  Short Stories
This week: Who is speaking please? And why? Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI Now What?  
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How much dialogue to use? When? For what purpose? Should there be taglines? Let's talk about it, shall we?  |
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Dear Reader,
What does dialogue do? Shall we find out?
“So what does dialogue do, anyway?”
“Why did you say anyway?”
“Because ... because ... I’m not sure. I mean, I wanted to know what dialogue did, anyway.”
“It would’ve been different if you’d said, What does dialogue do, Ma’am?, wouldn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t have called you Ma’am in the first place! We’ve been friends six years, and we’re the same age and stuff.”
“Yup. Now imagine telling our readers that as plain prose, without the dialogue.”
“Hmmmm. Saying ‘anyway’ instead of ‘Ma’am’ did a lot, didn’t it ... Ma’am?”
With that, the two friends burst out laughing. Their relationship, their back-story, their comfort level with each other had all been revealed to the reader in a few short lines.
“Wait, is that my phone? Hey, it’s him. Why is he calling me now? He should be ...” Her hands were trembling a bit as she pressed the green button. Slowly, her expression changed – from disturbed, to disbelieving to delighted. “Really?” she gasped, into the phone. “You’re not kidding me? This is totally, totally awesome!”
“The plot moves forward,” Sheila stated, tilting her head quizzically as she watched her friend replace her phone in her pocket.
“Sheila ...” Maizy stammered.
“Yes?” Sheila chuckled.
“Sheila!”
“Yes.”
“Sheila – he – he – he got a promotion! That’s why the boss wanted to see him! My goodness, I was worried about this meeting of his!”
“Yeah. That was kind of revealed by what you said when you answered the phone. Anyway, all’s well, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Sure is!” she exclaimed.
“Those taglines aren’t really necessary, are they?” she queried.
“No, it’s obvious we’re asking and exclaiming and querying,” she stated.
"What’s wrong with plain old said?” she retorted.
“There’s nothing wrong with said,” she said.
“Said is invisible. It doesn’t detract,” she declared.
“But declared shows some authority,” she bandied.
“I still think taglines aren’t necessary.”
“I think they are.”
“Aren’t.”
“Are, too.”
“Well, we did away with them and nobody’s complaining.”
“Yet.”
“But I’ve kind of lost track which one of us is speaking. Am I speaking, or are you?”
“See! That’s something else dialogue does. Brings in humour.”
“What was funny about that question?”
“It’s a funny question! Am I speaking or are you? – it’s hilarious!”
“No, I had to go back and check, to keep track of who is speaking. I’m speaking now, you were speaking then,” Sheila clarified.
“Well, if you write so brilliantly that your reader is in synch with you, you don’t need taglines. The reader has imagined the character, and is going along with the flow of who is speaking.”
“Flow. Let’s let some lemonade flow, shall we? It’s hot.”
“Nice. Bring in the weather, and the person’s tastes. Now just talk a bit about this park we’re in, the trees and hedges and things, and you’ve covered ...”
“You’ve covered people, plot, setting, situation, we’ve even introduced your boyfriend via the phone, though we didn’t dwell on him much ...”
“I dwell on him all the time. It’s so exciting! He got a promotion! Oh, and, and, if he'd have had dialogue here, we would've got in my physical description, too.”
“Yup. He would've referred to the colour of your hair and eyes, and other stuff. I'm not telling the reader all that. Let them imagine you. Now let’s get that lemonade.”
“I have to say one more thing.”
“What?”
“Dialogue looks good on the page. It makes you break up your paragraphs.”
“Yup. And I need to say one more thing.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry too much about rules. Suit your own style as a writer. But DO read it aloud to yourself, so you know it sounds like your character.”
“Done deal. Lemonade, then?”
“You got it! I think we've been talking too much, anyway!”
I guess I'll stop talking now, too!
Thanks for listening!
- Sonali
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Though this contest isn't currently running, I had to highlight it in a newsletter about dialogue!
And here is something interesting from kiyasama's notebook:
How does one feel about writers of fiction novels who seem allergic to the dialogue quotes? I'm currently reading a book "Love's Winning Plays" by Inman Majors, and though it's quite funny, the way he writes his dialogue - where there's no distinction between narrative and the characters interaction - is slightly off putting.
Is this a new style in the fiction world I'm unaware of? Or does anyone remember classics that might have originated this style of writing?
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blunderbuss, on reading "Short Stories Newsletter (January 22, 2013)" , responded thus: Thank you Sonali, I loved these examples. Especially the first one about the young people. I do wonder, when the setting and, maybe the social situation of characters, is not the 'norm' for the reader, how much they then can identify with the actions and emotions of the characters in a story? Do readers only really relate to their own 'milieu'?
I'll pass that question on to WDC members, changing it round a bit - how do you make readers identify with characters who are not from their own milieu?
Thanks! |
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Short Stories: February 19, 2013 Issue [#5492]
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