This came out of a different discussion. Short of watching YouTube tutorials, or something of that sort, what helped you write better dialogue.
If you had a favorite author, please include them (especially if they post on here).
Thank you all for your comments.
Know your character inside and out. Write it the way that character would say it. If it's a stuffy professor, write the dialogue in formal English. Maybe use big words if he is the kind who wants to impress people with his knowledge. If it's a tough, uneducated, streetwise kid, write the way that character would speak. If a character uses a lot of slang, well, have him talk with slang. Or maybe a character speaks in cliches. If a character lacks confidence, put in pauses.
The dialogue can give the character, well, character. In "The Last Boy Scout," one of the characters always called people by their formal name even if they didn't go by it. So he would call the main character Joe, Joseph. That had an impact on me. I remember it to this day.
Other than that stuffy professor, people don't speak in complete sentences. But don't go overboard with that, just like don't go overboard with pauses (e.g., um, uh). You still want it readable.
I'm sure if you Google "How to write dialogue in fiction" you'll get a lot of opinions, some good, some not so good. Choose the ones that help you.
As I heard when I started writing, "Know what you write, and write what you know..." Most of my first story was a reflection of my personal life.
Private school because my mother was a teacher there? Yep. Was I an EMT and a paramedic? Yep. Was I on most of the calls my main character went on? Yep. Was my MC's reaction to those calls based on my reactions? Yep.
It doesn't work for everyone, or every story, but it did for me... (My stuff is over on StoryRoom...)
what helped you write better dialogue.
My English 101 prof. He took pains to point out that most people, for example, use contractions all the time. Dialog without them feels horribly stilted to me. He told us he wanted us to listen to ourselves and realize that we didn't necessarily use 'proper' English when we spoke, so why would characters in a story?
As Switch Blayde pointed out, though, different characters speak differently. As long as it doesn't make the dialog too difficult to understand for others, giving them their own voices helps the reader immerse themselves in the story.
At one point an author mentioned that he goes back and 'dirties' up his characters' dialog to make theirs instead of his. I've found it a useful exercise — using "Mindy and I" as an object instead of the correct "Mindy and me", for example.
For an example on this website, see oyster50. In particular check out Cindy, and notice how Cindy's language changes over the course of the story.
I've found it a useful exercise — using "Mindy and I" as an object instead of the correct "Mindy and me", for example.
In the UK, that affectation is a symptom of upper class twittery. So it might show different things to different readers.
AJ
Listen to how people talk, and read stories with good dialogue, especially in the genres you're interested in. Sound things out if you need to, and see if you think it sounds realistic. Knowing the characters is very important, but you have to execute on what you know they would say and how they would say it or it still won't work.
Also, if dialogue is a problem for you, enlist editors who have a good ear for dialogue and will flag problems (if you can, of course). Good editors are important!
Listen to how people talk, and read stories with good dialogue
I don't think that the way people talk and good dialog in a story have much in common.The written word misses the non-verbal interaction, an actor would call it "business," which often conveys much more than the actual words spoken. Authors try to cover that missing element with descriptions and modifiers. Good authors do that well, most can't.
What I see happening most often is that the dialog is usually narration with quotation marks around it rather than actual conversation.
I don't think that the way people talk and good dialog in a story have much in common.The written word misses the non-verbal interaction,
Eh, the telephone has been around for a while now, so we've had some practice at dialog without the visual cues. It's not as rich in meaning as when it's face-to-face, but it's still dialog.
don't think that the way people talk and good dialog in a story have much in common.
The meaning of 'Good dialog' includes the way your characters talk. Actual people talk differently for a variety of reasons. In good dialog, your character's dialog needs to reflect actual people's speech patterns.
I agree but I think it requires real talent to do that. It also requires fleshing out the character of the speaker enough to allow the reader to fill in the blanks in his mind.
Instead, what we normally get are long recaps of the story or endless discussions that accomplish nothing.
That may be, but writing 'Good Dialog' takes skill and knowledge.
I know what you mean by long recaps and endless discussions. I don't like those either, but I am guilty of writing some of those. I typically do so as a reminder to my readers about what happened in earlier chapters.
Instead, what we normally get are long recaps of the story
Dialogue is a recognised 'showing' method for exposition. It shouldn't involve recaps unless the POV requires it to keep the characters informed.
AJ
Switch Blayde pointed out a TV show in another thread, that has really good interpersonal dialogue.
'The Pitt'
It's a medical drama, but the spoken interactions between the characters is both really well done and believable.
How much of the dialog would lose meaning if you didn't have the visual element surrounding it?
I had a writing professor who gave us an assignment to go somewhere public and try to eavesdrop a conversation between two people, transcribing it as it went. The purpose was to get a feel for the natural ebb and flow of conversation, breaking free from stilted, artificial-sounding dialogue. I don't know if it was effective. I rebelled and just made up own.
I was always impressed with the dialogue written by the author Gregory McDonald, the author of the Fletch books. I remember it as very snappy, with wit.
I had a writing professor who gave us an assignment to go somewhere public and try to eavesdrop a conversation between two people, transcribing it as it went.
Crikey Carruthers, how old was he? 100? :-)
AJ
Nah, I'd say in his 40s. He wrote literary fiction and looked down his nose on genre fiction. It was a disappointing class in a lot of ways.
This was 35 years ago, for what it's worth.
Lee Strasberg who was the the founder of the Actors Studio used that technique to help break actors out of slilted speech and mannerisms.