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  • 2/23/2015 AllWriteFictionAdvice:April2014

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    SA T URDA Y , 2 6 A PR I L 2 0 1 4

    DialogueDilemmasPart2

    Technicalities

    Inpart1ofDialogueDilemmaswelookedatthegroundrulesforcreatingmultifunctional,realisticdialogue.

    Butwhataboutthenittygritty,thetechnicalsideofcreatingdialogue?Wheredoyoustartanewlineofdialogue?Whataboutinternalthoughts,howshouldtheybepresented?Howdoyoucorrectlysetoutdialogue?Whataboutquotationmarks?

    Thesequestionsallrelatetothetechnicalsideofwritingdialogue,thethingsyouhavetogetright.Unlikealotoffictionwriting,therearenobendingruleswheredialogueisconcerned.

    Thefirstthingthatallwritersshouldlearnishowtocorrectlyformatdialogue,i.e.setitoutcorrectly.

    DialogueFormatting

    Itsimportantthatyouclearlydenotewhoisspeakingforyourreader,sodialoguemustalwaysbeclear.Therearestilllotsofwriterswhodontusethiscorrectly.

    Firstly,wheneveracharacterspeaks,alwaysstartanewparagraph.Dontmaketheclassicmistakeoftaggingonecharactersdialogueontothesamelineas

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    anothercharactersdialogue.Forinstance:

    Itsgettingdark.Weshouldmakecampsoon,Davidsaid.Butwerenotfarfromthesettlement,arewe?Janeasked.

    ThisisconfusingforthereaderandgrammaticallyincorrectbecauseJanesdialogueshouldnotappeartaggedontotheendofDavids.Remember,anewparagraphdenotesanewlineofdialogue:

    Itsgettingdark.Weshouldmakecampsoon,Davidsaid.

    Butwerenotfarfromthesettlement,arewe?Janeasked.

    Thesameconceptappliesformultiplecharacterstalkingwithinascene.Eachonestillneedsanewline.Forinstance:

    IknewhewasshiftythemomentIsawhim,Johnsaid.

    Butyoudontevenknowhim,Paulsaid.

    Hesjustmakingassumptions,asusual,Granmuttered.Likehealwaysdoes.

    Johnrecoiled.Thatsnottrue!

    Youcanseethateachtimeacharacterspeaksthereisanewlinethatshowsthereader.Thereisnoconfusionwhichcharacterisspeakingandwhen.

    Butwhatifyouneedthecharactertoperformanactionwhileinconversation?Orperhapstheymayhavealongsectionofdialogue.Howdoyoutacklethis?

    Writersuseanactioninterjection.Thatmeansyoucaninserttheactionwithinthesameparagraphasthedialogue,becausethisdenotesthecharacterisstillspeakingwhileperformingtheaction.

    Itdoesntmeanyouhavetostartanewparagraphforthecharactersaction,unlessthecharacterhasfinishedspeakingcompletely,nordoyouneedtomakeanewlinetocarryonthecharactersdialogueaftertheaction.

    Thiscanbeaconfusingconcept,soIwilldemonstrate

    measure.Iamprivilegedtohaveeightshortstories/poemspublishedinthisbook,soifyoulikeyourdamesalittledarkanddangerous,thisisthebookforyou.

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    withanexampleofincorrectdialoguestructure:

    Imreadywhenyouare,Jakesaid.

    Weshouldsneakintothetownatnightfall,Davidsaid.Itwillbeeasierforus,lesschanceofusbeingspotted.

    Herubbedfrostfromhiseyes,blinkedafewtimes.

    Firstpriorityistofindsomewherewarmtoshelter.

    ItsclearfromthisexamplethatsplittingDavidsdialogueandtheactionhasmadeitconfusingforthereader,becauseitsnotentirelyclearwhoissayingFirstpriorityistofindsomewherewarmtoshelter.DidDavidsayitordidJake?Anditsnotclearwhoisperformingtheaction,either.

    Theideahereistogivethereaderclarityandavoidambiguity,soifyoukeepthecharactersactionwithinthesamesentenceasthedialogue,youavoidconfusion:

    Imreadywhenyouare,Jakesaid.

