Dialogue is actually
conversation. I love a dialog-based
story. When your characters talk to each
other – your story comes alive – it’s action.
Here are some interesting things to remember when writing dialog.
The first thing is
to make sure dialog moves the action forward.
You’ll kill your book immediately with stilted dialog.
“Morning,” Amie said, then slid onto
the bench.
“Morning, Miss Washen.
“How are you?”
“I’m fine. Lovely morning, isn’t it?” . . . .
Okay, I’m too bored
writing that – to continue. Your
characters need to bring the pages alive with their dialog and they must sound
like real people. Just don’t include all
the missteps that occur with ‘real dialog.’
Have you ever taken minutes for a meeting? That’s a great way to realize people start
talking, get interrupted, or their thoughts shift gears, and they don’t always
makes sense. They also add sounds you’d
never add in your book; er, umm, well, you know, etc. Don’t forget how much we interrupt each
other.
When you’re talking
with someone you hear the tone, rising and falling of their voices either in
excitement or perhaps in anger. We see
body language that communicates a lot.
The truth is dialog should be quicker
and more plain-spoken or direct than real speech. A great tool to use to create realistic
dialogue is to develop a distinct voice for each character. I don’t mean have one talk with an Irish
brogue, another with a English accent, and a third with a broken Southern
accent. Don’t be as obvious as that.
How about having a
character with a bit of a lisp, and another who shows class and sophistication,
and a third who doesn’t seem to know how to shut up – all within realistic
limits. It wouldn’t take a reader long
to recognize who’s speaking. Giving your
characters diction creates depth beyond just the words.
