BORING!
Nothing turns off an editor more than pages and pages of exposition with no dialogue. People love to eavesdrop. We are attracted to conversation. Through dialogue the writer shows the reader what is happening instead of telling them.
Without conversations your story will seem too slow. Whenever exposition can be portrayed in dialogue- do it! Readers and Editors like white space.
TAGS-
If she really said it, shouted it, whispered it, then use a “comma.”
If you are offsetting dialog with action, use a “period.”
Italicize self thought.
Don’t use too many cute tags she whimpered, he growled, she stuttered, he gushed. The word said is invisible- you don’t have to worry about using it too much. That is, unless you use it too much.
DON’T SAY IT-
If your dialogue doesn’t do one of the above things, it should not be there. Don’t ramble.
- Establish the tone or mood
- Provide exposition or back story
- Reveal character and motivation
- Create immediacy and intimacy (build reader empathy)
- Move the plot forward and/or increase its pace
- Create or add to existing conflict
- Remind the reader of things they may have forgotten
- Foreshadow
DOES IT SOUND LIKE HER?
Dialogue does not replicate speech, it emulates it. It should be thick on meaning and thin on chatter BUT still true to character. A good trick is to use find/replace to reread each character’s words separately.
MY PET PEEVE: Teenagers should sound like teenagers. Airheads should not use big words and Adults Males don’t compliment the color of your dress or ask directions.
Good dialogue will reflect both the character and his growth.
“Someone once said that if you can’t tell which character is talking,
if they all sound alike, none of them is talking. It’s the author who is talking.”
-Oscar Collier, Editor
4 BEATS
In movie dialogue the rule of thumb is four beats of dialogue per customer. A beat is where the conversation naturally pauses. For example,
“Mom, (1 beat)
I want to go to dollar tree. (2 beats)
They have these puzzles there. (3 beats)
All I need is a ride. (4 beats)
Break up long conversations with action or interjections from other characters. Sometimes you may have a court scene or verbose character where you have a reason for an especially long excerpt. In this case you put the quotation mark at the beginning of each paragraph but do not “close quote” until you character’s speech is done.
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