    Weshouldsneakintothetownatnightfall,Davidsaid.Itwillbeeasierforus,lesschanceofusbeingspotted.Herubbedfrostfromhiseyes,blinkedafewtimes.Firstpriorityistofindsomewherewarmtoshelter.

    Thisversionisgrammaticallycorrectanditsstructuredproperly.ItsclearwhoisspeakingDavidandthenarrativeshowshimperforminganactionbeforehecontinuesspeakingagain.Thedialoguehasbeenenhancedbyanactioninterjection.

    DialoguePunctuation

    Punctuationisoneofthosethingsthatnotallwritersfullyunderstand.Therearesomeselfpublishedwriterswhohavemadesometerribleerrorswhenitcomestodialoguepunctuation,writerswhohaventtakenthetimetolearnthecraftofwriting.

    Itmeanstheyoftentheymissthebasicsofdialoguepunctuation,thingslikemakingsurethatthefirstwordofalineofdialogueiscapitalised.Evenifitisntthefirstwordofthesentence,thefirstlettermustalways

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    becapitalised:

    Jonsaid,Makemeastrongblackcoffee

    Evenfictionnonexpertswillspotthesebasicerrors.Oneisonetoomanyandspoilsthereadingexperience.

    Placecommascorrectly

    Ifyouareusingatagsuchashesaid/shesaidinordertoidentifythespeaker,thenyoumustinsertacommadirectlyafterthelastwordofdialogue,asthisdenotesaprotractionofthespeaker,forexample:

    Ineedtogetanewcellphone,shesaid.

    Ishouldhaveknown,hesaid.

    Thecommasafterphoneandknownshowtheextensionofthespeakingcharacter.Iftherearenotags,however,thenitssimplyamatterofendingthedialoguewithafullstop.

    Ineedanewcellphone.

    Sometimesyoumightseeaninterjectionofaspeechtag,oracombinationoftagandaction,withinthedialogue.Thispausesthesentence,beforethedialoguecontinuesafterthespeechtagoraction.Forinstance:

    Thistimetomorrow,wellbeinParis,shesaid,andwellbestrollingdownMontmartre.

    Youllnoticethatthecontinuationofthedialogue,andwellbestrolling,alsobeginsinlowercaseratherthanbeginningwithacapitalletter.Thisisbecausethesecondpartofthedialogueisaprotractionofthesentence.Theshesaidisaninterjectionbetweenclauses.

    Youcandothesamewithanadditionalaction,forinstance:

    Thistimetomorrow,wellbeinParis,shesaid,adjustingherglasses,andwellbestrollingdownMontmartre.

    Thesamesentencecanbestructuredusingafullstop

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    instead.Butratherthangivingapauseinthedialogue,itgivesaclearindicationoftheendofthedialogue.Andthistime,thesecondpartofthedialoguestartswithacapitallettertoshowanewsentence.

    Thistimetomorrow,wellbeinParis,shesaid.WellbestrollingdownMontmartre.

    Again,thesameconventionappliesifyouwanttoaddactionafterthespeechtag.

    Thistimetomorrow,wellbeinParis,shesaid.Sheadjustedherglasses.WellbestrollingdownMontmartre.

    Becarefultoplacecommasandfullstopscorrectly.Again,itsworthreiteratingthatthesewillbespottedbyagents/publishers,editorsandreaders.

    InPart3wellcontinueourlookatthetechnicalitiesofcorrectlyformattingandpunctuatingdialogue,sothatyouavoidanydialoguedilemmas.

    Nextweek:DialogueDilemmasPart3POSTEDBYAJ HUMPAGEATSATURDAY, APRIL 26, 20142COMMENTS: L INKSTOTHISPOST

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    DialogueDilemmasPart1GroundRulesDialogueisstraightforwardifyouknowhowtodoitproperly,andshouldntpresentanyproblems,butlatelyIveseenmanyselfpublishedbooksthatuseincorrectorbadlystructureddialogue.Writersarestillgettingitwrong.Ifyouwanttogodowntherouteoftraditionalpublishing,i.e.findinganagentorpublisher,thenitsparamountthatthesillymistakesfoundalloverselfpublishedworkisntapparentwhenyousubmittoaneditorforscrutiny.

