Hello writers! Is it just me or is dialogue a sometimes laborious endeavor? So many things to keep in mind when writing a dialogue. Obviously it has to be realistic. If your character is modern they will not be using words like “privy” unless they are at a Renaissance festival. Some characters will be less articulate than other characters, just like real life. Dialogue that is filled with “um” or “oh” is not doing a whole lot, except making us wonder possibly about the mental faculties of the character. Dialogue should be interesting, and it should flow naturally. If there is a pause in the conversation, there should be a pause in the dialogue as well. Does the character have a nervous habit of biting their nails, tapping their fingers or twirling hair? The perfect blend of dialogue and action during the pauses really help to define the character, but I find it quite difficult. I find myself always trying to tell a story as though I were actually reading the book to someone else, rather than as if I were there in the middle of the action. It is difficult to get out of the “Once upon a time...” mode. Perhaps I could blame this all on fairy tales. It was worth a shot. Well, so much for my break. Back to slogging through dialogue between two characters who barely know each other. Should be fun.
Camika,
ReplyDeletePersonally I love to write dialogue. In fact, I write too much dialogue in my stories. I guess it is easier for my characters to talk things out than write details.
My ciritque group has helped me get rid of the boring dialogue tags such as 'he said' 'she said', and replace those with the character's actions so the reader knows who is speaking.
Joan
I agree, removing the "he saids" and "she saids" is a must. I do not mind if they are in there once in a while, but all the time is distracting to the reader. That is great advice about interspersing character actions in with the dialogue. It's another way to help bring the character to life. When I get stuck, I have to reorient myself and ask, "how would this character react?". Sometimes a character won't answer at all. Dialogue is interesting, but I still find it laborious. It is one of those necessary things, so I will have to practice it a lot. Ironically, I seem to be working on mostly dialogue today! You have excellent timing! I'll make sure to include more character actions to bring the scene to life, thank you so much for posting!
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