J
JAMESBJOHNSON
Guest
I think so. But I'm always amazed at how normal they sound.
I think so. But I'm always amazed at how normal they sound.
J
JAMESBJOHNSON
Guest
But most people arent taught it. Nor are they taught to write a sentence 50 different ways, to discover the best sentence to express the idea. And his lessons about word implications are taught not at all.
Stella_Omega
No Gentleman
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write one sentence fifty times, or write fifty sentences, what a dilemma....
J
JAMESBJOHNSON
Guest
Erickson said that the same sentence 50 different ways reveals what oughta be in the sentence, to get the idea across. 20 is enough in a pinch.
sr71plt
Literotica Guru
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What a crock. You'd have to be pretty dense to require seeing either 20 or 50 variations to get the point of what should be there. This just sounds like a procrastinator who has to sneak up slowy on birthing a phrase that fits.
And it sounds quite a bit like you, having to read a 100 theories about writing a sentence that you eventually get written--sort of, without punctuation and capitalizations.
And it sounds quite a bit like you, having to read a 100 theories about writing a sentence that you eventually get written--sort of, without punctuation and capitalizations.
Stella_Omega
No Gentleman
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If Erickson told you to jump off a bridge would you do it?
J
JAMESBJOHNSON
Guest
If youre gonna inject hostility into the thread do it in the active voice rather than passive.
Do I buy everything Erickson preached? No.
Do I buy your supposition that youre the Supreme Commander of Prose Composition? No.
SecondCircle
Sin Cara
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One thing I try to avoid in dialogue that I think is very unrealistic, though not all of the time, is characters addressing each other by their names. Sure if they're greeting each other, or certain other situations.
But try to think of how many times in a conversation with your spouse/friend/sibling/etc that you actually use their name? Usually when you're trying to get their attention. But I've never heard a real conversation like:
"What are you doing tonight, John?"
"I'm not sure, Kim,"
"John, I think we should get a drink."
You never keep addressing the person you are talking with, especially if there are only two people talking. You know who the hell you're talking to. Unrealistic to me.
But try to think of how many times in a conversation with your spouse/friend/sibling/etc that you actually use their name? Usually when you're trying to get their attention. But I've never heard a real conversation like:
"What are you doing tonight, John?"
"I'm not sure, Kim,"
"John, I think we should get a drink."
You never keep addressing the person you are talking with, especially if there are only two people talking. You know who the hell you're talking to. Unrealistic to me.
J
JAMESBJOHNSON
Guest
Good point, SECOND CIRCLE. snort
slyc_willie
Captain Crash
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I see this a lot from new writers. I can't really fault them for doing this, though; I had an English teacher once who stressed that you can't mention a person's name enough. So maybe it's some kind of ridiculous cannon that's been held over from a previous writing philosophy.
I don't agree with the idea myself, and agree with you that it's unrealistic dialogue to include a person's name so often. if a writer can't direct their dialogue, they need some polishing.
ETA: Of course, you can go too far the other way. I started a story and went through about 1500 words, including quite a bit of dialogue, before I realized I never mentioned the main character's name.
sr71plt
Literotica Guru
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Again, written dialogue is not wholly realistic. There's a medium-specific technique involved. You don't just spin out what you'd hear if you recorded a conversation. Everything in real dialogue is repeated several times and almost all of the sentences and references are incomplete. In written dialogue, direct address names are thrown in occasionally to enable reader tracking of who is saying what.
It's much akin to stage productions. What is on stage--the backdrops, props, and costumes, even the makup on the players is designed to be seen in perspective from the audience. If you go up on stage and look at it, though, you'll find that, to get that effect from the perception of the audience, they've had to screw around with reality.
A writer learns of the technique of creating the medium-specific "reality."
It's much akin to stage productions. What is on stage--the backdrops, props, and costumes, even the makup on the players is designed to be seen in perspective from the audience. If you go up on stage and look at it, though, you'll find that, to get that effect from the perception of the audience, they've had to screw around with reality.
A writer learns of the technique of creating the medium-specific "reality."
slyc_willie
Captain Crash
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I once recorded conversation between myself and a group of friends one night while at a bar. I didn't tell them I was recording; I wanted the conversation to be as real as possible.
Listening to it the following day, it was a jumbled mess of half-finished sentences and hard to follow dialogue. If I had not been part of the conversation, I would not have understood half of what was said. If I wrote dialogue exactly the way it is truly spoken, no one would read the story. It would be too hard to follow.
Listening to it the following day, it was a jumbled mess of half-finished sentences and hard to follow dialogue. If I had not been part of the conversation, I would not have understood half of what was said. If I wrote dialogue exactly the way it is truly spoken, no one would read the story. It would be too hard to follow.
J
JAMESBJOHNSON
Guest
Maybe it can be done if we aim for the idea rather then the verbatim blabber.
slyc_willie
Captain Crash
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That's what Pilot and I were both getting at. We don't want to write dialogue that perfectly mirrors reality. But we do want to write dialogue that "sounds right." It lies somewhere between the Queen's English and Billy Joe Bob's vernacular.
J
JAMESBJOHNSON
Guest
I agree.
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