    Dialogueshouldbecorrectandproperlystructured,

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    whichmeanswritersshouldbeawareofgroundrules.Onceyouknowthosegroundrules,youcanconcentrateonthetechnicalityofconstructingdialogue.

    Movethestoryforward

    Firstly,dialogueisnecessarytomovethestoryforward.Thatmeansitshouldbeconcise,itshouldgettothepointandrelaypertinentinformationtothereaderaspartofthecontinuingstoryarc.

    Dialogueshouldneverturnintoaninfodumpinotherwords,dontfillyoursceneswithhugechunksofdialoguerelayingbackstoryorunimportantdetails.Thiscanputyourreaderoff,plusitmeansthestoryarchaslostfocus.

    Heresasimpleexamplecommontomanywritersthedialoguebackstory/infodump:

    Amystaredatthegreyslime.Wellneedtogetsamplesofthisstuff.

    IknowallaboutmolecularbiologybecauseIstudieditatuniversityandIspentseveralyearstraininginthefield,Dansaid.ThatmeansImwellqualifiedtoassessthissituationwithmyexperience,Iveworkedwithmostofthetopbiologists

    Thisisenoughtosendthereadertosleep.TheinformationaboutDanandhisqualificationsandexperienceisntnecessaryindialoguebecauseitsoundstoostiltedandfeigned.Backgroundinformationshouldbesprinkledthroughthenarrativeaspartofhischaracterisation.

    Thedialoguecouldbewrittenlikethisinstead:

    Amystaredatthegreyslime.Wellneedtogetsamplesofthisstuff.

    Iagree,Dansaid.Icanrunseveraltestsbackatthelab,seeifwecanextractsomeDNAandfindoutwhatcreaturethiscamefrom.

    Thesecondexampleismoreconciseitgetstothepointandmovesthestoryforward.

    Realism

    Chapter&NovelLengthsJusthowlongshouldachapterbe?

    Whatsthebestlength?Anddoesanovelhavetofitintoasetamountofwords?Thesearejusttwoo...

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    SubplotsImoftenaskedbynewwriters

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    Theotherthingtorememberisthatdialogueshouldberealistic,toapoint.Ineverydaylife,conversationscandragonaboutperipheral,unimportantstuffandoftenfilledwithstrangepausesandlotsofumsetc.TheymaysayEroreh?alot.Theyespeciallysay,youknowandlikeaswell.Forexample:

    Hewaslike,youknow,reallyfriendlyandeverything,and,well,IreallylikedhimandIwishedIdgivenhimmynumber,youknow?

    Thedialoguecanstillretainasenseofrealism,butwithoutthecolloquialisms.Thesearethethingsyouleaveout.Forexample:

    HewasfriendlyandIreallylikedhim.IjustwishIdgivenhimmynumber.

    Anotherimportantgroundruleistousecorrectdialoguetags.Hesaidandshesaidbecomealmostinvisibletothereaderafterawhilehowever,writersshouldntrelyonthemtooheavily.Instead,structuresentencessoyoudontalwayshavetousethem.

    Thesameruleappliesfortheuseofmoredescriptivetagssuchasshewhinedorhecriedetc.Manywritersstillusethese,wheninrealitytheyrerarelyrequiredifyouvegotsentencestructuresright.Forexample:

    Whydidyoudoit?shewailed.

    Theuseofshewailedisunnecessaryandweakensthedialogue.Thewaytocutouttheneedforthemistoinsertnarrativeinordertoshowcharactertheemotions,forexample:

    Tearsfellacrosshercheeks.Hervoicepitched.Whydidyoudoit?

    Thisversionremovestheneedforsillydialoguetagsandshowsthereaderthatthecharacterisemotionalsimplybymentioningthetearsandpitchedvoice.Itsthateasytostepawayfromthehabitofunnecessarydialoguetags.

