Short Story Writing: Article 11: Dialogue

Dialogue

Dialogue, perhaps more than any other aspect of writing, is something one has to develop a feel for, but like other aspects, observing a few simple principles can help us on the way.

Dialogue is definitely not a representation of the way people really speak. Everyday speech is full of repetition and hesitation and mundane comments which are extremely tedious when written down.

Short Story Writing: Article 11: Dialogue

"Good morning Janet, how are you?"

"Oh I'm fine thanks, how are you?"

"Not too bad thanks. Lovely weather today isn't it?" "Yes, gorgeous. Thank goodness that rain has stopped."

"Yes, I thought it would go on for ever. That's a nice dress you're wearing."

"Oh this old thing. I've had it for ages." "Did you watch any television last night?"

"Yes, I saw that film, it had that actor in it, what's his name? Oh goodness what is his name? It's on the tip of my tongue hold on a sec. . . . "

"Johnny Depp?"

"No, um, hold on a sec, it's coming . . . "

The yawning restless reader will not hold on a sec - he will abandon the story.

Dialogue should always be used to convey something important to the plot, and should be a distillation, or edited version, of real speech. It conveys the rhythm and syntax of real speech at its best, with all the roughness and redundancy pared away.

Dialogue needs to convey information to the reader, but in a way which sounds natural. For example if Janet says to Mary:

"Have you heard that John Jones is coming to work for us?"

This line conveys to us that there is a character around called John Jones with whom Janet is acquainted, and it does so in a way which sounds perfectly natural.

Don't overload dialogue with information. If you do it becomes conspicuous and sounds unnatural. For example:

"Have you heard that John Jones, the guy I met on holiday in Majorca last year but who already had a girlfriend and lived in Manchester is coming to work for us?"

Don't be reluctant, as some people seem to be, to put in 'he said', 'she said', 'said Janet', 'said John' after lines of dialogue, but on the other hand, don't put them in too often. We don't need them after every line, but we do need enough to keep us in touch with who is speaking. In a scene with only two characters they can largely be dispensed with, but with three or more characters present the reader will get lost without them. They are much less conspicuous when read than they seem while writing them.

The main objective in writing modern short story dialogue is to keep it brief and to the point. Every word must count, and it must sound natural. Listen to it as you write, and write it as the character would say it.

Copyright: Ian Mackean

http://www.literature-study-online.com/creativewriting/

Short Story Writing: Article 11: Dialogue
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Ian Mackean runs the sites http://www.literature-study-online.com, where his site on Short Story Writing can be found, and http://www.booksmadeintomovies.com. He was a short story and novel writing tutor for many years, and had many of his own stories published in literary magazines. He is the editor of The Essentials of Literature in English post-1914, ISBN 0340882689, which was published by Hodder Arnold in 2005. When not writing about literature or short story writing he is a keen amateur photographer, and has made a site of his photography at http://www.photo-zen.com

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Short Story Writing - Three Questions To Ask Yourself

Let's talk about ideas.

Ideas exist in a soup in your brain, and like all good soups, ideas need time to stew. The trick is to keep stirring. As the idea churns around in what passes for your creative capacity, you should periodically review it and ask yourself some questions.

Is it original?

Short Story Writing - Three Questions To Ask Yourself

If you have a pair of FBI agents chasing aliens with torches in dark rooms, or two cops on a murder case, one easy going and one irascible, or if your idea is for an article on "Why men are hopeless at housework," the chances are the answer will be "No." If your idea fails to be original, you'll probably struggle to get it published.

Is it plausible (within the bounds of your chosen subject genre)?

If your cops find themselves in outer space, or your FBI agents suddenly turn up back in the Wild West, or your man has a totally new concept for ironing creases out of clothes using microwaves, it might be that your idea is a bit too wacky. On the other hand, you might have found just the twist that will make your story or article shine.

Is it workable?

Is this a piece that you could see yourself writing? Are there themes you might want to explore? Does the piece have potential for conflict or education? Most importantly, do you want to write it? If not, why bother? I have notebooks full of ideas that have failed two out of three of these questions and never made it any further.

Don't assume that all ideas are good, new, original ones. Assuming so is a common beginner's mistake, and editors see the same "great idea" on numerous occasions. (Please, please, please, don't write a "Then we woke up, and it had all been a dream" story. It might be okay for Dallas scriptwriters, but they make a lot of money already.) If you introduce some quality control at the outset, it helps in the long run by weeding out the weaknesses; and your work will be all the better for it.

Short Story Writing - Three Questions To Ask Yourself
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William Meikle is a Scottish writer, currently travelling in Canada, with seven novels published in the States and three more coming in 2007/8, all in the independent fantasy and horror press. His short work and articles have appeared in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Greece, Saudi Arabia and India. He also has three shorts produced from his scripts, and several supernatural scripts currently on option, including four shorts, and a supernatural thriller feature.

William Meikle http://www.williammeikle.com

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Writing is Writing - Isn't it?

If you were to say that writing is writing you'd be very wrong.

Consider for a moment the different forms it can take - it could be anything from fiction and sales writing to promotional writing and poetry. Each of these require a different style to create its desired effect - they are all looking to achieve different things.

Short Fiction

Take for example one of the most sought after types of writing at the moment (certainly from a copywriter's point of view) - website copywriting. This has one aim and that is to attract visitors (through search engine results) and convert them into buying customers. Therefore it has to be interesting, engaging and salesy. Whereas if you are writing fiction you are writing to entertain, enthral and satisfy the readers' curiosity.

Writing is Writing - Isn't it?

Fiction writing calls for an exhibition of your flare and creativity. You'll employ metaphors and similes to illustrate feelings and moods - your words will be used to paint a picture for your reader.

But when you have a website you are writing to attract traffic. Your copy must engage your readers, inform them and convert them into sales. Yes, that does sound rather impersonal but it is essentially what your website is there for - it should be selling for you, otherwise is is a very expensive brochure.

Your reader must be able to clearly see your product and its benefits.

When embarking on your website copywriting project you must forget the flamboyant language and stylistic flourishes of the fiction writer - there are only three things you must to remember:

Forget the arty similes and metaphors, tell the reader what it is, what it does and why it will benefit them. Forget the jargon - no one is interested in it. If it is essential technical vocabulary, fine, but keep it to a minimum. Keep it short and concise. I know there is a lot of debate about whether long copy is better than short and each has its place. But in both cases don't be too wordy - why use 'in the interim period' when 'between' will do just fine.

The main rule in website copywriting is to keep your writing simple and conversational. If you achieve this, you'll build rapport with your reader. You will become that friendly arm around the shoulder; someone they can trust.

Writing is Writing - Isn't it?

Sally Ormond is a professional SEO website copywriter and advertising copywriter with extensive experience in B2B and B2C copywriting markets. She can be contacted at +44(0)1449 779605 or online at http://www.briarcopywriting.com for any copywriting project you may have.

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