Try to put your characters in a situation where they need to cooperate to achieve some common goal. Language evolved as a tool for coordinating the efforts of the members of a population to survive. The relationships between the members of our society are still built on this principle. We have a deeper connection with our coworkers and classmates than with complete strangers (conversations with whom rarely go beyond small talk) because we share a common goal (or interest) and thus, are more involved in their life. And very often we are simply forced to communicate with them, personal symphathies nothwithstanding.
There's also the fact that some people are more... gregarious than others, who crave and can achieve a certain level of personal connection even with a complete stranger more quickly and easily.
edited 25th Feb '17 5:04:13 AM by Millership
Spiral out, keep going.
Stick Alice, Cedric, Daryl and Fiona in that hypothetical room. They're keeping mum? Now have a T-rex crash through the wall. What do they do?
If you want to move them beyond pointless small talk, give three or more characters a common concern about which they can make large or medium-sized talk. For example, Paul, Quynh, and Rob are friends at work and are having issues with the new boss, Sandi. Tim, Ulrike, and Vic volunteer for the same cause. Wally has a secret that his new girlfriend Xenia tries to ferret out of his Uncle Yorick and Aunt Zora.
You can also use this dynamic within the story. Just put two of the characters in a relationship into a situation, then include a third who just wants to join in the conversation, except the other two are resistant. Then watch the dynamics evolve.
A problem I've seen with my own characters is that they can easily be organized into these simple pairs. Whenever there is a scene with strong interaction, you can bet the character will be interacting only with their best friend, SO, or otherwise. It's always Alice+Bob, Cedric+Daryl, Emily+Fiona, and so on. Although I know there will always be those stronger associations characters have over others, in a story where they are all a group of major characters that only know each other like acquaintances is super troubling. Plus I feel like there's a part of them that's still in the dark since most of us tend to act in different ways to different people. Being able to bring out those sides of them would make them more complex and even I feel like I would know them better as a result.
The hard part is figuring out how Alice and Cedric move beyond pointless small talk. I can't just stick them in a room and hope an awkward conversation starts—that's about as effective in real life. Any tips, criticism, advice, whatever, is greatly appreciated!!
... <--- a line of ants