Dialogue is one of the most important parts of writing prose. Humans are social creatures and, as such, we all communicate in one form or another. Writing is one way of doing so, but a person writing a book about a person writing a book is normally done by Stephen King, so perhaps avoid that.
Jokes aside, unless you want to try something extremely experimental, you’re going to include dialogue.
Let’s start with the basics then, for those quite new (or even as a reminder to those who are old hands) at writing. Dialogue is like talking, except better. It has a purpose and there should be no awkward pauses unless that awkward pause is there for a reason. It is snappy and flashy and can make a reader laugh, cry, or become enraged. It can, like any good writing, change the way a person views the world. Dialogue probably has a shorter description in your average dictionary, but it probably deserves even more than this.
Grammatically, dialogue should look more or less the same. Some people get fancy with dialogue, but I suggest knowing the rules before you break them. I’ll give you a few example sentences to get you comfortable and remind you of those all important rules. If I make a mistake, point it out immediately. It’s like noticing food between someone’s teeth; it’s rude not to point it out.
EX 1.1: “I wish the circus would come to town,” Adrian said.
EX 1.2: “I wish the circus would come to town.” Adrian sighed and looked back at the glossy picture of a tiger jumping through a flaming hoop.
EX 2: “I hate this. I hate you!” Dorian threw his glass of wine at the wall.
“But I love you,” Yasmine said, tears leaking down her face.
“Well, you have a pitiful way of showing it--Tony was my best friend,” he said, fists clenching.
Red wine dripped down the white apartment wall.
There are many things you should note in these examples, specifically the punctuation. Also, recall dialogue should have its own line. Also, I’m unfortunately too lazy to come up with a proper Example 3, but if your character is talking a lot and you need a character break, do something along this line:
EX 3: “[...]and she said it to his face!
“That’s why I could no longer trust Mandy.”
No quotations at the end of the first paragraph, but at the beginning of the next.
Beyond the basics, dialogue shouldn’t just take up space. Each story is about want, and so dialogue should be as well. In the above examples, Adrian wants to go to the circus; Yasmine wants to get back with Dorian even though he’s violent and she cheated on his best friend, Tony; and the unnamed speaker of Example 3 wants the other character to know Mandy is bad news. In that, you should take note of how people actually talk to each other, riding public transit or going to people watch at the mall are both good ways to learn more about dialogue and body language, but dialogue shouldn’t ever be as boring as average conversation. It should push the story forward, not hold it back--that is, unless a character is complaining about having to do things which, in itself, is the character showing what they want. Basically, trim anything that doesn’t directly correlate with your character gaining something or losing something in the process, if that makes sense.
Each character should have their own voice. If you must, base a character’s way of talking off a person you know or a movie star. Basically, your characters shouldn’t talk just like you--that gets confusing. Instead try to get a strong grasp on them. Think about their history, their personality, and what they want to say to the person they’re talking to. Are they a shy person trying to ask a person out, or a confident person trying to ask someone out? Simple things make all the difference.
Don’t treat readers like they’re stupid. If you notice, some movies’ dialogue is only repetitive. The characters are telling you things you already know. If you can show something, don’t tell it. I fight with the basic premise of showing versus telling, but I trust that showing is almost always better when it comes to writing fiction.
Avoid overplaying accents. Your character is from the country? Okay. Maybe add in a bit of slang or show how their culture has influenced them by the things they say. Don’t add in a bunch of apostrophes for fun or overdo it. You have to be cautious, otherwise you end up with an unreadable mess that no one wants to deal with. Think about it like baking a cake. Yes, you could throw in a lot of eggs into the bowl, but do you truly need that many? No? Stop throwing eggs in the bowl.
Read your dialogue--your writing--aloud. Trust me when I say this will save you a lot of trouble.
Strive for simplicity, clarity, and brevity.
As with anything, avoid cliches. You can make a character more archetypal than you planned by the way you have them talk. An old man with a cane says little and what he does say is vague? Stereotype. Chatty, bubbly blonde? Stereotype. Strong guy doesn’t say much, but what he says is important? Stereotype. Person who isn’t white butchers English? Racist stereotype. Basically, be sure of what you’re doing. Nothing should be haphazard. Think things through. Plan ahead. Dialogue can basically show exactly who your character is, so be careful with it.
When writing dialogue, avoid certain pitfalls. I’ll put a couple of negative examples below.
EX 1.1: “I hate you,” Kimmy said angrily.
EX 1.2: “I hate you!” Kimmy spat.
There are more negative examples I could create, but these two encompass two of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to dialogue. Unneeded adverbs and useless verbs that draw attention away from the dialogue itself. If you can, just use said. Dialogue tags should just insure the reader knows who’s talking and who isn’t. Because of that, also avoid vague pronouns. Even if it’s just two people who you can use he or she (or your pronouns of choice) for, after a certain point throw in the characters' names again.
If you want to change things up when it comes to dialogue tags, I suggest showing action, something I’ve shown in prior examples. That is, show the character in question doing something, even if it’s just sitting in a chair or sighing. Again, keep this brief.
I believe that’s about it. I may come up with exercises later, but, for now, feel free to just post excerpts of dialogue if you’re having trouble, and I can try to find your problem. Otherwise, feel free to hit me up with comments, questions, suggestions, etc.
Gender:
Points: 771
Reviews: 180