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A
Few Keys to Writing Effective Dialogue
By K. Follis Cheatham As a writer, you probably
expend a great deal of your creative energy developing a story line and limning
well-balanced prose with evocative sentences. That's what writing is all about,
after all. But fiction writers have an additional aspect to creation-- effective
dialogue. Very few stories, novellas or novels are without dialogue, and for
some writers, this can be a stumbling block. Listen to How People Talk While you're crafting your
story, you no doubt did some homework to develop the background material for
your story and characters. The same must be done for dialogue, but you aren't
studying dialect or actual words, but rhythms and tone. Listen to how people
sound, and extend this study to setting of your story. You'll notice that people
tend to use shorter sentences in times of high emotion-- anger, surprise, awe.
"I can't take this! Get out!" versus "I find this situation
intolerable. I want you to leave right now." They ramble a bit when they're
nervous or confused. "I know this isn't what you wanted, but I wasn't sure
which way to make the diagram fit best on the page so I brought both copies with
me. I hope you don't mind." Young children tend to get pronouns confused or
leave out articles: "Me go to store with Gramma." You'll begin to
recognize how different personalities have different word usage and diction. All
of these observations can be incorporated in the dialogue you write. The best of grammar isn't
always used, either. Even people who write well don't always speak well.
"I've got to get that new CD of Carlson's," takes precedence in speech
over the more correct, "I have to buy Carlson's new CD." Word usage
and contractions that you might avoid in narration become quite logical in
dialogue. "There's no more to see, so let's get outta here." Avoid Dialect Get outta here. Isn't that
dialect? Well, not exactly. The word outta is merely a slurring of regular
words. Gonna, coulda, ain't, ma'am...all are often used to show someone has a
casual style, is young or uneducated, or merely in a hurry. Dialect, on the
other hand, refers to regional patterns of speech distinguished by different
vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. A person from the Caribbean might say,
"Das de bes' place fo' da good mangoes, mon." To write more than a few
snatches of dialect requires the expertise of someone from the region who is
familiar with all the terms, inflections and meanings. It's no different from
writing in another language. And your readers must be considered. The different
meanings, phonetic spelling and dropped endings can become irksome. It slows the
readers' progress in the story and may take them out of it altogether. If your urge to portray a
character's dialect can't be stemmed, use it sparingly, and with characteristics
that are easily understood and accepted: The Swede who says Ja
for yes, a worker with d as a
substitute for th (dis and dat).
Always keep in mind that dialect, unless used for a specific reason, becomes a
caricature and can often seem belittling. Much better to have another character
note that someone spoke with an accent, or in narration to mention the
Irishman's impressive roll of the Rs, for example. Use Dialogue as Enhancement To be most effective, use
dialogue as an extension of your story line and character development. Let's say
you have a character, Jane. She's late to the airport. She gets in a taxi and
tells the driver she has to hurry to the airport. He agrees. Well, those are the facts,
and it could be left strictly to narration: Jane shoved her way into the cab and
slammed the door as she told the driver to hurry to the airport. He agreed. Or
dialogue could be used. These examples show how different Jane characters could
speak and how the energy of the scene is increased. Plain Jane: "I have to
get to the airport really fast. Can you do that?" Cabby: "You betcha." Jane
of the streets: "The airport, bro, and hit it!" Cabby: "I'm on
it!" Jane
the executive: "Airport. A big tip if you make it quick." Cabby:
"Yes, ma'am!" Jane
the professor: "To the airport, please, and I'm in a hurry." Cabby:
"Certainly." The Dreaded Said He said, she said...When
writing fiction, these words seem vital to dialogue and story advancement. Yet
they are vacuous words, devoid of color or emotion. But many writers don't seem
to know what else to write. Often, if two people are conversing, he said/she
said aren't needed at all. Centuries of writing have resulted in a simple
convention of a new paragraph for each speaker's line. Ginny
and Ray stood on the observation deck. "Look at the sunset," Ginny said. "Yeah, pretty colors," Ray said. "It's as if the clouds are on fire," she
said. "But those are storm clouds. We better
leave," he said.
Once the initial speaker
has been identified, each change of paragraph indicates the new speaker; he
said/she said aren't necessary. Ginny
and Ray stood on the observation deck. "Look at the sunset," Ginny said. "Yeah, pretty colors," "It's as if the clouds are on
fire." "But those are storm clouds. We better
leave." Okay; he said/she said have
been eliminated, and you know who's saying what, but the dialogue is still
bland. By dropping in some said
substitutes, the scene becomes more descriptive. A glance in a thesaurus shows
dozens of alternate verbs: whisper, blurt, grunt, exclaim, yell, whine, and
blubber are just a few. Let's add a bit of attitude. Ginny
and Ray stood on the observation deck. "Look at the sunset," Ginny gushed. "Yeah, pretty colors." "It's as if the clouds are on fire." "But those are storm clouds," Ray
grouched. "We better leave." Remember not to write
redundancies. "I'm sorry," he apologized or "Where are you
going?" she asked, can seem a bit silly.
Inject a bit of Action Action doesn't just mean
dashing on flights of stairs or being in a car chase. Any little thing can be an
action that makes your dialogue more vital. By accenting your dialogue with
movement and mannerisms, you'll enhance the scene and bring more meaning to the
words. Ginny and Ray stood on the observation deck. "Look at the sunset," Ginny gushed. "Yeah, pretty colors." Ray tapped his
fist on the rail. Ginny tipped back her head, enraptured. "It's
as if the clouds are on fire." "But those are storm clouds," Ray
grouched. He started back to the car. "We better leave." Emotion has come to this
scene without a single change of dialogue. Use of descriptive synonyms
and character movement is especially important if three or more characters
engage in dialogue. People can shift, scratch, or pace-- they can whine, bluster
or demand. The descriptions will enhance the personalities as well as the
action, and eliminate the dreaded said.
Writing
effective dialogue is an art all its own and one that should be honed with
observation and rewriting. Truly knowing your characters is essential. Reading
scenes aloud to yourself or others (writing groups are good for this) will
increase your ability to hear the rhythms of sentences and recognize good (not
necessarily proper) word usage. With diligent practice, this creative aspect of
your writing will become second nature and flow evenly with your story and
literary style. This article was originally
published by Books & Writers. © 2004 by K. Follis
Cheatham - K. Follis Cheatham is the author of nine fiction
and nonfiction books, numerous articles and published poems. She has edited for
national magazines and publishing houses. She now freelances full-time as editor
and writer. Visit her web site at http://www.awritersaide.com/.
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