against something while they talk (or maybe even fall down while talking). They might hiccup while talking, drift off on a sentence. Like Doug said, write it normally like it was any other conversation. But make sure you describe how drunk they are and what kind of actions they could be doing. Good luck!

Does the character display drunkenness? Does the character do some act of drunkenness? Is it related to speech? How the character displays this characteristic is important. In a class over the weekend, where we analyzed "The Godfather," the Transformational Journey of a character is essential to drawing in the audience and defining the role for the actor/actress who portrays the role.

Thank you so much, guys! This was incredibly helpful!

True Grit (original and remake) has good drunk dialogue. I was kind of furious “writ for a rat” wasn’t in the new one.

Unforgiven if you want a drunk in control

Drink while writing lol

Leaving Las Vegas is a great reference

Can be written either way - you write slurred words after you state that he’s drunk or you write normal English and put (drunk, slurred) in paratheticals and leaves it up to actors to act. (I am such a bad speller) I’ve done the latter unless it’s a word that adds something to the scene. - a pronunciation that makes it comical or have a different meaning.

Probably the same dialogue format as a character's dying last words, getting shot, fighting, having sex, whatever. As other have suggested, study produced scripts and steal/copy/add your own writing style.

Andrea, when I write drunk dialog, I usually add an "h" to words like "say" or "sit." Other times, I'll have the character stutter...so that "place" becomes "p-p-place."

Glad you're back on Stage 32, Andrea! All the VERY BEST to you!

I would put "slurred drunk" in parentheses and phonetically spell any specific mispronunciations you want specifically.

That´s very helpful, thank you Jim! And the you for the kind words! Right back at you!

Thank you, Thom!

Well, you can try getting drunk and using that experience as a basis. :)

Depends on the character's traits. Just put he or she in a drunken situation and let it flow. Good luck!

I write it based on individual “personality” of character and “purpose of the scene.” Some people when drunk become more open with strangers/friends. Others become just plain happy and develop a rosy glow on life. Others become mean or aggressive. Some people are well used to alcohol and might not stutter or sound different. They might appear normal but because they been drinking may give a sudden unexpected reveal that comes as a surprise to listener. This could be used as a reveal/strong emotional beat in a plot twist. Off course there are characters where only a couple of drinks alters their speech and action to the extent they bodily “sway” and cannot pronounce words. Action with no dialogue might sometimes best serve such as bumping into objects or change in emotion, where character says something they would not normally say. There are many ways to portray drunk aside from obvious slurring of speech. Other answers above in thread give cool advice also. I have a horses for courses attitude. Personality and their particular tolerance to alcohol.

I've found that most drunk folks try their best to act as if they are not drunk. Which makes their inebriated state even more obvious.

Or perhaps there should be a lot of self contradiction to his own words. Or not being consistent with his speech... what do you think?

Write dialogue as you work do normally. Establish character being drunk in narrative action...perhaps in parenthetical if appropriate.

Non sequiturs which reveal what they are thinking about underneath the drunken mask, and simple humorous mispronunciations due to drunkenness. Such as "reekerputions" fro "repercussions." Why is your character drunk? Let them reveal their hidden angst. Everyone has heard (and delivered) a few such soliloquies, right?

Your welcome! One of the characters in my novel "Searching for the Perfect Place" had some challenges with inebriation.

The action of how/where they say their dialogue is probably more important than how you write the dialogue itself. In other words, drunk people often make a scene in places where they shouldn't, since they're drunk. So if you can make their behavior (as opposed to the words they're saying) seem drunk by writing it into their action, that's probably all you need.

Like in SCARFACE when Tony Montana makes the big scene in the fancy restaurant ("Say goodnight to the bad guy!"), he's doing it mainly because he's drunk (though coked up too). His dialogue isn't very different from anything else he'd say, but his behavior of standing up and yelling all this stuff out loud in a four-star restaurant at shocked diners is what shows how trashed he is (not the dialogue).

What is the left or resulting relevant action/thought to WTF?

Honestly the only relevance to drunk dialogue is WTF? in my opinion.

Rarely does drunk dialogue lead to low impact moments.

Maybe a bit "cliche" but true.

As as ass far as talk word goes to you feegure zem outta selve you.

I don't believe there is a right or wrong way. As long as it is clear in your action lines that there is inebriation there, then write your intention and it'll come out. If a character is a fun drunk, then make sure you describe that clearly in your action and then write the dialogue you want for the character. If they're a verbally and/or physically abusive drunk, then get that in the action and again, the dialogue will work. The actors WHEN your screenplay is realised will interpret that and throw their spin on the dialogue based on the action and character setup you've done.

Now, I will say if there's particular dialogue lines that you want to sound really inebriated - then I agree with Jim above. I throw a stutter in here and there, or if there's a word they're really fucking up, then I'll throw in the letters that make it sound exactly how I want it to come across. But I try to minimise too much of that, as the reader just needs the dialogue and I believe if I've done my description right, then the drunken dialogue should be apparent.

Good luck with it, keep on smashing out the pages!

I think its a bit like writing a character with a thick accent. Write the words you really need to have come across, be clear in the script that this person is hammered and then let the actor work

I'd focus on the emotions and state of mind of the character outside the drunkenness first. Is it awkward, loud and not caring, confused, arrogant, someone could be pushy, talking quiet/mumbling without really knowing, etc, etc.

This is all incredibly helpful, thank you guys!