Getting right down to it, dialogue is something we all use because we all talk in real life and NEVER SHUT UP. There comes a time when some things are left better unsaid.
Dialogue should not be used as the main way to tell your story. Just because your life consists of talking hours on end doesn't mean we want to read that. I'm going to repeat what my 6th grade teacher often said (which sort of expresses my own opinion as well but not that much,) "I find dialgue boring and I will skip it most of the time in books. I don't want any talking in your papers." I'm not saying that you shouldn't have any, but over use of the talky is not appropriate for long fics. Lots of times people are going for the emotional aspect in a story and dialogue kills the mood and entire development. When writing just stop for a moment and think if you can put the character's words in another way other than directly saying it. Turn, "Leave me alone," into something else. →
Dongwook stopped mid step, nostrils flaring. Her hand was on his shoulder again, the fingers clutching his short like a like a life line. He jerked his head around and growled into her face before ripping her hand off without holding back. She had no right to touch him, no right to be near him. He didn' t want to see her, he didn't want to hear her. The only thing he wanted of that bitch was for her to leave him alone.
And I don't even have to say that last sentence because if you were in that situation you would get it because of body language. *sigh, I have to add body language to my list of things to rant about.*
First of all, there are some basic LAWS to writing dialogue. These will be short, don't worry.
- Uses quotes ("....")
- is not Script writing (Kevin: What do you want?....)
- quotes in things people say are put in apostrophes ("He looked at me and said, 'what do you want?' ")
- Does not distract from the story (meaning it disrupts the flow of the story, breaking things up and not fitting in)
But dialogue can be used, I'm not saying it can't. *I use it all the time, don't worry* It can really be used to make things more emotional. My example.
My cold fingers reached out across my bed and ran though the empty sheets searching for that lost hand. It wasn't there. It hadn't been there in so long I questioned that it was ever there in the first place. Was his image a mirage? When I can't answer myself, when the doubts are left in my dying head, I let the pillows take me back and caress me like he should have been instead. I don't leave me bed, I only wish for him to come back to me. Was I wrong? Please don't let me be wrong. There is always something wrong with me.
First my mind, next my sight, what will be the last thing to leave me? My life? Or will it be him? Should I laugh because he is already gone? I wouldn't even be able to with my vocal cords shrinking each day. My senses are being lost, and without him I dwindle down more every day. I want to feel his touch on my skin, I want him to hold me in his arms until the day I die. There are so many things I want of him, will he ever come back to me?
My eyes are open, and the sun is on my face. I am chewing on something. I'm sure there are chopsticks in my hand. Two plus two equals fish, and the room is left in utter silence.
"I will always be by your side."
Utter silence.
Whoo, that was my first attempt at writing at all this week. I need to start writing again! *spins around in a chair with no wheels, no what I need to do is start watching anime again, but this is more important* Now, I'll point this out again, but you don't have to write dialogue that way. Go ahead and write a conversation between people, just don't drag it on. Description should come before talking, like a leading action. A little background information of the area and what is going on, some inside thoughts, maybe even just the time of day. After that dialogue is kind of expected because most of us are ADD and won't admit it, we need something to bring us back into the story.
Even as we use dialogue, give some description and inside feelings, though try to refrain from using 'thoughts' in the middle of the story, just throw the thoughts out there... I'll do more on that later. There should only be a few times when we just list what is being said, and that is when nothing changes or the few changes don't even matter or we want to delay telling of those actions and thoughts. When the description interrupts the dialogue just don't put any. It's okay to have a few lines of just talking. Don't do it too much because I swear that I feel like people are cheating their lengths by putting in a bunch of short yeses and nos. I think the best example I can give is to just open up a book and study the dialogue there. I myself happen to write like Suzanne Collins Hunger Games, that is just me, and that is what I prefer to read. Again, I'm not saying dialogue is bad, we just all need a lesson in using it.
Dialogue is really used for the people that have reader's ADD, as my current teacher likes to call it. Readers don't want to read a bunch of the good stuff even if it is freaking prize winning poetry. They'll think it is too descriptive and skip over it... sad little readers. So for action stories and adventures using dialogue is a great way to draw in your younger and less attentive readers.
We all need to think of the age group for the readers. Watch out for what characters are saying. If your story is on the romantic and fluffy side keep away from directly saying swear words. Mention them by being creative and just saying that the character said a few things better not heard by children. If your story is for adults or older teens then dialogue should be kept minimal. These are the days when people think of their words and spend most of their time in their heads. But yeah, there are those few people that can't seem to SHUT UP.
Now how many of us HAVE read a story that was PURELY verbal interaction? I am staring at one right now. I don't even know why I am still reading it other than the fact that I ALREADY LEFT A COMMENT ABOUT THEIR OVERUSE OF TALKING and I think I should continue reading. *Doesn't it feel sad to lose early readers? It seems like your story sucked as it progressed...* This story *I'm not even kidding* is solid dialogue. And I am reading it on Winglin and the author doesn't put spaces between paragraphs. I think the only thing I have to be grateful for is that dialogue from different characters are in different paragraphs. TWO CHARACTERS CAN NOT SPEAK IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH! HIT ENTER AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT LINE!
This is what I mean by not having your dialogue tell the story. It shouldn't be constant back and forth talking between one or more people *heaven forbid it just be one person* and we don't need to learn useless facts that don't pertain to the story at all. I guess this goes back to what the hell are you writing about. The thing about dialogue is that it DOES in fact stand out from the rest of the story and it draws the reader in with open arms call quotes. If the entire story is a firework then you're getting third degree burns, it is too much. Dialogue should be used to emphasize certain facts, even character. It's fine to have the character give a witty remark because that is character development and I seem to think that is important. I don't want a random situation about what you did today with a friend and talk about a movie. That is not needed. Things don't have to be said out loud, we can read between the lines, isn't it just enough for you to tell us that the other character knows it too? To be honest, when there is that much talking going on, in my mind I have switched the talking and description around to follow the proper ratio. You all know the ratio, I don't need to say it.
Because when we write we are talking with our inner reader and checking if that sounds right. Some of our inner readers slack off and leave us hanging, but there are people out there like me to TELL you to SHUT UP.
No comments:
Post a Comment