    DialogueLength

    Anothersimilarmethodtotheexampleaboveistoadd

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    characteractionsinbetweendialoguetoaddatouchofrealism.Ifyoufindthatyouvewrittenaparticularlylongsectionofdialogue,thencharacteractionshelpsbreakupthedialogueintomanageablesections,forexample:

    ItwasonlywhenIgottothebedroomthatInoticedshedgone,Dansaid.Ineverheardathing,notthedooropeningorthestairscreaking,absolutelynothing,butIguessyoudontwheninadeepsleep.Herubbedhistemples.NowIfeelsoterriblethatIdidntwake,Icouldnthelpher

    Youcanseethattheinsertionofactionbreaksthelengthofdialogueandhelpspacethesentences.Itsnotamust,buttheyreagoodwaytoslipinlittlesnippetsoftone,tensionandemotion,andtheyalsoallowthereadertopausebrieflybeforecontinuing.

    Varythedialoguelengths,givethempace.Contrarytobadadviceoutthere,noteverysentenceneedstobeshortandtothepointinthebeliefthatreadersattentionspansdemandit.Thatsprettydemeaningtoyourreader.Longersectionsofdialoguearejustacceptableasshortones.Justmakesureyoupacethemandaddcharacteractionstobreakthemupandmaketheminteresting.

    Dialect

    Thisseemstobotheralotofwritersbecausetheyassumethattheyhavetogivetheircharactersavarietyofaccentstomakethecharactermorerealmeaningtheyhavetowritedialogueusingthataccent.

    Thisisnotabadthing,ifusedcorrectlyandsparingly,butthedownsideisthatyoucouldconfusethereaderifitsusedtoomuch.Readingitwillbecomeachoreitwillputthereaderoff,andyourcharacterwillsoundlikeacaricature.

    Theruleisalwaysaboutbalance.Usedialect,butdontletitovershadowthedialogue.Lessissometimesmore.

    Grammar

    Unlikeyournarrative,whichmustalwaysbegrammaticallycorrect,dialogueistheexception.Itdoesnthavetobegrammaticallycorrect,especially

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    withcharactersusingdialectorslang,becausethisformspartofthecharactersvoiceanditretainsahintofrealismofactualspeech.

    Thatsaid,aswithdialects,dontoverdoit,otherwiseitbecomesannoyingtothereader.Keepabalanceanddontletitovershadowtherestofthedialogue.

    So,thosearethegroundrules.Thethingtorememberwithdialogueisthatitismultifunctionalitdoesmanythingsallatonce.Dialoguesetsthescene,itimpartspertinentinformation,itforeshadows,itenablescharacterisationandrealismanditmovesthestoryforwardaspartofthestoryarc.

    Nextweekwelllookatthetechnicalaspectsofdialoguestructure,andmoreimportantly,howtoformatdialoguecorrectly.

    Nextweek:DialogueDilemmasPart2

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    HowtoAvoidBadWritingPart3

    Inthefinalinstalmentofhowtoavoidbadwriting,welltakealookatafewmorecommonerrorsthatwritershaventyetunderstood,orhavechosentoignoreattheirownperil.

    Therearequiteafew,butIvehighlightedtheonesthatcropupallthetimeinnarrative,commonerrorsthatcanbeandshouldbeavoided.

    Adverbs

    Oneofmanythingsthatdrivemecrazyistheuseoftoomanylyadverbs(althoughtheyrenottobeconfusedwithadjectivesthatendinly).

    Adverbsareusedtomodifyaverb,anadjective,or

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    anotheradverb.Theyrewordsthatdontreallybelonginthenarrativethatsnottosayyouhavetoeliminatealltracesofthem,becauseyoudonthavetogothatfar.Someareneededatcertainpointsandcanbeuseful,butonthewhole,manyareunwelcome.Forexample:

    Shelookedupathimlovingly,hisfacesofetchinglyconstructed

    Thisisthekindofstufffoundinalotofromancestylenovels,anditsawful.Theuseofadverbsweakensthesentence.Itseemsasthoughmanywritershavelefttheircreativitybehindtheydontconsiderthepowerandstrengthofthewordsintheirsentencestructures.

    Theuseofadverbsalsoincludesthembeingusedasdialoguetags,too.Onceagain,theyweakenthedialogueinthesamewayadverbsweakennarrative.

    Oh,Ididntseeyouthere,shesaid,falteringly.

    Thissentenceisbetter:Shefaltered.Oh,Ididntseeyouthere.

    Yourplaceormine?hewhisperedlustily.

    Thissentenceisbetter.Hisvoicebrimmedwithlust.Yourplaceormine?

