Blog One: Dialogue

by

Sandy Tritt

Have you ever read a court transcript? It accurately gives a word-by-word report of exactly what is said. But is it interesting? No way. If we wrote dialogue the way people actually talk, our readers would execute us at dawn (or maybe earlier). So what do we do to create “natural” dialogue?

First, we must listen to the way people talk—both the choice of words and the rhythm of those words. People rarely speak in long sentences or without pausing (except for my mother), so we must write dialogue in fragmented sentences and in short bursts.

Second, we must decide which of these spoken words are worthy of writing. For example, in real life, when we greet someone we generally say, “Hello,” then ask how he is, maybe how his family is, and so forth. But this is boring stuff to a reader, who is smart enough to realize small talk occurs and impatient enough to want to get immediately to the meat of the conversation. Therefore, we need to eliminate the “niceties” and get on to what the reader wants to read.

And third, we need to add body language and action to dialogue to convey its true meaning. For example, a character says, “You jerk.” Without body language, we don’t know what the emotional value of this statement is. Consider the following statements:

• “You jerk.” His eyebrow cocked just enough so I’d know he was challenging me, that he was checking to see if I would back down.
• “You jerk.” The twinkle in his eye told me I’d finally earned his respect.
• “You jerk!” Carl slapped his knee and laughed from his belly until I feared he’d fall down.

As you can see, the action and body language allow us to interpret the meaning of the words. Since the reader cannot see the character talking, it’s our job to describe all the information the reader needs. Adding action and body language to our prose also accomplishes another task—it controls the pacing. Now, there are times when rapid-fire dialogue is necessary, such as at high drama points when things are moving quickly, or after a long descriptive section to pick up the pace. Monologues usually do not need interrupted by tags or action, as the story being told is the story holding (we hope!) the reader’s attention and to suspend it would be distracting.

There are no precise rules for writing dialogue, but an ear for it is developed by reading aloud. Do you start drifting? You need action. Do you forget who’s talking? You need a tag. Is the conversation moving too quickly? You need a break—narrative or action—to even out the pacing.

Here are some quick tips for writing dialogue:

• Read your scenes aloud, listening for the rhythm of your dialogue.
• Don’t use sound effects (called “onomatopoeia”). This is annoying. Simply state, “The gun shot echoed through the chapel,” instead of “Bang! Bang! Bang!” An exception to this, of course, is children’s literature, in which the sounding out of noises is part of the fun.
• Take it easy on dialect. Sounding out words becomes distracting and time-consuming, and most readers tire of it quickly. Instead, use the grammar, word choice, and rhythm of the character’s voice to insinuate the dialect or tag it with an explanation. Instead of writing: “I vill dough zit meself,” write: “I will do it myself,” she said, her Polish accent thick, the way it was when she was tired or sick. Likewise, instead of writing, “It doune make no differen’ ta me. I’m goin’ eenyway,” write: “It don’t make no difference to me. I’m going anyway.” 
• Don’t include “well,” “uh,” and other such nonsense unless it serves a purpose, such as a character whose only word is “uh,” or a character whose main distinction is prefacing every statement with “well.”
• Keep your tags either interspersed with action and description or at the end of the quote. A tag at the beginning (although occasionally okay) tends to make the writing more passive. Consider which of the following carries the most power: 
• He said, “Help me. I need help.”
• “Help me. I need help,” he said.
• “Help me,” he said. “I need help.”
• “Help me!” His arms flailed as his head disappeared under the water. He resurfaced again, fighting surf. “I need help.”

Next week, we’ll discuss how to use dialogue tags and how to avoid “Creative Dialogue Tag Syndrome.”









© 2016 by Sandy Tritt. All rights reserved. This blog article is an excerpt from The PLAIN ENGLISH Writer’s Workbook (LINK)

The PLAIN ENGLISH Writer's Workbook

by

Sandy Tritt

It’s here! All 174 wire-bound 8.5” x 11” pages! You don’t need a PhD to understand this book. The PLAIN ENGLISH Writer’s Workbook explains writing concepts in understandable terms. EVERY WRITER NEEDS THIS BOOK.

The PLAIN ENGLISH Writer’s Workbook has been a work-in-process since 1998—the year Sandy began to edit professionally and founded Inspiration for Writers. At that time, there were few editing companies on the Web, and most were rather unfriendly. Sandy wanted Inspiration for Writers to be different—to be an editing company that truly cared about its clients and took the time to chat with them, discover their goals, and be there to answer questions for as long as they desired. That philosophy of nurturing and treating our clients as we would want to be treated may be the reason we’re still in business and most of our competitors from those days are not.

From the beginning, instead of simply correcting poor writing techniques, we explained why the correction was needed so the writer could learn from the edit and apply that knowledge to future endeavors. Since we ended up repeating instructions to address common writing issues, we created a set of tip sheets written in PLAIN ENGLISH so even novice writers could master the techniques without needing a dictionary to understand the terminology. As Sandy taught creative writing classes and workshops, the worksheets were created to help organize the writing process. Eventually, many of these tip sheets and worksheets ended up on our website and in the first incarnation of this book, The Inspiration for Writers Tips and Techniques Workbook. Over the years, many things have changed, especially in the publishing industry. Inspiration for Writers also grew and incorporated, adding quality editors and writers. We continued to add more tip sheets and worksheets, which meant we needed an updated book. So here it is.

The purpose of The PLAIN ENGLISH Writer’s Workbook is to assist you during every step of your writing career. Jam-packed full of writing tips, techniques, exercises, and worksheets, this workbook includes six sections.

Section 1, Getting Ready to Write, gives advice to beginning writers, including ways to find time to write, find a place to write, and to find a mentor to help you through the process. The remainder of the book is applicable to writers of all experience.

Section 2, The Basics, discusses the core components of a novel or memoir, including plot, setting, characterization, point of view, dialogue, gawking characters, and more. Some of the most difficult concepts to learn are covered in detail, such as how to create emotionally-mature characters, how to keep your narrator in line, and how to choose—and maintain—the perfect point of view for your needs.

Section 3, Advanced Techniques, explains ways to write more powerful prose. Included in this section is advice on handling flashbacks and foreshadowing, how to control pacing, and how to cut the flab while building the muscle of your prose.

Section 4, Self-Editing, draws attention to common writing problems and how to solve them. This section includes the steps professional editors take to make sure characters remain consistent, gives grammar and punctuation tips, and even tells you how to find beta readers. 

Section 5, The Next Step, discusses publishing options, including the detailed information needed to either query a traditional publisher or literary agent, or steps needed to self-publish. Included in this section are Rhonda White’s article on Tax Breaks for Writers, as well as a sanity-saving guide on how to write a book proposal.

Section 6, Reproducible Worksheets, provides 9 worksheets with detailed instructions on how to use them. The instruction sheets give tips on how to select a name for a character, how to find a story’s focus, and much more. These worksheets are reproducible, but we will provide a PDF or MS Word copy of the worksheets upon request.

Bonus tips are sprinkled throughout, as are exercises (with solutions!) to practice concepts presented.

Order your copy today in either the wire-bound (for easy copying of pages) hard-copy format for just $35 (includes priority mail shipping within the US) or $10 for the ebook version. Just go to http://inspirationforwriters.com/wp/writing-merchandise/ and select the version you want. After you’ve paid through Paypal, click on “return to the Inspiration for Writers website” to receive your download.

If you have any questions, email us at IFWeditors@gmail.com.