COVID-19 RESOURCES
LIT CAMS (200 Free Tokens)ADULT TOYSVOD MOVIES

Dialogue

M

mikoli5763

Really Experienced
Joined
Jan 27, 2013
Posts
134
I have an idea of writing a story that would use dialogue between the characters for the majority of the story. Have any of my fellow authors done this? I have been criticized for writing bad dialogue and thought this might be a way to improve. Honest and serious opinions on my idea would be appreciated.
 
Actually, I hate stories without dialog...dialog breaks up the wall of text. It also gives insight to the characters.

I use a lot of dialog in my stories. If you're writing in the first person and not switching POV's it's the only what to find out what the other character are thinking.

Just think, if a TV show had no dialog how exciting would the show be?
 
Most of my Lit stories are heavy on dialogue.

I think the only bit of 'advice' I would give is: make sure that each character has a distinctive voice. Make it easy for the reader to 'hear' each character.

Good luck.
 
It can be done in something short (I've done ones dominated by dialogue), but, like second person POV, it becomes very limiting and tedious pretty fast. It's very hard to convey all that needs to be known by the reader through dialogue that's believable.
 
You can rely on dialogue-I do quite a bit-but for it to be effective you need to mix in some descriptions and actions and not just have

He said

she said

he said

etc...

have a character say something then describe what he is doing as he says it or how the other character is reacting

when doing extended dialogue do not lose track of where they are. Describe the background, if they are at dinner have them pause as the waiter comes by and pours more coffee...

Here's a link to one of mine that is very dialogue heavy in the first section

https://www.literotica.com/s/thats-what-friends-are-for-13
 
In a way, this is done quite commonly. The category "Letters and Transcripts" is basically written dialog between the two people involved. Even there, some narration is necessary.
 
mikoli5763 said:
I have an idea of writing a story that would use dialogue between the characters for the majority of the story. Have any of my fellow authors done this? I have been criticized for writing bad dialogue and thought this might be a way to improve. Honest and serious opinions on my idea would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Writing strictly dialogue would make for a very fast story, almost at the pace of reading a screenplay. To give the reader a break you should insert a paragraph of narrative and/or some imagery and description.

It's more difficult to develop characters using only dialogue without using interior monologue to let us know what the main character is thinking.

The late, great, Dr. Robert Parker of Spencer for Hire and Blue Bloods wrote his novels with lots of dialogue but even he inserted paragraphs of narrative to help the read understand his character and to give the readers' eyes a break.
 
I have a story that starts with a page and a half of almost continuous dialogue. It makes sense for that story. It's fast paced and reads like a script, which is entirely appropriate. The story takes place on a nd around a television show.
 
I have one that won a state mainstream competition that starts in midsentence monologue and ends in midsentence monologue and is almost entirely a monologue. The hook is that it's a chatting wife driving her husband bananas with her inane chatter on a road trip.
 
A story with nothing but dialogue would basically be a play. A radio play.

It might work as an experiment, or as a way to hone your skills, but I think it would be tedious for the reader. Personally, I always try to find a good balance between dialogue and description. Too much of either one just feels wrong to me.
 
Carnevil9 said:
A story with nothing but dialogue would basically be a play. A radio play.

It might work as an experiment, or as a way to hone your skills, but I think it would be tedious for the reader. Personally, I always try to find a good balance between dialogue and description. Too much of either one just feels wrong to me.
Click to expand...

An excelent point
 
lovecraft68 said:
You can rely on dialogue-I do quite a bit-but for it to be effective you need to mix in some descriptions and actions and not just have

He said

she said

he said

etc...
Click to expand...

I'm not sure. I think readers tend to skip or ignore the tags 'He said; she said' and just follow the interaction between the characters.

As with any writing, if it works, it's OK.

I tried a dialogue-heavy story with only an introductory paragraph, one 'said', one 'replied' and a couple of non-dialogue statements:

https://www.literotica.com/s/two-tarts-in-a-kitchen

I think it worked, but it was a parody of a TV advert, so like a script.
 
Last edited:
soflabbwlvr said:
I have a story that starts with a page and a half of almost continuous dialogue. It makes sense for that story. It's fast paced and reads like a script, which is entirely appropriate. The story takes place on a nd around a television show.
Click to expand...

Only one problem with that is, and I'm not saying "One must do this and not do that" but why would you want to lose the strengths of long form. A good book is like radio. It's painting pictures with words. As much as I love films I prefer a good book.

The films I've loved the most are those that most 'synch' with my imagination and thoughts of the book I read. Others I like because they deviate so much in what I imagined and that too is a great boon.

In writing you're given so much freedom to create mood, narrative differences in creating a voice for more than one character. All of which can give a reader a good 'hook' to invest in the story.
 
The idea of a story comprised of entirely dialogue has intrigued me for a long while, though I have not yet attempted it. The bug was planted by Nicholson Baker's novel 'Vox' from the early 90s. The novel is a telephone conversation between a man and woman over phone sex line. Baker made the concept work with characters that piqued the readers curiosity and avoiding hot and heavy sex talk (which would I think get tedious).
 
oggbashan said:
I'm not sure. I think readers tend to skip or ignore the tags 'He said; she said' and just follow the interaction between the characters.

As with any writing, if it works, it's OK.

I tried a dialogue-heavy story with only an introductory paragraph, one 'said', one 'replied' and a couple of non-dialogue statements:

https://www.literotica.com/s/two-tarts-in-a-kitchen

I think it worked, but it was a parody of a TV advert, so like a script.
Click to expand...

