The Accidental Writer: It’s not just what they say, but how they say it!
Well-written dialogue is critical for any finely crafted novel. It should entertain, impart vital information, and move a story along. It’s hard to think of a good book that doesn’t have compelling dialogue. Some novels like the Game of Thrones series seem to largely consist of conversation among the characters.
Dialogue also has another critical function. It shows the reader important information about your characters. How a character speaks can be as important as what they say.
Lets’ start with what not to do. First, people do not speak in perfect Queen’s English. They constantly use contractions, fragments, and maybe even a run-on if need be. Second, the loser high-school dropout probably doesn’t have the same vocabulary as the stuffy college professor. Third, avoid accents unless you really know what you are doing. Fourth, don’t include the pauses, stutters, and ohms that people say unless you think they are important to the emotion behind the words. It will only make your dialogue unreadable. Fifth, please avoid unnecessary dialogue tags. The written words should speak for themselves. You shouldn’t need a lot of “he shouted” or ‘he growled” or “she whispered.” Lastly, don’t have your characters blather on if they don’t have something important or interesting to say. Dialogue should always be important, either for the story or for character development.
Each main character in your novel should speak differently. They should have their own voice. Maybe the teenaged girl speaks at a rapid run-on pace, while the grandfather uses terse short fragments. Keep in mind the age of your characters. Teenagers have certain rhythms to their speech as do ten year olds and forty year old bankers.
If you’re struggling with these speech patterns, you’ve got to get out and listen to real people conversing. Don’t be creepy, but you can learn much by listening!
If you are interested in a good, political thriller, check out Fourteenth Colony. I donate half of my proceeds to the Covenant House, so you will be getting a great book and helping homeless youth at the same time! http://www.amazon.com/Fourteenth-Colony-Jeff-Altabef/dp/1625104529/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398429333&sr=1-1&keywords=Fourteenth+Colony
If you are on twitter, you can follow my mostly incoherent ramblings at @JeffAltabef.
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