Dialogue: Getting it Right

It's been a while since we did a tutorial/guidance blog about creative writing, so here we go! I think I might've touched upon this before somewhere... but here's a thorough article all about dialogue in fiction


Firstly, what purpose does dialogue serve? Often writers (especially beginners overly so) use it without really thinking about it, but dialogue can slow the narrative and draw special attention to an event or relationship. Alternatively, dialogue can speed things up and move the story along.

Dialogue can also bring out characters (technique known as characterisation) and it also serves to create background and supply impressions of the fictional society or setting to the reader. For example, a narrative beginning with "Get ya vegetables here! Cheap as chips!" creates imagery of perhaps a market, working class... etc. You get the drift!


Now we'll consider two types of dialogue: bare and described
What they are is pretty self-explanatory!
Bare dialogue is dialogue simply written on its own, such as: "I love you."
Whereas described dialogue is dialogue which is described, say with a tag, such as: "I love you," she simpered.

That's handy to know and you'll see why now!

Because we're gonna move onto the nitty-gritty of dialogue, the general dos and don'ts and advice on how to make your dialogue worthwhile and effective!


Make sure your dialogue is...
Concise
There's nothing worse than characters rattling on. You want your narration to be sharp and to the point, why should your dialogue be any different? As a general rule of thumb, make sure you establish what your character is trying to say, and then have them say it. Cut the fluff. We can consider the two following examples:
"I don't love you anymore."
"I-I-I... I just don't think I... I mean I just don't love you anymore."
       Clearly the second one is the woolly one. Now, while we want dialogue to be realistic, we don't want to simulate real speech. It doesn't leave much to the reader's imagination and it's a bit dictatery. (Unfortunately dictatery isn't a word by the way but I wish it was.)

Well-placed
This is an issue that tends to resonate with beginner writers. Often, novice wordsmiths have a tendency to slapdash dialogue because they're not used to storytelling, so dialogue will make up most of the tale. While that has its perks, you obviously want to flesh out with narration and description, the things that make up a story, but more importantly, you must make sure your dialogue serves a purpose. Make sure every word out of your character's mouth is significant! They have to mean something.
       So what makes dialogue significant?
       Well, think about what dialogue is for (as described above.) Is your dialogue building character, drawing attention to something significant (an event, relationship) or supplying impressions/imagery? Try to be sparing with dialogue to deliver maximum impact!


Make sure your dialogue doesn't...
Overuse tags
Earlier, we talked about bare and described dialogue. Writers just starting out tend to be bit tag-happy, writing something like this perhaps:

We ran up the corridor and lights flashed everywhere.
"We gotta reach the control panels!" Cassie yelled.
Thomas paused and looked down various turnings. "Where are they?" he shouted.
"I think they're this way," Cassie explained. She took off round a corner and Thomas followed.
"Are you sure?" he called.
"I remember it," she confirmed.
"You remember that far back?" he asked.
"Yep," she replied.
"Impressive," he remarked

The style becomes something of a ping-pong and it's quite repetitive. While tags can be a great touch, it's advised to be sparing with them and only use them when they're adding something to the narrative. Some writers actually hate tags and don't use them full stop, but it's up to you. Of course, tags aren't the only way to describe dialogue and you can still get creative with it! Sprinkling some bare dialogue is also good for variation. For instance...

We ran up the corridor and lights flashed everywhere.
"We gotta reach the control panels!" Cassie yelled.
Thomas paused and looked down various turnings. "Where are they?"
"I think they're this way," and she took off round a corner like a shadow.
Thomas followed. "Are you sure?" His voice carried down the passageway, bounced off wall after wall.
"I remember it."
"You remember that far back?" he asked, flabbergasted.
"Yes," she replied.
Thomas raised his eyebrows. "Impressive."

Tell the reader what they already know
This is a poor use of dialogue. Characters saying what the reader already knows is pretty redundant. It's fine to use dialogue to refer to something (say an event) of course, but reiterating the same thing is tiresome and you'll lose your readers quickly. Again, it's a question of significance Make sure your dialogue adds something to the tale!

So that's the general guidance on dialogue dos and don'ts! But what exactly should your dialogue... be?

Earlier we mentioned realism and the boundary between dialogue and real speech. Now we're getting a bit linguistic, but Leech's conversational grammar can be very helpful! Leech (a linguist) outlined several rules which speech tends to adhere to, compared to writing, which has its own grammar. When creating dialogue, we can refer to these language universals to make it realistic, yet creative enough so that it stimulates the reader's imagination!


Leech's Conversational Grammar
        Shared Context
The speakers share context (the conversation) and understand one another's contributions. They don't have to keep reminding each other about the subject.

        Interaction
Conversations are dynamic and speech is accompanied by paralinguistic features, including facial expressions, eye contact and gestures. Of course, speech involves social relations and emotional attitudes; why wouldn't it be interactive!?

        Personal Expression
Speech allows speakers (or in our case, characters!) to express themselves and it's words - as well as actions - that give their personalities away. Use this to your advantage as a writer!

        Real-Time Constraints
Speech takes place during real time, unlike writing. When speaking, people think on their feet and there's much room for spontaneity! Speakers don't have much time to compose their replies. Remember this when creating dialogue, so avoid characters speaking too flowery or formally.

        Restricted Repertoire
Similar to the above, speakers often use the same words again and again. Since when did you whip out a dictionary during conversation? When creating dialogue therefore, make sure your characters use words that perhaps you'd use normally in everyday speech, and save the fancy lingo for narration instead!

        Lack of Elaboration
Because speakers share context and there are real-time constraints, they don't tend to reiterate small details to each other and their language is often diectic. This means they use words such as "here" and "there" for example, rather than explicit renaming of places or things. They also tend to avoid specifying meaning because they assume understanding.

        Vernacular Range of Expression
Non-standard grammar frequents speech, with expressions such as, "my legs was hurting" and "us lot." There's a low evaluation of speech (unlike the continuous proofreading of written language) and there's a focus on function, not formality. So in dialogue, make use of these expressions!


And that's it! There's quite an essay here, but valuable guidance for creating effective punchy dialogue