Long sections where the MC is alone...

[Perle_Rare]

What are the tricks to break up long passages where the MC is alone and has nobody to talk to? As a reader, I generally don't like to have pages after pages of exposition between dialogues. However, in my current WIP, my MC goes off by herself for a while. She runs into a number of interesting situations, some of which are included to build her character and others are related to the plot, but there is nobody for her to talk to.

What are the tricks I can use to make sure this section doesn't "feel" dull to the reader? I have her talking to herself on a couple of occasions but I don't want to do that to the point where it feels contrived.

Any other tricks of the trade I can use?

[CaroGirl]

At the risk of being pounced on by flashback haters, you could use flashback scenes to inject some action into her lonely world. Flashbacks are also great for revealing character.

[Shadow_Ferret]

Just tell the story. Or rather show, don't tell. The MC doesn't have to be Jabberjaws and talk all the time.

YOu describe what's going on around the MC, what they're doing, what they're thinking. There are plenty of things to write about that don't require non-stop dialog.

[Garpy]

You could have her talk to the memory of a dearly departed loved one...much like Baltar does in the series Battlestar Galactica to that blonde lady.

[underthecity]

If the MC is off by herself, then give her something to do, an activity or chore, some kind of physical action that not only breaks up the exposition, but advances the plot as well. At least, that's what I've done a few times.

allen

[donut]

You don't need dialogue for a story to be gripping or eventful -- in some cases, it may even get in the way. You might want to check out the Jack London story, To Build a Fire (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/To_Build_a_Fire)... It's about a man alone in the wilderness, fighting for survival, and from what I recall, there isn't a single line of dialogue in the whole story (maybe one or two?). Instead, there's just a lot of attention to descriptive detail and to the MC's internal state.

[DVGuru]

As long as the story is interesting it shouldn't matter if there are long passages of exposition and no dialogue. If what you're writing feels "dull" then there might be a problem with the story itself.

[Garpy]

It's going to depend on the genre/market. If your book is aimed at YA, then you probably will need to break it up with some dialog. Literary...no problem....historical...no problem.

Keep in mind, when people speed read a book - usually because they're getting impatient with the author - they'll tend to skim narration, but stop for dialog.

[Danthia]

Internalization can also work for you. If your MC is actively trying to accomplish something, and is thinking about whatever and being entertaining, then it should be enough to hold a reader's interest. Make sure you have story advancement and the readers feels like they're getting somwehere and not just wandering in the woods with your MC. If they feel the scene has no point, they'll skim. I know I do.

[josephwise]

I'd rotate through a variety of different mechanisms. This will keep these sections from dragging.

So, first she's walking around looking at stuff for awhile. Then something reminds her of the time she and her brother found the frog with the severed foot, and we get a bit of dialogue between the two of them here. Then she notices some close descriptive details. Then she talks to herself a little, "Good work, Jane, now you'll have something to tell the McGinnley's next time they catch you late to mass." Then maybe some expository back-story that TELLS rather than SHOWS (a good trick to have in the bag). Then back to walking around.

Makes for a nice pace when the MC is alone.

[rwam]

One thing I struggled with in my last WIP is battling the notion that "I must account for every moment of MC's life". Once I realized that there were periods...days even...that the ready didn't (and shouldn't) care about, I abbreviated them.

So, I guess my advice is, just because you have a break in the plot, don't think you necessarily have to account for it. If it's a period of time that you feel obligated to fill, more than likely you'll bore the reader. This is not to say you can't have the MC do something entirely unrelated to advancing the plot in favor of adding depth to his/her character.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I, too, struggled with this very problem. It wasn't until I started thinking of a story as a "series of scenes" that I was able to break out of the trap.

JMHO

[J. R. Tomlin]

I would generally have quite a bit of internal dialogue in that situation.

[maestrowork]

Action, action, action. And I don't mean explosions and car chases. But a story is interesting when your characters are doing something, or something is happening to them. When your character is alone, what is she doing? Just take us on a journey with her -- there is no need to do long stretches of internal monologue or exposition. If nothing happens and she's just sitting there contemplating, then you have to ask: Why do you need that scene. Can't you just say "she spent two hours alone thinking..."?

Basically, you have to decide why you are describing something. Just because the character spends some time going from A to B by herself doesn't mean you have to describe everything. If you must break up the scenes, focus on the actions.

Watch Castaway with Tom Hanks. Most of the film is just him alone (with a volleyball) on an island, but we don't just see him sitting there (well, except a few short scenes) thinking about life... he's always doing something, and by doing something it reveals his character. He's either trying to make some fire, or find food, or learn to fish, or make a rope, or something. He also talks to himself and the volleyball Wilson -- and that's dialogue. Action is even more important when you have a character that goes off on his/her own for a long stretch of time.

[FennelGiraffe]

There are already a lot of good suggestions here, but one more thing you can do: Avoid long paragraphs of exposition. Especially avoid multiple long paragraphs in succession. Break it up with white space, so it looks a little like dialog. It's kind of a gimmick, but it feels like more is happening when the text doesn't look so dense and heavy.

