  Drama
This week: Doing Dialogue Edited by: zwisis
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| Dialogue is one of the most important tools for a writer. It helps develop a character for your reader far more than any detailed description of personality, appearance or attitude. Dialogue is a pathway into a character’s brain. Effective dialogue is an almost voyeuristic tool, allowing a reader the opportunity to read a character’s thoughts, feelings, beliefs and reactions. Unfortunately the effort put into a good story is all too often ruined by bad dialogue. Writing dialogue is often a challenge for a writer, and it can take time to develop your characters’ speech patterns. This newsletter focuses on a view hints and tips to help us all hone our dialogue writing skills. |
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Listen.
Pay attention to your conversations, and not just those you have with close friends and family. All interactions, be it with bank tellers, shop assistants, waiters or your co-workers can be useful to a writer. You will get an idea of expressions people use regularly and they way they make themselves understood. Each person has a distinct way of talking, which in turns defines character and personality. Developing an ear for the way different people speak will help you translate different conversations into dialogue.
Read.
As a writer you should be reading, so pay attention to dialogue in whatever you are currently reading. Analyse how and why you feel the way you do about different characters? Whether you stop believing in a character or whether a character really got your attention and empathy... try to decide what happened to make you feel like this. Read the character’s dialogue, and decide what worked and what didn’t work for you. Start reading like a writer, and apply what you learn to your own dialogue.
Slang, swearing and stereotypes.
You may have developed some good dialogue, but beware of misuse of these three patterns. Too much of the above and you risk distracting and alienating your readers. Your story should take your reader into the world you have populated with your characters. Anything that makes them want to leave undoes all the work you’ve put into your writing. By all means, give your characters a few profanities to utter to help identify the character's personality or to express frustration or rage. Remember, less is more – in place of continued swearing use a verb such as “cursed”, “cussed” or “swore”.
Vary dialogue tags.
Nothing is more boring to a reader than continued use of “he said” or “she said”. That one word “said” immediately distracts your reader from the dialogue. In this instance remember the mantra from the previous paragraph – less is more. There is a huge selection of synonyms available for “said”, many of which also give detail to your character’s personality and the current situation. An example:
“Please help me,” she said. Fine if the character is fetching parcels from the car or clearing the dinner table.
“Please help me”, she whispered. Adds suspense – what has happened to make her speak so quietly? Is she hiding? Has a stranger attacked her? Is she trying to attract someone?
Please help me," she begged. Adds intrigue - why is she begging? Is she starving? Has she been attacked?
Punctuation.
Correct punctuation can be difficult for a writer. It’s an important part of the writing process, and needs to be covered in a separate newsletter. Any writer understands the basic punctuation marks: full stop/period, comma, hyphen, dash, colon, semi-colon, quotation marks, underlining, question mark and exclamation mark. Do not overuse punctuation like exclamation marks or underlining. Often a writer will use two or three exclamation marks at the end of a piece of dialogue. This should not appear in any dialogue. The only time it could be permissible is when your character is quoting or reading something written in a letter, note or diary – example:
He read the final underlined instruction on her to-do list: “DO NOT FORGET TO FEED THE CAT!!!”
Edit out the boring stuff.
As writers we’re always being told to “keep it real” and “write what you know”. While dialogue should read like real life speech, it must never be boring. An entire transcript of a conversation would be very boring and cause your readers to lose interest in your story very quickly. Edit out all irrelevant dialogue and any filler words and sentences. If the dialogue does not contribute to your plot then lose it to ensure you don’t lose your readers. Alfred Hitchcock said a good story is “life with the dull bits taken out” – wise words for any writer.
Add action.
Continuous dialogue is dull and monotonous. Think of how you feel when listening to a speech – it’s not long before your attention starts wandering. Your characters are people enacting a story, so they behave as we do in our world. Providing your readers with physical details and descriptions to accompany the dialogue not only breaks the dialogue but also helps paint a picture for your reader. Example: two people meet for coffee. During their conversation add details about the waiter bringing their order, someone at the next table or their surroundings and environment. Have they met before? Why are they meeting? Are they in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Restrain yourself.
Let the story flow and unfold naturally. Do not use dialogue to reveal your plot during the first part of your story. Your reader does not need to know everything at the start of the story. When written effectively your dialogue will help the reader remember earlier details throughout the story.
WRITE ON!
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"Do you love your wife?" Brandon asked.
"Yes, of course I do."
"Would you ever cheat on her?" he continued.
"Hell no!" Charlie said.
"Why not?"
"Because I love her."
She had brown curls down to forever and a million dollar smile. And she had green eyes. The kind that seemed like glowing green marbles. If there's anything I melt under it's always been the allure of glowing green eyes.
The sales clerk gasped, "You do look beautiful. That dress looks like it was made for you."
With a dreamy smile, Trina twirled in front of the full-length mirrors. "It's just what I wanted." She glanced at the clerk. "How much?"
"That style's being discontinued, so it's $200 this week."
Suddenly a hand fell on her shoulder and she jumped in fright. She looked up to see her father with a sad smile on his visage. His pencil thin mustache crinkled upwards as he stooped to her level.
"Sweetheart," he began softly. "I'm sorry you had to see this now. I was going to tell you when you were a little older, but..."
