Mastering Dialogue

Dialogue is more than the art of fictional conversation. Dialogue can provide tension, create conflict, and change the speed of a scene. It should never be on the nose or used as filler.

Dialogue should be a dance or a sword fight. 

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Dialogue can be comic or cutting, deliberately obscure or pointedly cruel. The type of wordplay you use depends on the genre. Comedy would be different from a Thriller or Mystery. Do the characters use irony, sarcasm, humor, or wield words as weapons?

Dialogue defines a character. By assigning each main character verbal ticks, rhythms, patterns, slang, etc. you bring them to life and make them unique. 

Dialogue is affected by setting and where the characters are from. Do they speak the local language or a foreign or alien language?

Dialogue highlights socioeconomic differences in your characters. How educated are they? How "proper" is their speech? Do they use street slang? Do they use words common in specific places?

Dialogue expresses emotion. Are the characters forceful or meek? Joyful or depressed? The way a line is delivered is just as important as the content.

Dialogue reflects hierarchy and position: Are the characters aggressive or submissive, a master or servant, a diplomat or a iconoclast? Do they have to be careful about what they say to save themselves? Do they have to avoid revealing information? Are they reluctant to speak up by nature or demanding? Word choice and delivery are crucial. 

Body language can support or counter the words spoken. If they are restrained in what they say, they may wish to be violent. That dichotomy creates tension.

There is no formula to dictate how much dialogue you need. Each scene has its own requirements.

Dialogue is another tool in your writer's tool kit along with description, action, and narrative. Here are articles  help you improve dialogue skills:

1. Dialogue Tags and Action Tags

2. Why You Should Eavesdrop

3. Communication Obstacles

4. Communication Roadblocks Part 1

5. Communication Roadblocks Part 2

6. Conflicts in Communication

7. The Persuasion Plot Hole

8. Persuasion Tactics Part 1

9. Persuasion Tactics Part 2

10. Persuasion Tactics Part 3

11. Convincing Arguments

12. Lying

13. Eye Contact

14. Facial Expressions

15. Gestures

16. Body Language

17. Revising Body Language

18. How Close is Too Close

19. Five Ways to Use Context

20. Delivery, Cadence, and Dialect

21. Dialogue Enunciation and Inflection

22. Dialogue Pattern and Pitch

Boring on-the-nose dialogue is one of the quickest ways to turn off a reader. How often have you tuned into a movie only to find the dialogue so cringe-worthy you couldn't watch it? The same goes for your novel.

A simple line of dialogue can stay with your reader long after the book is finished. A recent example is a book called Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo about a fantasy con and heist crew. They have the best banter. One line I won't forget is "No mourners, no funerals" as they begin a fight. 

Use dialogue to make your characters come alive and stand out. Your readers will thank you. 

Here are great videos on writing dialogue for film but the tactics apply to fiction as well.

https://youtu.be/qfQpJxRP8ew

https://youtu.be/CIqrWXeiFUs

https://youtu.be/Ge0b5EPdL8I

https://youtu.be/jpWKp-fnZuU

https://youtu.be/ilKxyfOmFGY

Communication Roadblocks Part 1

Speech is how we communicate our thoughts, feelings, ideas, and opinions.

Every species communicates. So far, other than talking birds, humans are the only ones who can speak and write languages. 

Languages are diverse. There are thousands of languages disappearing all over the globe every year. Speaking is our single most important tool, the one thing in addition to opposable thumbs that gives us an evolutionary advantage. 

We don’t always use it wisely, which is really good news for fiction writers. There are many different barriers to communication that your characters can face.

1. Word Choice: If Dick chooses the wrong words to communicate what he needs or thinks, he may spark a battle with sensitive Sally. Blunt Jane may intervene and try to explain what each person meant and make the situation worse. The topic can be anything. “You always” and “You never” are fighting words. Start off a sentence with either and the game is on.

2. Physical Limitations: Dick may not be able to talk because he has laryngitis or has been cursed by a witch and can only croak. He may speak, but Jane can’t hear because of their surroundings, distance, or she is hearing impaired. Let’s say Sally needs to communicate something to solve the story problem or scene goal. Jane can’t hear/understand her because they are too far apart, the phone has static, or they are muffled by burkas. Sally will have to work harder to achieve her goal. Dick can be forced to keep silent because he is afraid to speak or because he is legally or physically gagged.

3. Experience: Dick and Jane may not be able to communicate their needs or wants sufficiently because they have completely different backgrounds. Dick may try to tell her how something was or why he wants to do something. Jane won’t get it because she never had that experience and can’t relate to or imagine it.

4. Perception: Perception is 9/10 of reality. Dick may perceive a situation in a certain light. Jane might perceive it to be the opposite. If Dick is wrong in his assumptions, he will go after the wrong suspect or accuse Jane of something she didn’t do. If Jane perceives Sally to be a superficial slag, she is unlikely to help Sally or will discount the threat that Sally the vampire truly is. Dick and Jane can be talking about different things, but think they are talking about the same thing. They can be talking about the same thing but think they are talking about different things. Cross purpose dialogue can be fun or tense.

5. Emotions: If Dick is furious and Jane is depressed, neither one of them will be able to “hear” what the other person is saying. Discordant emotional states can effectively shut down a necessary conversation. Dick can tell Jane, “I can’t listen to you right now, I’m too pissed off.” Jane can tell Dick she doesn’t really care who did what at work because she’s exhausted, and irritated, and just doesn't give a hoot at the moment. A character who is uncomfortable with an interrogation will try to change the subject. They might keep talking about fly fishing instead of answering questions about a murder.

6. Culture: We all use cultural shorthand in our conversations. If Dick tries to explain something to Jane, she might not understand the references. Her way of looking at the world may be in total opposition to Dick’s viewpoint. Trying to clarify these differences can be fun, tragic, or tense.

7. Religion: If Dick is Christian and Jane is Muslim, it is possible they will negate anything the other says based on prejudice about each other’s belief systems. If Sally believes in God and tries to convince atheist Dick to do something because God would want him to, she will fail. Dick will not accept that a being he doesn’t believe in is asking him to do something. The carrot of eternal life or the stick of hell won’t be selling points to her thematic argument.

8. Language: If Dick is forced to deal with people who don’t speak his language, he’ll have to resort to the basics: hand gestures, facial expressions and sharing one word at a time. Misunderstandings are inevitable. Differing languages can be a conflict at any story level. Debates about accommodating different languages can be a theme or the premise for a Literary or Science Fiction / dystopian tale. It can be a scene goal problem if Dick is trying to explain his situation to a foreigner or trying to gain information from someone who can’t understand him.

Next week, we'll continue our exploration of communication roadblocks.

For more information about conflict, obstacles, and responses check out Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict in E-book and print versions.