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Writing Dialogue

Writing Dialogue . Pages 119-123. What is it?. What the people in a story say to one another Not mandatory, but can bring a story to life Contributes to characterization Introduces backstory Advances plot Adds an immediacy to fiction What does that mean: “immediacy?”

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Writing Dialogue

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  1. Writing Dialogue Pages 119-123

  2. What is it? • What the people in a story say to one another • Not mandatory, but can bring a story to life • Contributes to characterization • Introduces backstory • Advances plot • Adds an immediacy to fiction • What does that mean: “immediacy?” • Why is that important?

  3. Creative License Allen: “It may be acceptable to use bad grammar or sentence fragments” “you’d do best to give your reader the flavor of the words without using lengthy sentences. Dialogue must reveal something that the reader needs to know” Again: Something the reader needs to know.

  4. Elizabeth Bowen (Irish Writer) Dialogue should be brief. It should add to present knowledge. It should eliminate the routine exchanges of ordinary conversation. It should convey a sense of spontaneity but eliminate the repetitiveness of real talk. It should keep the story moving forward. It should be revelatory to the speaker’s character, both directly and indirectly. It should show relationships among people.

  5. Good Practices • Americans are natural dialogue writers. To what author might we credit for this “gift”? • Consider a dialogue Journal: Due 12.21 • 10 pages, numbered or bulleted, of overheard conversation: Significant grade. • Amy Bloom: “Dialogue is conversation’s greatest hits” • “What people say reveals who they are”

  6. Profanity on the Page • “language must fit the character” • Write within reason: • If you must use it to be “true” to a character, that is fine. • However, we would all like to see your work published in the literary magazine. The school will NOT publish anything. • Context dictates dialogue: • Who is talking to whom? • Older to younger? • Powerful to the weak?

  7. Points to Consider • Jerome Stern: “what your characters don’t say and the way they don’t [say it] is a vital, if often ignored, consideration” • Like poetry: what you leave out is as important as what you leave in • Let’s look at example on page 120 • “My wife said that maybe we were being…” • REPORTED DIALOGUE

  8. Format • Different speaker: Indent that person’s speech and start and new paragraph. • NEW SPEAKER = NEW PARAGRAPH • Avoid tagging if only two speakers (like your assignment) • But occasionally tag for clarity • Exercise in notebook: • Copy four sentences on page 121

  9. Follow these Rules!! • Commas and periods go inside quotation marks when you are punctuating dialogue. • Jim said, “Hi.” Or: “Hi,” Jim said. • When one character addresses another, you need a comma before, or after, or before and after the name of the who is being addressed. • “What are you doing, Lindy?” OR: “Lindy, you’re making me sick!” OR: “Hey, Lindy, what’s up?” • Indent paragraphs ½ inch (one tab). The beginning of sentences are always capitalized. • Check your CHECKLIST on page 122 BEFORE submitting assignment.

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