[Wraith]

Everyone gave awesome suggestions. You can use those scenes for characterisation in an interesting way, through all the techniques people have mentioned, but if you feel more comfortable doing that through other characters, don't dwell on it.

But you say those scenes are important, so I take it you just feel the lack of dialogue. If stuff happens, it shouldn't feel like exposition. Just make sure the prose is engaging. Portray her feelings and reactions, break it up with a thought or two (not internal dialogue if you don't want it, just the occasional thought or maybe she says things out loud). If it's not dry narrative/description it should be ok - when faced with new things/events people have interesting thoughts and reactions, they swear, they feel stuff, and that can be written in a very gripping way.

You could also try a different tone to the internal dialogue so it doesn't feel overdone, in relation to whatever she runs into. Flashbacks could be good, but when stuff's going on I don't know whether it's really necessary to break up the flow of the plot like that. Of course, it depends on your genre.

There's a scene in my wip where my character is left alone locked on the terrace of a tower. First he tries to escape, he looks around (scattered description), I describe his feelings, he talks to himself and thinks about the guy who locked him there (all very briefly); reminisces a bit, then he starts talking to a cane. Granted, in the end the cane answers, so I'm not sure if this helps, but still. :D I tried to keep every little thing meaningful to the story/character. Also I have no idea if what I've done is good - just an example of mixing everything so that the scene doesn't come out dull. Best of luck with writing that stuff :).

[JohnDavidPaxton]

I also like the talk aloud to oneself option and don't feel it's used enough.

Also Fennel taught me a new trick and I want to use it, I it would probably work well for you. I mean, I've noticed that sometimes someone has a break like it is dialog, but I never realized that whats they were doing it for. So thanks for that!

[Perle_Rare]

Though my MC is alone, she's definitely active. She runs away from the people she's with, gets set upon by a pack of wild beasts, get kidnapped by someone who doesn't speak her language (hence, no verbal dialogue), and eventually manages to escape again. So it's not a matter of having a boring section that I could necessarily cut out. It's just a matter of somewhat unrelieved paragraph after paragraph of text.

Thank you all! I now have more tricks in my toolbag and a better idea what I should strive for. Your feedback, as always, has been invaluable!

:)

[Voyager]

Too bad it's not a guy alone :D

[maestrowork]

Though my MC is alone, she's definitely active. She runs away from the people she's with, gets set upon by a pack of wild beasts, get kidnapped by someone who doesn't speak her language (hence, no verbal dialogue), and eventually manages to escape again. So it's not a matter of having a boring section that I could necessarily cut out. It's just a matter of somewhat unrelieved paragraph after paragraph of text.

Thank you all! I now have more tricks in my toolbag and a better idea what I should strive for. Your feedback, as always, has been invaluable!

:)

Pages and pages of text without dialogue is not a bad thing. How you tell the story, your narrative voice, what is happening are the important thing. If it's engaging, you can write the whole book without dialogue. So if there's a lot going on and if you engage the readers effectively, there's no need to panic about the lack of dialogue.

In TPB, I have almost an entire chapter of the protagonist being alone and doing things (traveling around, seeing things, looking for his past). It's told in first person, so the narrative voice carries the whole chapter as if he's talking to the readers. There's hardly any dialogue, but the plot continues to move forward.

(It's harder to do in film, and that's why they had to invent Wilson for Castaway or have Tom Hanks talk to himself)

[Stew21]

I read a book called The Ha-ha by Dave King.

The narrator is mute. he tells an incredibly story but through the entire book, he never speaks.
Now obviously there is dialgue with other characters, but how expresses scenes and goes into depth about how his experiences make him feel are a huge part of why the book worked.
Strong narrative voice and exploration of the character's thoughts can really make a story shine without the character ever needing to talk to anyone.

[David I]

Gosh, until now I never thought of this as a problem.

Actually, on reflection, I still don't.

[Perle_Rare]

Gosh, until now I never thought of this as a problem.

Actually, on reflection, I still don't.

Then you're more experienced and confident than me! Chalk it up to the fact that I'm an absolute newbie and I see problems in everything I write.

I'm glad to hear that I should just push along and quit worrying. Thanks! :)

[KTC]

I have never considered this. My spaces between dialogue are natural. I just let the story tell itself. My characters are comfortable being alone. I really don't understand that this would become an issue.

[RLSMiller]

I sometimes become cautious when I have pages and pages without any dialogue. One trick I use is simply externalising an internal thought. You can have them mutter themselves or yell in surprise. None of that is necessary, though. If your voice and story is appealing enough the reader shouldn't really notice all that much.

I'm going off on a tangent here, but I think as writers we are always so close to the work at hand that we dissect little things in the narrative that a reader wouldn't even pick up on. When a reader picks up a book, they are effectively placing trust in the writer to tell them a good story. As long as you don't break that trust, you'll be fine. If these pages without dialogue are vital to the story while being entertaining for the reader, then the trust remains intact. If they are boring to read, and have no impact on the reader's understanding of the story, then it will be a blow to the trust the reader has invested in you as the writer. The more blows that bond of trust takes, the more danger there is of the bond being severred completely and the reader throwing the book down in disgust. As long as the reader is confident that the writer knows his stuff and is showing them things for a reason, they will have no reason to question.