Writers' Alliance Weekly Update--11/7/10
Entry posted by Riisiing Moon
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This week's theme--
Yup, dialogue. The art of speaking. Dialogue is, in short, when two or more of your chars get together and just talk. The topic has no limits--something as earth-shattering as destroying worlds, or something as casual as what he put on first this morning, and anywhere in between. I strongly believe dialogue is something that is, as a general rule (but there are always exceptions), entirely overlooked as a crucial aspect of fiction. Dialogue, first of all, adds vibrant life to the character who's talking. It describes who he is in relation to others, not just by his actions, or by what goes on in his own mind. Dialogue is, on another note, real. We don't go through our whole day without talking to anyone. In fiction, dialogue is a lot more fun because the topics are going to be the ones you, as the writer, are interested in. Dialogue is as necessary as plot or characterization--and, after all, it is a form of both--but it doesn't have to be less fun. Incorporate some dialogue in any form in your writing this week, and submit your stuff here!
Weekly Tips
[submitted by RM]--Dialogue, like I mentioned, is an excellent form of characterization. Give every char a specific way of talking. For example, take this conversation between an uneducated farmer and a king--
"Sir, my field has been invaded!"
"What do you want me to do about it?"
"Send your men to help me!"
"But I don't want to, it'll cost me money."
The conversation continues like this. Not only is this boring and lacks life and realism, you can't distinguish any kind of difference in personality or character between the king and the farmer--they're basically the same person. This is a good example of an author using dialogue solely as a means by which to tell over the plot. Dialogue is an aspect of plot itself. Make it so. Give every char his own life; describe how they talk, their tone of voice. Make everyone distinct, give them life.
[submitted by RM]--Got this from a book I read (for anyone who's interested, it's The Art of War for Writers, by James Scott Bell), which I believe was fantastic advice. Short and sweet--'Let the dialogue flow. You can always edit it later.'
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