WRITING DIALOGUECreative Writing

Mr. Way9-27-13

SWBAT:

Write interesting, believable dialogue.

Standard ELA12.W.2.1.c:Describe with concrete sensory details the … specific actions, movements, gestures, and feelings of the characters.

Overview

Believable dialogue Who are the characters? Where are they, and (how) does the scene

impact their interaction? Dialects and accents

Pacing Avoid “ping pong” dialogue No soliloquy, please Don’t just stand there

Who are the characters?

If you don’t give them personalities, they’ll just end up both being you talking to yourself.

If you don’t give them back stories, they’ll have nothing to say.

If you don’t give them a desire, they’ll just respond to the protagonist flatly, adding nothing.

What’s going on in the scene?

If these guys are having a conversation, you’d probably expect some strain in their voices.

What’s going on in the scene?

Is somebody in a hurry to leave? Is somebody distracted by something else? These factors will impact how they behave,

what they say. Are they outside? Is somebody physically

uncomfortable? Is it hard for them to hear each other for

some reason?

Dialects and Accents

I don’t recommend putting these in unless you’re extremely familiar with the one you’re using.

Writing words in an accent takes a long time and is difficult to do well, plus the reader may not have heard it before so they won’t even get it.

If you do your research, you can give a character an accent or make them speak another dialect, but don’t do it unless you’re an expert.

Do you really need to know what words he’s saying to understand what he means?

Communication Is Mostly Non-Verbal

Dr. Albert Mehrabian, conducted several studies on nonverbal communication. He found that:

7% of any message is conveyed through words 38% through certain vocal elements and 55% through nonverbal elements (facial

expressions, gestures, posture, etc).

Not what they say; how they say it.

Communication is mostly not from the words themselves.

In order to convey meaning when the reader only sees the words, you have to: Tell about the tone of voice Tell about the posture, where relevant Tell about hand gestures Tell about facial expressions

Avoid “Ping-Pong” exchanges

“Edith, I wish I didn’t have to be the one to tell you. My dear; your husband has just been killed in a car accident.”“I can’t believe it.”“It’s a terrible thing.”“But I just talked to him – only a few minutes ago. On the phone.”“Yes, that’s what makes it so awful.”“What am I going to do now?”

“Somehow, you’ll come through this.”

No Soliloquy, Please

Unless there’s a play going on within your story.

No Soliloquy, Please

Don’t let one character go on and on. Your characters are in a conversation –

they have to respond and react to each other.

Even when one person is telling a long story or explaining something complex, the other person will still nod, ask for questions, or say “yeah,” from time to time.

Don’t Just Stand There

When people talk, they fidget. Even when you’re just standing around

talking, you shift your weight, look around, play with your hands, etc.

Your characters should be doing things while they talk, because real people do things while they talk.

Review

Believable dialogue Who are the characters? Where are they, and (how) does the scene

impact their interaction? Dialects and accents

Pacing Avoid “ping pong” dialogue No soliloquy, please Don’t just stand there