‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but
names will never hurt me.’
‘Words are not worth the paper they are
written on.’
‘Read aloud, it’s little but hot air.’
‘A picture paints a thousand words.’
Interesting stuff, don’t you agree? Each of
these carries a certain poetry, a deeper meaning, an understanding. I like
these quotes, I do. They make for strong statements, and empowering edicts.
They’ve been said before, and they’ve been said again, but they each started
somewhere.
Dialogue in a story follows each of these
notions. These notions are dialogues in themselves. Today class, we’re going to
explore dialogue, and how best to utilise this in your
stories/novels/books/epics/scripts/pleas of innocence.
(((Small print: Here at Emrys Evidence
Evasions Ltd. We do not accept any liability for loss of limbs during a court
case after the unseemly incident with the hamster and the spaghetti meatballs...)))
Now, I’m not a professional when it comes
to writing and the laws unto which it is judged, but I count myself as a dab
hand at conversational skills. I may not be a world class orator, but I can
hold my own over a cup of coffee and any given topic. But, being able to speak
is very different to writing the ‘spoken word’, particularly in a story.
Firstly, when writing dialogue make sure
you’re in the character’s mindset. Once inside their head, start wagging the
tongue and see what comes out. Dialogue should feel RIGHT for your character.
For example, I have a village Blacksmith by the name of McGowan. He’s a simple
man, with simple needs and simple complaints. So, when things go awry he doesn’t
whine with a “The end of the world is nigh!” he shrugs and says “Fair’s fair.”
I know McGowan, he’s one of my creations, so I make sure he sticks to his
identity.
In the same vein, as McGowan belongs to a
fantasy realm, he doesn’t slip into slang or real world profanities such as “Heaven’s
to betsy!” and “Oh my god!” No, no. McGowan would rather curse to the gods of
HIS world e.g. “Fraid and Govannon’s bloodied blades! What was that?” Remember,
when writing, your characters may exist in a different world, time, whatever,
so they won’t always speak like you do! This can be fun too, as you can make up
whatever you want – you’re a writer after all, that’s what you do!
Avoid blocks of speech. Conversations aren’t
once sided. Have characters reason things out between the two of them – you’re
not going to get far with A telling B what to do, and B holding no opinion of
his own and just nodding and agreeing...unless B is a wall, at which point you
have a character and a wall...but now I’m straying from my point. See what I
mean? I’ve just rambled. Because I’m talking to myself, and have no-one to
respond. I’m dragging it on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and
on...ok, you get the idea.
Also, with dialogue be aware that ‘tags’
aren’t always necessary. Not every sentence should finish with ‘he said’. I don’t
say everything. Do you? I shout sometimes, I murmur, whisper, grunt, sigh etc.
But don’t just limit yourself to speech tags. Throw in actions. For example: a
shrug, a nod, a smile. If it important to note, however, that with the write
dialogue, you won’t even need a tag, as the line itself should carry and
portray the intent and delivery.
Lastly, when writing dialogue...read it
aloud. It’s dialogue! IT’S A CONVERSATION! If it doesn’t won’t when you speak
it, how is it going to work when you read it? This is a simple fix that can
improve your work a thousand-fold. Dialogue needs to flow naturally, roll off
the tongue...or roll like an errant meatball hi-jacked by a hamster.
Now, off to find that pesky rodent...I
might just catch him red-handed (read: pawed) after handling the Italian sauced
orb of his affections!
Emrys.
((Small print: I neither own a hamster nor
a meatball.))
((Smaller print: Nor do I know where the
hamster nor the meatball came from in reference to this post...it’s been a long
day.))
((Even Smaller print: No hamsters were
harmed in the writing of this blog post.))
((Even Smaller Small print: No meatballs
were harmed in the writing of this blog post.))
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