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Dialogue



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Fri Feb 15, 2013 1:48 am
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Cspr says...



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.
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Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:19 pm
Amily says...



Is there any requirements when to start dialogue? I mean how to disrupt the body of a story. Or it's just up to a writer?
  





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Thu Feb 21, 2013 1:20 am
Kale says...



Well, dialogue ideally shouldn't be a disruption. It should flow naturally as part of the story.

Also, not all stories need dialogue, so there's no "requirement" for dialogue. It is totally up to the writer.
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Wed May 15, 2013 9:14 am
Catnip says...



Dialogue is my weakest point :c It scares me X_X
Until one has loved an animal,
a part of one’s soul remains unawakened. – Anatole France


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Wed May 15, 2013 5:50 pm
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Rosendorn says...



Believe it or not, what helped me the most about dialogue was IM. I'd pay attention to how people were speaking in instant messaging, noticed how their speaking patterns tended to change with their mood, how they'd string sentences together, ect.

That, and eavesdropping. Lots and lots of eavesdropping. Then you can start to find the difference between natural speaking dialogue and typing dialogue (which is sometimes more to the point; you'll find more "um"s and "ah"s in spoken dialogue) which is where you want your writing to be.

Dialogue is often the most difficult part of writing because very few people pay attention to how they speak or how others speak. They just speak. Once you start noticing, not only will you become a better communicator, you can write better dialogue.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

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Wed May 15, 2013 6:15 pm
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StoneHeart says...



I double up on the reading out loud! It really, really, really helps make dialogue sound more real!

I personally have a huge problem with my dialogue having all those fancy adverbs . . . They sound good, they look good, they are good, it's just the dialogue would be BETTER if I didn't use them.

Just an add on here too: Dialogue has to be substantial! You can't have too much random chit-chat that doesn't do anything to move the plot forward! It's boring anyway!
Also, dialogue is almost a form of action! You want it to be active! You want to toss in new information, and throw in new characters using dialogue!

Your editor closes her phone." So! What have you got for me today?" She leans forward, reaching for your manuscript.
You push the stack across the table." It's another paranormal suspense novel. Our hero, the bus driver, is kidnapped by North Korean agents who try to force him to reveal the date of the coming attack by the American imperialists."
"Plagiarist!" screams a voice behind you." You ripped off my idea!"


See! Dialogue is war! Don't forget it!

I also double up on what Rosey said! Good point.

Anyway, useful piece here Cspr!
For I who am poor have only my dreams
I spread my dreams under your feet . . .

. . . tread softly for you tread on my dreams.


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It's all a matter of perspective. Everyone is the hero of their own story, and the villain of another's.
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