Dialogue
So why is dialogue important, you say?
What does dialogue look like?
"It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care," Peter replied.
A sentence of dialogue usually includes some description of who is talking and how they're saying it (he said, they whispered...)
You're starting a new paragraph when you start a new line of dialogue.
Ryan stood in the doorway as his eyes absorbed the scene. His mother, Lena, lay on a hospital bed hooked up to several wires, just as Candace had when she was in the hospital after the car accident that took her sister’s life. Her husband, John, sat next to her bed, holding her hand tightly. She looked frail and weak as her black eyes peered into her husband’s blue ones. As she opened her mouth to speak, Ryan drew closer as he hid behind the curtain. Candace could barely hear her voice.
“You won’t let anything happen to them, will you? You’ll make sure they’re ok for me, right?”
John, his eyes tearing up, softly said, “Of course, anything for you.”
Lena smiled, closing her eyes as she drifted off to sleep. John kissed her forehead and pressed his forehead to hers as he ran his hands through her hair.
But wait there's more!!!
The first step: Give it purpose
The second step:
Keep it concise
The Third step: Make each voice unique
Everyone talks differently. Some people speak directly, some never really say what they mean, some speak eloquently, and some speak awkwardly.
Give each character a unique voice
"I like that shirt. It makes you look taller," Marlena said as she stroked her newly dyed red hair.
"Yeah, thanks," William said.
"Is it new? That color really matches your eyes. Where did you get it?" Marlena asked, flipping her shiny locks over her shoulder.
"No, it's pretty old," William said as he poked at his phone's touchscreen.
Lives are novels and speaking is the dialogue.
Our story would be dull. . .
characterization rule-
SHOW, DON'T TELL!
"Billy slapped me when I asked him why he smelled like whore perfume," Tina said.
"Pig! You're too good for that cheating (expletive)," Wanda said.
"Two can play that game. Do you have Tony's number?" Tina asked.
"My 6'2" boyfriend is rude," Tina whined.
"Even though he's handsome and has gorgeous blue eyes, doesn't mean he can act like a jerk," Wanda said.
"He thinks that because he's rich, he can treat me badly," Tina said.
We wouldn't know what the characters are like
No one would ever talk like this
Dialogue is defined as
a verbal exchange between
two or more people.
Dialogue originated from:
Anyone, of any language, can write dialogue. It just takes practice!
But with dialogue
Possibilities open
From the word "dialogos," meaning to converse with.
(from Office Space)
So lets cut to the chase
shall we?
This first one is all about giving every line of dialogue a reason for existing. If a conversation in a piece of fiction has no reason for being there other than adding to the word count, you must be bold and cut it out, no matter how pretty you think the language might be.
Example:
"I don't feel well."
Here, it's important to know Jane has the flu and why Mike got rejected.
Next is the use of a five, most terrying!, letter word!
Writing dialogue isn't about replicating real speech.It's about giving an impression of it. And also of improving upon it.
Comma!
What's the subtext? What does Marlena really want to say?
Punctuation marks (?!,.) go inside of the quotation marks.
Keep in mind people are impatient!
This makes for some very short paragraphs, but that is part of the quick pacing that dialogue adds.
"Dialogue is a necessary evil."
-Fred Zinnemann
Agreed! :)
The end!
Dialogue that flows sounds effortless and spontaneous, just like the conversations in real life sound.
Congrats! You've now learned the basic format of dialogue.
An example of using a comma with dialogue would be:
"I don't feel well," said Jane.
"My girlfriend broke her ankle last night," Jack said.
"Ouch, she gonna be OK?" Mitch asked.
"The bone will heal, but some college scouts are coming to next week's game," Jack answered.
There are three main steps when writing dialogue.
"Did you hear about the game last night?" Jack asked.
"No, what happened?" Mitch said.
"The girls volleyball team lost by three points,"
"So, what?"
"So nothing, I just heard it during the announcements." Jack said
There is no point to this dialogue
So make the dialogue feels like it belongs!
If you took the dialogue out, what would you be losing?
Adding dialogue should serve a purpose. Is it adding to characterization, moving the plot forward, or creating/adding to the conflict?
"Hey, how's it going?" Phil asked.
"Pretty good, how about you?"
Juanita said.
"Fine, everything is fine. Did you
finish your project yet?" Phil said.
"Almost, I just need to add a few
more pictures and examples, then
I can finally submit if for review."
"Great, so where are the boys?" Phil
asked.
"Oh, I think they got their fishing
gear and headed down to the lake."
"Really? I just drove by the dock and
didn't see anyone there."
Way too much filler and small talk
"So where are the boys?" Phil asked.
"Fishing at the lake," Juanita replied.
"I just came from the lake. Nobody's there," Phil said.
Most people only say a clause or two before someone else chimes in.
Listen and write down how people talk. Try to emulate this, except leave out all the filler (um, yeah...) and small talk!
Dialogue should actually sound like something a real person might say
Remember: Anyone of any language can create dialogue!