dialogue: part one
Dialogue, when done well has so much to offer and contribute to your story. Let’s examine the magic of just talking!
dialogue – what does it do and why do we use it?
- MOVES THE STORY ON – lines of (snappy) speech can quickly convey a lot of information…
- REVEALS CHARACTER – by what IS said (or what ISN’T said) and the WAY in which it is said. The character could talk with a stammer (all the time or when talking to certain people), they could speak with a certain accent, have catch phrases/expressions etc, they could say things that the reader knows aren’t true…
- CAN CREATE A SENSE OF TIME/PLACE – they could talk in a way that reveals culture e.g. using dated language, or using street language/slang, they could talk about things that are relevant in a certain time-frame or even genre e.g. modern-day cars, horse and carts or airships…
- CAN SHOW CONFLICT – between characters, between the character and their environment, or internal conflict, so between what the character says and what they do (or think)…
- CAN INCREASE SUSPENSE – about what will happen next…
- CAN SUMMARISE/CLARIFY WHAT HAS HAPPENED – and how the characters feel about or are affected by what has happened…
- CAN AFFECT THE PACE OF THE STORY – a well crafted conversation literally speeds up the reading experience so the reader feels like they are moving through the story quicker…
dialogue literally looks nicer on the page!
It sounds silly but it just looks good!
I don’t know about you but I love it when I turn the page and see lots of dialogue. I know I will get to understand the characters better. Somehow it plays out more like a movie in my head than paragraphs of dense text (which is often harder work to read).
It leaves lots of blank space on the page so the reader is turning pages more quickly.
dialogue – what it doesn't need to do...
dialogue in a story should NOT exactly mimic real conversation...
- Real conversation is full of hesitation (‘umm’s and ‘arr’s).
- There’s lots of repetition.
- Readers don’t need to hear all the fluff and pleasantries (e.g. “How’s your mum?” If it doesn’t move the story forward, leave it out!).
- If you wrote it down word for word it would be pretty boring!
dialogue can be MODELLED on real conversation...
listen in on people's conversations and WATCH, WATCH, WATCH! don't get caught or they will think you are very strange (or just rude!).
- People usually use simple words rather than complicated ones (unless they are a professor or a politician!).
- People often avoid answering questions (it’s not just the politicians).
- Usually, people use short sentences; often they aren’t even using full sentences.
- Can you tell how well people in a conversation know each other? Are they strangers? Friends? Family? Enemies? How can you tell?
- What are people doing with their hands/how are they interacting with their environment?
- Do they seem to have a ‘catchphrase’? Some people use filler words like ‘innit’ or ‘like’ etc. If this could help you to link the character with their personality, this kind of thing could help to give your dialogue a flavour…
- Can you tell how people are feeling by what they say, how they say it or their body language?
- Can you tell a person’s personality by how they talk to others? Are they confident, shy etc…?
what are you waiting for? go and write some dialogue!
I hope you have found this helpful. If you need tips on how to structure dialogue (all the rules) check out Dialogue Part Two, and for even more on dialogue, see Part Three…
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