Direct Speech

[scheherazade_79]

Just thought it would be interesting to pool some writing ideas together on the topic of direct speech, along the lines of what works and what doesn't work.

My line of thinking is that you have to hear the character speaking in your head and be bloody good at punctuating the sentences so that they sound natural in the mind of the reader.

What other pearls of wisdom would people like to share?

 

[cloudy]

Don't be afraid of departing from the rules of grammer in dialogue, and use colloquialisms sparingly (or Carson will tell you about it ).

 

[oggbashan]

Ignore Word and use part sentences.

Make speeches short.

Use ... when one speaker cuts across another.

Use a different paragraph for each speaker.

Make sure the reader can follow WHO is speaking. More than two speakers is difficult in print.

Og

 

[impressive]

I used to shy away from dialogue. Now, it's the most flowing of anything I write. Just pours out of me. It's the narrative that slows me down.

 

[Weird Harold]

What other pearls of wisdom would people like to share?

Just adding a comma and quotes to He said he had done it to make it He said, "he had done it," doesn't make it dialogue.

To convert narrative to dialogue usually requires changing the tense and POV to the way people speak -- He said, "I have done it" or he said, "I've done it."

 

[TheEarl]

Don't be too formal. Unless your character is Noel Coward, they won't use 'did not, would not, shall not' when 'didn't, wouldn't and shant' flows easier from their mouths.

Dialogue tags ('he said, she said') are my personal dislike, but I understand that most people find they work well forthem. If you're going to use them, then don't get too creative with the verb. It's okay to have the occasional 'shouted' or 'growled', maybe even a 'grated' (although you've got to fill out a special form to get permission for that last one). Just don't overuse them. Dialogue tags's magic only works when they're invisible and the invisibility comes from 'said'. Over-using weird and wonderful verbs showsthat you don't trust your writing to show us how the character's saying something and you feel that you have to tell us.

The Earl

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Dialogue involves people speaking. People speaking sounds different than a narrator. Think what people naturally say, possibly exploit how you or your friends speak and rob it to use as dialogue. Think what comes naturally.

Stock porno dialogue and "III'MMM CUMMMMINNNGGG!" aren't natural dialogue. If you are tempted to write it to show how excited the character is, hit yourself with a large mallet. Repeat the process until the urge goes away.

 

[Penelope Street]

Read your planned dialogue aloud. Monologue too, for that matter. If it sounds goofy to you, it probably is.

 

[Liar]

1. Listen to people talking on their cell phones. It gives you a good idea of just hoqw jumbled and fragmented natural speech can be.

2. Read transcripts from TV talk shows and debate shows. Same effect as above.

3. (Some might slap me for this, but I stand by it.) Avoid "he said/she said" tagging. unless it's unclear who is saying a line, or you need a narrative break ("Hello," she said and uncorked another bottle. "Welcome to the mayhem").

4. Althoiught #1 and #2 suggests you should mimic real gibberish as much as possible...don't. Mimic the structure, but remember that real people are boring. Make your characters a little bit more eloquent than your average everyday joe.