You may be surprised to know that dialogue is not the most important part of your story. Plot is the most important, characterization, setting and dialogue. But that is not to say your dialogue should not be strong. Dialogue can certainly be the most difficult. John Dufresne says, “Dialogue is not a break in the action, it’s an intensification of action. Here’s something else dialogue is not: It’s not the way we speak. It’s not natural, but must suggest naturalness. It is speech that is distilled, refined, and controlled.” (The Lie That Tells The Truth, p197) So, what does that mean? Have you ever eavesdropped on a conversation? Most of them are pretty boring, long periods of silence, two people talking at the same time, or can’t even make out what the topic is about. That is the way people speak. That is natural dialogue. Put that in a book and you will lose your readers quickly. Dialogue in a story must suggest naturalness. It must make sense to your readers AND to your story.
Many new writers write useless dialogue simply to introduce two characters' interactions together. The plot is for that.
Many new writers feel dialogue has to happen quickly to move the story along.
The plot is for that.
Many new authors are not sure when to put dialogue in.
And that’s ok.
Dialogue will depend on your narrator, whether you are writing in first, second or third person. Or whether you have dual points of views. But we’ll get into that later.
Dialogue helps your readers to further understand your characters, their problems, their allies, loves and enemies as well as their dreams. You should be able to ‘hear it in their voice’ when they are talking if they are scared, happy, in love or sad. Their language should be of the time of your setting. I love writing in Victorian London and had to do a lot of research both reading and watching shows and movies to get the dialect of all Britain in that era.
Dialogues can make or break your story. You can have a great setting, exciting plot and tenacious characters, but if your dialogue is crappy, nothing else will matter.
During this series, we will explore how to build strong dialogue, how not to have your characters sound like you and how to keep your readers engaged.
Work Cited:
Dufresne, John, The Truth That Tells A Lie: A Guide to Writing Fiction, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc,. New York, 2003
Next week: Building Plot Leading to Dialogue
Until Next Time…

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