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2006-10-04 03:42:56
Last author: La Divina
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Speak: On Dialogue
An insightful, opinion article-thing by [La Divina]

Dialogue has many purposes: to break up sections of prose, to move the plot along, to develop character. It can be used in copious amounts or sparsely. Do not make the mistake of thinking that dialogue is easy to write. It may seem simple enough, and indeed, it is one of the more pleasant aspects of the writing process, but good dialogue is vast appreciated. Here I will expand on the three aforementioned purposes and give examples for each.

1. Breaking up sections of prose. This is commonly used in the beginnings of stories, after a paragraph or two of description introducing a new setting or character. Usually to give the reader a refreshing break. Here is an example from Tad Williams’ The War of the Flowers:

The drummer made a face and patted his shirt pocket, then his pants pockets. He was small but he had long, strong arms. With his paunch and his shaggy but balding head, the chest hair climbing out of his T-shirt collars, he always made Theo think of the soulful chimpanzees in that Englishwoman’s documentaries.
When Johnny found the pack at last, he shook one out for Theo, then one for himself and lit it. “Man, you never have your own.”


First, we get a description of Johnny, that is, Theo’s impression of him. We get a feel of what kind of person he is and get a good picture of him in our minds before he speaks. So in a way, we get some sort of background on him before he takes the stage.

2. Moving the plot along. The plot is, of course, the glue that holds the entire story together, no matter how shot it may be. It’s important that all the elements of the story work toward advancing the plot, dialogue included. The conversation should subtly give the reader clues about what is going to happen next and emphasize important things that are crucial to moving the plot along. Here is an example from Jasper Fforde’s Jack Spratt Investigates: The Big Over Easy:

The phone rang and Mary picked it up. She listened for a moment and winced. “Thanks for calling. We’ll be straight there.”
She put the receiver down and looked up at Jack.
“I’ve got a feeling this is bad news,” he said slowly.
“It’s Mrs. Dumpty.”
“At last! When can we talk to her?”
“Never – unless you know a good spiritualist. There’s been an accident down at the Yummy-Time Biscuits factory. She’s... dead.”


The reader should immediately note how this simple conversation flows. Jack and Mary do not get distracted in the middle of the conversation because this is obviously a crucial point in the plot.

3. Character development. In books, as real life, people have certain ways of talking that is unique to their persona. When you meet people for the first time and start to talk to them, you pick up on the way they speak. Their word usage. Do they use slang? Do they swear? Do they have any verbal ticks? Book characters also have certain ways of talking, an since we often only have a picture of them in our minds, their speech becomes very important in knowing them. Here is an example from Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony, by Eoin Colfer:

“Mulch? Are you in position?” snapped Holly.
“Yep,” came the dwarf’s reply. “Any sign of the pixie?”
“No, he’s not up and about yet, but he will be soon. So stop the chatter and just get ready.”
“Hey, we’re partners now. No more criminal and police officer. I don’t have to take orders from you.”
“Get ready, please.”
“No problem. Mulch Diggums, low-life bounty hunter, signing off.”


Even from this short exchange, we get insight into both Holly and Mulch’s characters by the way they speak and they way they converse with one another. Reading along, we probably wouldn’t expect Holly to start using “like” in every sentence, or for Mulch to be sweetly polite. It would be out of character.

So good dialogue often manages to fall under one of these purposes, or perhaps all of them. Dialogue must work with the prose and not against it.

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