  Short Stories
This week: Dialogue as a Story Medium Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
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| This newsletter is for the discussion of the medium of short fiction. This week's edition kicks off my discussion on tactics for great dialogue in short stories. |
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Hello all, it's Jay's debut novel is out now! back again to edit another Short Stories newsletter.
This month: dialogue! I absolutely love dialogue as a story medium-- it is the easiest way to get a tight view of the way one's characters express themselves and develop their individuality. It's the fastest way to inject some movement and dynamics to your story. It's also one of the hardest things to do well. Why is that?
A lot of advice on writing compelling dialogue suggests that writers should develop a good ear for listening to real conversations and using this palette of real human expression to season the writing. I'm going to go one step farther and suggest that we develop an ear for listening to real conversations and editing them like one would edit one's writing.
It's not easy to do-- and it requires a lot of practice. Editing a spoken conversation is all well and good, but I think a more practical approach is to absorb conversations around you, like a word sponge. Learn speech patterns and dialects. Use them judiciously; talking like Yoda we want not. The best way to learn dialogue is to read it and write it.
I love to write stories in dialogue-only format as one type of challenge. Now, in a LOT of contexts and situations, a dialogue-only story is not going to give your reader enough background and character development to get really into the scene, so unless the story itself is really well crafted it might be helpful to think of this kind of story as a way to get in gear and thinking about how the actual story might unfold based on the way the characters interact. (an aside: fans of "The Dialogue 500" -- start your engines! See the Ask and Answer zone below.  )
One of my favorite ways to approach this exercise for writing dialogue is to begin with two characters. Once I have those characters in mind, I set up a situation for these characters. Why are they talking to each other? There is a lot that can be inferred about the relationship between characters from the way they talk to each other without the author butting in to tell the reader who's who, right? Right. So next on the list is to begin the dialogue. I often start with the conversation by itself and see where that goes. An exchange might begin something like this:
"Hey, Karen! Nice backpack."
Well, we've established one character here-- and while it's a pretty loose framework, in the space of just four words we've set the expectations for the reader.
Now, let's use Karen's response to frame her reaction to the speaker and add some depth to both characters. Karen could say any number of things here and any of them will give us a context in which we can establish what sort of person Karen might be and how she views the first speaker:
"Hey, Karen! Nice backpack."
"Oh, shut up, Frank! Just leave me alone."
Well-- clearly not a friend! Or maybe we could try this:
"Hey, Karen! Nice backpack."
"Thanks, Mindy. Think you could carry it to school for me?"
Hmm-- now Karen seems like she is due for a come-uppance!
"Hey, Karen! Nice backpack."
"Oh! Hi, Neil. Yours is nice, too. I didn't know you liked Power Rangers."
Karen's personality could be anything at this point-- it's all about making realistic reactions to stimulus-- in this case the opening lines of the story. Food for thought at least, no? I'll continue with some more thoughts on dialogue next time. Whew!
Until next time, Take care and Write on!
~j |
This Month's Picks-- check them all out!
Lots of dialogue, some needing some critique, and some just really fun to read.
And I have to call attention to this really great editorial here-- so much information and some great suggestions, even for the seasoned reviewer! Writers, this is a great tip sheet for things to look out for in your work, too.
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Feedback from past issue "Pieces of Something Greater"
Lothmorwel  writes:
Writing vignettes, or 'random snippets' as I call them (didn't know there was an actual word for what I was doing!) is like therapy for me. After ages of planning I'll go off on a tangent and write a scene, usually unplanned or based around an idea. These get edited over time and become therapy again - when I read back over something I've written that's polished and good. They give me reassurance that I'm not awful as well as helping 'place' the story in my mind with colours and setting a dialogue. They may not make it whole into the actual story but they serve a very good purpose for my writing confidence!
that's exactly the point!  good to hear you make use of them.
Feedback from last month's issue "Character Components"
Fyn  writes:
Great newsletter! Thanking you for using my "The Unfinished Journal" as it is one of my favorite pieces although not typical of what i might usually write :)
Anytime, Fyn! Thank you for writing a great story for me to find.
A.T.B: It'sWhatWeDo writes:
I appreciate you taking the time to emphasize the importance of dialogue and flaws. Jargon and inset-exposition both flesh out a character without wasting words, and I always try my best to stay true to that ideal. It's been a while, but I once commented that I know a character's 'coming together' when I begin to dislike them (personally, even) - when they gain aspects, or those "quirks" you mention, that put me off in one way or another, gaining a life of their own, as it were. I think it's more than ok to dislike a character, maybe even necessary in some cases, so long as they carry their weight on the story's behalf. Those that've read "The Fountainhead" are sure to know the feeling...Dominique, ugh. Thanks for another great NL!
Thanks, Andrew! I know exactly what you mean here. I think that characters who are too likable usually turn out not to be likable enough.
And this month's question:
Do you feel like you have trouble with dialogue? Why or why not?
And-and... a challenge!
Write a dialogue-only story that begins with the dialogue sample from the editorial:
"Hey, Karen! Nice backpack."
"Oh, shut up, Frank! Just leave me alone."
OR
"Hey, Karen! Nice backpack."
"Thanks, Mindy. Think you could carry it to school for me?"
OR
"Hey, Karen! Nice backpack."
"Oh! Hi, Neil. Yours is nice, too. I didn't know you liked Power Rangers."
OR
Begin a dialogue-only story that begins with:
"Hey, Karen! Nice backpack."
Drop it off at by Sunday the 1st May 2011 at 11:59 PM Writing.Com time.
All eligible entries will be featured in the next edition of the Short Stories Newsletter that I edit. |
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Short Stories: April 06, 2011 Issue [#4330]
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