    Adverbsareuniversallyhated,simplybecausetoomanywillmakeyournarrativelookasthoughatenyearoldwroteit.Andnotonlythat,buteditorshatethem.Soifyouareouttoimpresseditorswithyourwritingskills,firstmakesurethatyouhaventlitteredyournovelwithadverbs.

    HangingParticiples

    Myabsolutefavouritethingtohateaboutfictionwriting.

    IdetestseeingthesewheneverIcritique,somuchsoitmakesmebreathfire.AndifIhatethemsomuch,imaginewhatagentsandeditorsthinkaboutthem

    Neverstartasentencewithahangingparticiple.Ifyouwanttocreateambiguity,oryouwanttoconfusethereaderifyouwanttoweakenthesentencestructureandmakeitlooklikeyour7yearoldniecewroteit,oryouwanttomakeyourpotentialagentchokeonhis

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    coffeewithyourlazywriting,thengoaheadandhangyourparticiples.

    If,ontheotherhand,youwanttoachieveacorrect,tightandunambiguoussentencestructure,thenavoidstartingyoursentenceswiththem.Ifyourenotconvinced,takealookatthesebeauties:

    Carryinghercoffee,shestormedintoDereksoffice.

    Turningfromthedoor,hesawtheshadowinthecorner.

    Reachingforherphone,sheknewshehadtocallhermother.

    Thereisnothingremotelygoodabouttheseexamples.Andstillwritersstarttheirsentenceslikethis.

    Instead,takethetimetoreadwhatyouhavewritten,learntospotadverbsandhangingparticiples.Learntobecreativewithsentenceslearntocareaboutwhatyouwrite.

    Flatnarrative

    Anothercauseofbadwritingisflatnarrative(telling,notshowing).Thisisdowntoeitherthewriterisntthatconfidentaboutwritingdescriptivescenes,theyreafraidandnotsureaboutthem,ortheyvebeenadvisedthattoomuchdescriptionspoilsthestory.

    Thereseemstobealotofcontradictoryadviceabouthowdescriptivenarrativeshouldbe.Ononehandtherearethosethatlovedescription,becausewhenproperlyuseditbuildsapictureforthereader.Thenontheotherhand,thereisasturdycontingentofantinarrativefolkswhoareadvisingwriterstokeepitsimple.

    Ipersonallythinkbalanceisimportant.Thinkofdescriptionasthecementbetweenyourbuildingblocks.Withoutit,thereisntmuchsupport.Itsthatsimple.

    Thosewhoadviseagainstbeingdescriptivearenothelpingwriterstheyrehinderingthecreativeprocess.Descriptivenarrativeisamustallyouhavetodoasawriteriskeepthebalancebetweensoundingflatandboring,orbeingcolourfulandevocative.

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    Noteveryscenewillrequirelotsofdescription,butyourkeyscenes,thosethatarerelevantandneedatmosphereandtone,sensesandsurroundingsetc.,aretheretohelpthereaderbuildamentalpicture,anddorequireit.

    Heresanexample:

    Helookedaheadthroughtheforest.Therewasnoonearound.Thecoastwasclearandhemadehiswaybacktothefarmhouse.

    Whilethereisnothingessentiallywronghere,thereisntmuchforthereadertoworkwith.Thenarrativeisflat.Itstellingratherthanshowing.And,surprisingly,somepeopleadvocatethissimplisticapproachtodescription.Thatsfine,butletscompareitwithsomedescriptiveelementsadded:

    Helookedaheadthroughtheforest,sensespricked.Therewasnoonearoundandnosound,exceptformuffledheartbeatinhisears.Silencecoiledbetweenbarrenbranchesandsweptlowacrossthesnow.Cautious,hemadehiswaybacktothefarmhouse.

    Thissecondexampledoesntoverpowerwithdescription,howeverthistimethereareenoughsnippetsofinformationtohelpthereadervisualisethescene.Itsbalanced,andthatswhatwritersshouldbelookingfor.

    Badwritingdisappearswithexperience.Themoreyouwrite,thebetteryoubecome.Thebetteryoubecome,themoreexperiencedyoubecomewitheditingandspottingyourownerrors,sothereisnoexcuseforbadwritingonceyouhavegainedsomeexperience.

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