Comments on: Talk Amongst Yourselves: Realistic Dialogue

By: Stéphanie Noël

Stéphanie Noël — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:02:55 +0000

I’m guilty of super linear dialogues. I need to work on that! Great post, thank you!

By: Angela

Angela — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:31:00 +0000

I just love listening to people talk (and if I'm writing or typing at the time sometimes I record it) I feel like a spy! And when I go back and re-read it makes me remember so much more than the words.

I also like making up dialogue when I'm out and about people watching.

By: Becca

Becca — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:09:00 +0000

Excellent! We’re hoping to have ours close together, too. Of course, that would be more up to God at this point than anything we could try and orchestrate ;).

By: C.R. Evers

C.R. Evers — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:55:00 +0000

Hey becca! My kids are 2, 4 and 6. :0)

Christy

By: Becca

Becca — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:05:00 +0000

Marcia, that's one reason I like writing hf; in some ways, despite the research,it's actually easier.

CR, how old are your kids?

By: C.R. Evers

C.R. Evers — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:19:00 +0000

Great observations! Also, I'll have to tell my hubby that going out to dinner can be a tax write off for literary research! Maybe we'll get to go out more often!

and I 2nd the statement about post-baby outings being a sanity staple!

Great post!

Christy

By: Marcia

Marcia — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:54:00 +0000

This is right on. And funny example in #1. 🙂

About slang — you have to be careful using contemporary slang, which might be forgotten by the time the book is published. But if you’re writing historical fiction, you can use the slang of that period with no worries. Of COURSE it’s obsolete.

By: Becca

Becca — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:52:00 +0000

thanks for the props, everyone! And Zoe, you’re right. Slang is risky; you don’t want to date yourself.

By: AES

AES — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:12:00 +0000

I, personally, love writing dialogue. It’s the part that comes the most naturally to me. The research, though… that’s another story entirely! 🙂

By: courtney

courtney — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:33:00 +0000

Yay Date Night! Great post, Becca! I especially love the As-You-Know-Bob reminder–easy to fall into that trap!

By: Zoe

Zoe — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:32:00 +0000

Great post! (as always). I have one thing to add about slang though: use it with caution. The thing is that the slang has to feel real; rather than just a cliché of a demographic. The same goes for dialects. Slang needs ‘bottled at the source’ authenticity. The Australian novelist Tim Winton is, off the top of my head, someone who does this very well. And most of all, slang needs consistency. For example in a ‘modernised’ performance of Shakespeare, Hamlet saying ‘yo whaddup?’ one minute, then ‘To be or not to be’ the next is NOT consistency. When I write, unless I am on a day of rare inspiration, dialogue comes out pretty formal (my friends often accuse me of sounding like I have swallowed a dictionary when I talk). In the editing process I am going to have to work hard to get the balance right!

By: Becca

Becca — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:11:00 +0000

I actually didn’t call home at all; Al’s parents are our babysitters, so I am completely at ease when we leave her with them. Thanks goodness :).