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The Golden Rule of dialogue is to Show rather than tell. AuthorHouse identifies five areas that you should be looking at to produce readable, effective dialogue. In part two of this series of AuthorHouse book editing articles, we focus on the conversational aspects of creating dialogue that will entertain your readers and help tell and develop your book’s story and plot. 2.Conversations should Captivate Readers
Your dialogue should not be an exact copy of how people really speak, but it should be realistic enough to be believable while holding your reader’s attention. Here are the elements you need to consider when editing your dialogue in line with your story. •Locale: The situation in which your characters are speaking in will dictate the words they use, the manner in which they communicate and the flow of their conversation. If they are in the middle of a battle, with gunfire and explosions going on around them, their manner of speech should reflect this. They are likely to be shouting over the noise and even be interrupted by nearby explosions. Physical gestures may also be incorporated into the conversation to make it easier to get their message across.
•Words that Work: DO NOT let the words your characters speak repeat what has already been said in your narration. AVOID exposition so that you are not wasting the reader’s time by having your characters talk about something they should logically already know. DO use contractions as most people use these when they are talking in normal conversation.
•Proper Dialogue Tagging: Remember the KISS principle – Keep It Short and Simple. Stick with the word “said” as much as possible. “He said,””she said.” Add a sprinkling of “shouteds” or “whispereds” for variety, but to not get too fancy. Too many tags will start to sound contrived and will draw your reader’s attention to them, rather than the dialogue.
•Actions as Emphasis: Your characters’ gestures can be used to emphasise what they are saying, or to break up long passage of speech. The listener might nod or sigh while the speaker continues. Commenting on this will break up conversation a bit.
•Emotional Ties: The relationship between two characters will certainly dictate the manner in which they speak to one another and the flow of their conversation. They may use clipped, short sentences if theirs is a tense relationship or long flowing sentences if they are comfortable with one another. This manner of speech will also help build tension, etc. Punctuate the conversation again with some physical gestures to portray fear or reveal a lie, etc.
•Verbosity Vs Value: Some people talk a lot, while others are the strong, silent types. Don’t allow characters to go on and on and also remember that your reader will be able to glean as much from what has not been said as what is being said. This article has captured the second of AuthorHouse’s five suggested areas to focus on when editing your story’s dialogue. Part three of this AuthorHouse series of articles will deal with the final three areas your should be looking at to improve your book’s dialogue.
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