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Possible to have too much dialogue?



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Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:23 am
vongarrett says...



My novel, though a fantasy/adventure, is very character driven and it requires a lot of dialogue, or rather, the characters speak a lot. The communication is necessary as what they say and how they say it reveals their personalities and thoughts (I'm writing in third person, omniscient).

Similar to "walls of text", are "walls of dialogue" simply too much? Say, a couple pages in length (in context of a standard-sized book, not a word document page).

To be honest I don't feel very in control of the situation, as my characters say what they need to and what they want, what they would.

(To clarify I don't expose everything about my characters through what is outright spoken.)

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Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:19 am
Kale says...



Depends on how you break it up. If your characters speak in paragraphs-worth of dialogue, that might be a problem. Otherwise, if the items of dialogue are formatted properly and occasionally broken up by description and/or narration, then it shouldn't be a problem. Remember that gestures and body language can reveal a lot about a character and how they're saying something; they are just as (if not more) valuable in characterization as the dialogue.
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Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:23 am
Lumi says...



Don't hinder your writing through forcing description, but it's normally accepted that a good novel will not consist of monologues. It's just not how humans work.

My favorite exception to this, however, is actually Frankenstein, in which a good piece of the novel is narrated through the voice of the monster. Just find what you want to go on or say, but don't overkill. It's just like everything else. In moderation, you'll be great.
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Wed Feb 02, 2011 7:01 pm
vongarrett says...



Kyllorac wrote:Depends on how you break it up. If your characters speak in paragraphs-worth of dialogue, that might be a problem. Otherwise, if the items of dialogue are formatted properly and occasionally broken up by description and/or narration, then it shouldn't be a problem. Remember that gestures and body language can reveal a lot about a character and how they're saying something; they are just as (if not more) valuable in characterization as the dialogue.


Yes, it isn't just "dialogue", I include movements, facial expressions, actions in between. I want it to mirror real life as much as possible, and the truth is that people carry long conversations. Also there aren't any paragraphs of dialogue. That probably wouldn't occur unless one of my characters were recounting a story.
  





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Wed Feb 02, 2011 7:06 pm
vongarrett says...



Lumi wrote:Don't hinder your writing through forcing description, but it's normally accepted that a good novel will not consist of monologues. It's just not how humans work.

My favorite exception to this, however, is actually Frankenstein, in which a good piece of the novel is narrated through the voice of the monster. Just find what you want to go on or say, but don't overkill. It's just like everything else. In moderation, you'll be great.


I'm not quite sure what you are referring to when you say "forcing description". Do you mean I shouldn't try to add in more descriptions between the dialogue just to break it up?

And I agree that in conversations with normal circumstances, monologues don't occur but I wouldn't completely rule out that humans don't work that way. (My novel doesn't contain monologues, I'm just saying.)
  





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Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:46 pm
Lumi says...



You heard me right regarding forcing description. My point about humans not working in monologues is a generalization: when I talk to my friends, unless I'm telling a story, I don't take up the entire conversation, and even then there are interruptions. But like I said, generalizations.
I am a forest fire and an ocean, and I will burn you just as much
as I will drown everything you have inside.
-Shinji Moon


I am the property of Rydia, please return me to her ship.
  





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Thu Feb 03, 2011 5:12 pm
Lauren2010 says...



As long as all the dialogue serves a purpose, you should be just fine. Long rambling conversations about nothing (which is often what real people have on quite a regular basis) aren't going to be interesting and will deter a reader from, well, reading.
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