Monday 4 April 2011

DIALOGUE - Arlee's A to Z

Realistic dialogue:
  • advances the story
  • puts the character into characters
  • Breaks straight exposition into interesting ripples and turns.
Nothing pulls the reader out of a story faster than dodgy dialogue.

DIALOGUE

LISTEN
Listen when others are talking, you will hear the lilt and flow of the conversation. Natural speech patterns vary between age groups. They also vary depending on the social hierarchy evident in the group.

MAKE CHATTER MATTER ;)
Chatter matters but too much conversation is boring to read – trust me on this: I have marked a million stories written by Primary School children - all dialogue must drive the story forward.

DUMPING – SPRINKLE IT OVER A WIDE AREA AND YOU MIGHT GET AWAY WITH IT
Back story should be blended and, although dialogue is one place to sprinkle necessary facts, great care must be taken to avoid dropping information by the tonnage ;)

ACCENT, DIALECT AND SLANG
Less. Is. More.
When you decide to let rip please remember the reader who is deciphering the code.
ACCENT (Watford) : ‘Cos, right, this ‘ard-faced tosser w-ot’s turned up is open to mockin’--an’-slatin’ -- if-n you let him take the lead. Giz accent a break an’ back off with the slang ‘cos I’m bored with readin’ it, already.
DIALECT: Aw've just mended th' foire wi' a cob, an’ there's some nice bacon-collops o' th' hob,   w' a quart o' ale-posset i' th' oon - so that’s dinner sorted, in the frozen North.
SLANG: Unless you’re fluent, and there is no chance of you muddling the informal with the profane –  banger, banging, bang on, bang-tidy and bang to rights –  avoiding slang is the plan.

READ WITH A PEN AND A NOTE BOOK
Pay attention when you're reading. Where did you slip out of the narrative? Where did the character excite, or lose you?

PUNCTUATE
Accurate punctuation in all dialogue is essential.

TAGS ARE SNAGS
Keeping the dialogue tags simple helps the writing flow – "he said/she said" is almost all the variety you need.

In their book, “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers,” Renne Browne and Dave King say:

“If you substitute the occasional speaker attribution with a beat, you can break the monotony of the ‘saids’ before it begins to call attention to itself.”

DULL:

“Hey, Lucas,” Rowland said. “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere special,” Lucas said.

“I haven’t got much more work to do,” Rowland said. “You could wait for me.”

“I was going to walk down to the river,” Lucas said. “I have to get back before dinner. I've got a meeting with Master Topping, in his office.”

“Right. You go on,” Rowland said. “When I finish, I’ll catch you up.”

DUSTED:

“Hey, Lucas,” Rowland said, putting down his pen and leaning back on his chair. “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere special.”

“I haven’t got much more work to do,” Rowland said. “You could wait for me.”

“I was going to walk down to the river,” Lucas said, scuffing one toe on the floor, turning his head towards the door. “I have to get back before dinner. Remember? Master Topping? In his office?”

“Right. You go on,” Rowland said. “When I finish, I’ll catch you up.” 

EMOTIONS -  A DIRECTORY OF Ds :
dazed, deceitful, defiant, dejected, delighted, depressed, despairing, determined, disconsolate, discontented, disgusted, disheartened, dismayed, distraught, distrustful, disturbed, docile, doleful, dutiful.

Effective dialogue is ...?

12 comments:

  1. Wonderful post on dialogue! Sol Stein said dialogue isn't just people talking. We won't pay for that. It's an art form and takes skill and practice to get it right.

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  2. Hi Karen
    That Sol Stein quote is sooo right. Even when I watch kids chatting on the playground talking is only one element happening inside the conversation.

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  3. I love this post. Reading and writing good dialogue is my favorite part of reading and writing.


    M.J. Fifield
    My Pet Blog

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  4. I like the revision. The second one is much better. Dialogue can make or break a scene.

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  5. I'll add:
    o Bunch the action with action and dialogue with dialogue. You can mingle the two, but avoid those structures like this:

    "Char says something." Stuff stuff stuff stuff... for an entire paragraph. "Char continues original thought!"

    o Keep responses close to the question. Don't separate a character's response with a bunch of descriptives.

    o Agree on the dialect. Go easy, and instead use structure that allows the reader to ~feel~ the dialect, rather than cramming it on them.

    - Eric

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  6. Great post; so informative! I think listening, perhaps at a coffee shop or at a restaurant is key.
    Observe and read, write n' highlight!

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  7. Wonderful advice and examples. I'm a fellow "A to Z" blogger and I look forward to reading more from you.

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  8. Hi MJ
    I love dialogue too. The careful balance between keeping things real but understandable. ;)

    Hi Medeia
    I agree. Dialogue is so easy to get wrong - too formal or stilted. The second one is much closer to a real scene in the book. :)

    Hi Eric
    Thanks for joining the dialogue debate ;) Keeping the response as tight as possible is a good point. I separate them if what is being said is not the truth - whether they know it or not at that moment.

    Hi Ella
    Listening to conversations is an essential if anti-social skill - spying on folks was my true calling ;)

    Hi Sylvia
    Thanks for stopping by and commenting :D The total number of people taking part is incredible. I normally try to get around everyone in a challenge - I'm having more trouble this time.

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  9. Great post. I always take note of the way my kids talk. They are quite entertaining when you really listen.

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  10. Niki
    I do that too :D

    I find, if I join the conversation the tenor, tone and vocabulary alters - mind you, it changes just by my being there ;) Min and I do whole shopping trips in Teen though - so funny. It is sooo little about what is said - lots of what isn't. Non-verbal is hard to write/describe.

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  11. This is such a great post. SLANG: "Unless you’re fluent, and there is no chance of you muddling the informal with the profane – banger, banging, bang on, bang-tidy and bang to rights – avoiding slang is the plan."--I agree. I hate to see slang used incorrectly in books. It should be left out in that case.

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  12. Hi NiaRaie.
    Slang changes so quickly - last week's word is old.
    If that is true then the slang from two years before (the time taken for a book to get from written to published) would make the slang the characters use archaic ;)

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