But she wouldn't listen. She didn't want to listen.
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“You know Sheila, I have been thinking. My pap will probably let me go to this year's Independence Day Celebration, since its on a Sunday. Would you like to go with me?”
Her opal eyes widened and seemed to glare and flirt with Derrick all at the same time.
“Yes,” Sheila said, her voice husky and proud, “ Of course I'd love to go with you Derrick.”
"Valarie Chapman?" Her hand is butter-soft like the checkbook.
"Donovan Whitmore?"
I thought she'd be asking me. "You know my name?"
"Yes, and much more."
"How?"
"I lived in Maine, dreaming of you. I relocated and started following you. Tracked down your parking place."
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In a hoarse voice I said, “Fine. If you’ll just shift your purse from between us, I’ll be a lot better.”
She took some weight off me, yanked the purse out, and sat back down.
“Ohhh,” I mumbled. “Please be a bit gentler. I want to have children someday.”
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dwarf2012
Ah, book snobbery. Sometimes I can't read a book because it is so poorly written, like Shades of Gray. There are only so many times I can stand reading about her inner Goddess, or biting her lip. I will admit to liking Hunger Games book one. There. Let the arrows fly. Right now I am reading "Wonderbook" a fantastic book for all new writers, especially for writing fantasy or sci-fi.
I think there's a book snob in all of us, dwarf2012. I'm currently reading a new Wilbur Smith book called "Vicious Circle", which has been badly reviewed on Amazon, but I'm really enjoying it. His writing style has changed over the years, but is that a bad thing? It's escapism, and if a book can give that to a reader - book snob or not - then is that a bad thing?
~Lifelessons~ 
I loved this news letter. I feel the same way. I do read a lot and try to learn from the books I read, but some just don't catch my attention.
I agree, ~Lifelessons~ . That's when speed reading becomes a wonderful gift! 
Quick-Quill 
Book SNOB PHSAW! Debbie Macumber has written a number of very good stories. Quite a few were made into movies. That being said, don't expect these books to be in the literary section (one area I would like to re-shelve) Her books have a great plot line, real characters but not deep, and some are heart tugging. When you read one of her books you should know what to expect and I see them as vacation books, ride to work on the bus/train books and something you can put down and pick up again. I've read Harli's for years, not so much in the last 6 or so. That being said, wait for it, I'm writing a Christian romance that will slide right next to Debbie's books (if my name was close in spelling) I hope it fares as well as hers does on the shelf when the time comes.
The wonderful thing about books is the incredible variety of authors and genres available to all readers. I may not have enjoyed Debbie Macomber's "Starry Night", but she is a prolific and extremely successful author and millions of people have enjoyed and continue to enjoy her books. Good luck with your writing, Quick-Quill !
Mitchopolis
I think a book snob can be defined as someone who dismisses any book based solely on its genre or its author without reading a single word of the book. I would probably never read a Danielle Steel novel but that is based on my preferences for reading and the vast wish list of books I have yet to read. I certainly do not think of her books as inferior nor the people who read them. To be as successful as she has been, she must be striking a chord with fans of that genre and of her work in general.
A very good point, Mitchopolis . There are many people who dismiss an author for the reasons you give. Anyone who steps out of his or her preferred reading tastes and reads a book is not, in my opinion, a book snob.
Red Barron 
This was truly amazing read. I almost bought the Danielle Steele book and have also found Debbie Macomber's writing shallow. but would read hers too. Got Amy Tan's book, first person, the Valley of Amazement. I am a slow reader. But want to be able to write a short-story tonight. Takes me about 7 hours. But, you are so true and right. Read all. I went through problem of people judging what I read, and it did stop me from reading. I regretted that deeply. Your input so important. Thanks. xo
It takes me a while to write a short story too, Red Barron . The trick is to remember criticism can be helpful. J K Rowling was apparently rejected 12 times in five years, and look at how successful her "Harry Potter" series is today! E L James admits the rejections of her "50 Shades of Grey" by two publishers was very hurtful at the time, and it is the fastest selling paperback book ever written!
Joy 
Great NL, Sarah.
I so agree with you, especially about the authors you mention, as I suffer from book snobbery, too. I will, however, read a novice writer anytime, but what I can't stomach is the author with several acclaimed best sellers, who writes careless, trite stories. Or after he or she has had a success with one book, all the thousand books she has written after that are either repetitions or worse copies of the first one. It shows disrespect for the craft and the reader.
BIG BAD WOLF is hopping 
Sometimes people are snobs when it comes to a topic, like dragon-slayers. The first review I got for my interactive was a rant about how there was no way a knight could slay a dragon, even saying that Beowolf was poppycock. I mean, sure, it would be near impossible for a man to do the job, but isn't that why we like rooting for the underdog, because they are outmatched. Besides, fiction is made-up, and not to be taken as real.
Oh well, can't please everyone, especially those who won't even open their minds to at least take a good look with their eyes open wide.
You are right, BIG BAD WOLF is hopping . Fiction is an escape into another world, and it's the reason a writer writes and a reader reads. Sadly Fantasy is the genre most disregarded by so-called 'book snobs", yet it is also one of the most popular. |
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Drama: February 26, 2014 Issue [#6178]
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