I was thinking more along the lines of breaking it up from the author side of things. I agree the reader is most likely tuning that out, but if you don't add them they could lose track of who just said what and if they have to back up to re-read they can ruin flow.
 
visioneer said:
The idea of a story comprised of entirely dialogue has intrigued me for a long while, though I have not yet attempted it. The bug was planted by Nicholson Baker's novel 'Vox' from the early 90s. The novel is a telephone conversation between a man and woman over phone sex line. Baker made the concept work with characters that piqued the readers curiosity and avoiding hot and heavy sex talk (which would I think get tedious).
Click to expand...

When I took screenwriting courses in college, I didn't like it as much as I enjoyed magazine writing and creative writing. Actually, I enjoyed expository writing and news writing more than I enjoyed writing screenplays.

Writing mostly only dialogue, except for fade in and fade out and a few other screenwriting words, too much was left to the interpretation and the imagination of the director and the actors. As far as I was concerned the writer should be the one calling the shots, but not so when it comes to screenplay, unless you're a successful screenwriter.

As an aside, as a movie buff, I never knew that screenplays are routinely 120 pages, a minute of movie time for each page. Fascinating to know that.

My point is, if writing a story with just dialogue, you still need to find a way to develop your characters otherwise you'll have talking heads that the reader cannot connect to or care about.
 
SusanJillParker said:
When I took screenwriting courses in college, I didn't like it as much as I enjoyed magazine writing and creative writing. Actually, I enjoyed expository writing and news writing more than I enjoyed writing screenplays.

Writing mostly only dialogue, except for fade in and fade out and a few other screenwriting words, too much was left to the interpretation and the imagination of the director and the actors. As far as I was concerned the writer should be the one calling the shots, but not so when it comes to screenplay, unless you're a successful screenwriter.

As an aside, as a movie buff, I never knew that screenplays are routinely 120 pages, a minute of movie time for each page. Fascinating to know that.

My point is, if writing a story with just dialogue, you still need to find a way to develop your characters otherwise you'll have talking heads that the reader cannot connect to or care about.
Click to expand...

Some aren't even that length. They're more like scripts for TV now with more stage direction and the like. Lots of camera angles/suggestions and the like.

Having read in the last few months the shooting scripts for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy it reads like the book for idiots. It's a good schematic for a film, but as a piece of prose scripts leave a lot to be desired.

The only thing they're good for is a written document for the dialogue.

A writer I love who wrote many books for a popular TV series adapting the series to books said reading the scripts was so depressing. He just circled the dialogue to include abs relied on watching a video of the TV episodes to jog his memory to write the adaptation.

Tellingly the books are very good, vital, literate and engrossing, everything most scripts just aren't.
 
SusanJillParker said:
...

Writing mostly only dialogue, except for fade in and fade out and a few other screenwriting words, too much was left to the interpretation and the imagination of the director and the actors. As far as I was concerned the writer should be the one calling the shots, but not so when it comes to screenplay, unless you're a successful screenwriter.

...
Click to expand...

This clip from the Globe Theatre's production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing shows how two good actors (and aa director) can make a lot from a few words:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkmSIy8PayY
 
oggbashan said:
This clip from the Globe Theatre's production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing shows how two good actors (and aa director) can make a lot from a few words:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkmSIy8PayY
Click to expand...

Point taken.

Seemingly screenwriting, direction, and acting is a team effort.

Being that I've never been a team player, I'd rather write my stories and novels while knowing that whatever words I write and meanings that exist on the page are all mine and from the inner depths of my twisted brain.
 
Black_and_White_Writer said:
Only one problem with that is, and I'm not saying "One must do this and not do that" but why would you want to lose the strengths of long form. A good book is like radio. It's painting pictures with words. As much as I love films I prefer a good book.

The films I've loved the most are those that most 'synch' with my imagination and thoughts of the book I read. Others I like because they deviate so much in what I imagined and that too is a great boon.

In writing you're given so much freedom to create mood, narrative differences in creating a voice for more than one character. All of which can give a reader a good 'hook' to invest in the story.
Click to expand...

I admire sharp, snappy dialogue. In this particular story (Pussy Rules), I went all in, especially in the front half. Everything the reader needs to know is transmitted through the conversation. There are many different ways to tell a story.
 
lovecraft68 said:
If you look at my stories you will see I have yet to learn how to say anything in few words:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You could try writing fifty-word stories.

This is one of my Christmas ones in dialogue only:

11. Memories

"Do you remember being tired every Christmas Day?"

"Yes. We didn't get any sleep. We had to retrieve the presents from the hiding places, wrap them, put them under the tree..."

"...And the children would be up at five to find them."

"Now they have that problem. Good night, granny."
 
soflabbwlvr said:
I admire sharp, snappy dialogue. In this particular story (Pussy Rules), I went all in, especially in the front half. Everything the reader needs to know is transmitted through the conversation. There are many different ways to tell a story.
Click to expand...

It's a nice story but those folk do speak a lot in one go. Most sentences are only around 30 words at most. Obviously speeches are different. It's good, but I feel as though the dialogue is a bit strained and too expositionary. I keep my dialogue to a couple of lines. Only the science fiction stories have more dialogue in once 'mouthful or bite' if you will because that's what the genre is like, more like a historical story too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

LoneMilf
A specific question about grammar in dialogue
2
Replies
40
Views
682
alohadave
alohadave
TheRedChamber
Whose Erotica is it Anyway?
2
Replies
37
Views
821
TheRedChamber
TheRedChamber
Richard_Hunter
Summer Lovin’ Challenge
2
Replies
30
Views
748
ElectricBlue
ElectricBlue
madelinemasoch
I figured out the perfect advice for new writers
Replies
2
Views
170
Altissimus
Altissimus
H
A life of their own
Replies
12
Views
301
ronde
ronde
Back
Top