The Right To Write

Dialogue: Part 4

Watch the video, you'll feel my pain.

Things to avoid. Here are some honorable mentions of anything that can go wrong, but these could be categorized as my personal opinion, since I have seen a few well-known authors practice these constantly.

-Overly used interruptions. Don't get me wrong, interruptions can be amazing in producing a dramatic effect, but there is a point where I feel like I'm reading a series of a group of characters cutting each other off and speaking. I really don't want to see this happen:

"Hey do yo--"
"Michael I like your ha--"
"Me too, now let's--"
"Wait, I need--"
"I was talking!"

We'll call it, "The Poem Of The Interrupted." That was a major exaggeration, but let's just say we keep it two interruptions per chapter, sound good? I recently read a short story for my English class by a published, well-known author. Amazing concept, setup, plot, but almost every page included somebody cutting somebody else off. I assume these characters just don't have a sense of respect? Tell me I'm not the only one affected by this.

-Prolonged monologue. If your dialogue running on gruesomely long from only one mouth, then you're most likely missing th point of dialogue. "Di" means two, so your characters should be conversing, not being overly egotistical and keeping all the words in their mouths. You want dialogue, so make dialogue. I don't want to see pages upon pages of one character speaking; that's absolutely horrifying. What if your character has a long story or explanation to tell? Then give it in segments. Give us chops of it, put it in between a more-plot related subject, keep both burning. This will also fuel a better memory of what your character had to say. Change monologue into dialogue.

On a larger note, if possible, show it rather than tell it. Your character's monologue backstory or incident can be retold in a flashback or dream, rather than cold, hard speech. Readers can't really feel what's going on, unless the narrator is directly recalling it.

-Excessive "he said" and "she said." Of course, we need to clarify who is talking at what time and who after who, but there is a point where the dialogue can stand on it's own. Once you've, established who's speaking, you can let the two carry on without further mention of who said it, unless you want to clear out a change of tone or emotion.

To give you an idea, here:

"Does Friday sound good?" Michael asked.

"Sure," Laura clasped her hands in front of her.

"You look nervous."

"I'm not. I was hoping we could do it a bit later."

His eyes widened, "Oh, of course, sorry, I forgot you have practice."

Note that I only had to mention who said what once before setting untagged dialogue on it's own. Then, you can decipher a new emotion when Michael widens his eyes. If the dialogue goes on long enough, the reader may eventually become confused, so it is good to remind the reader who is talking once in a while. More than two speakers can become troublesome, and dialogue tagging may be more of a necessity, but as for two, stick to these rules.

-Keep words and punctuation concise. This may be especially evident in amateur writing, and I see this a lot in Wattpad writing. (referring to you, psychotic fangirls). For example, "he is so hotttttt!!!!!"

One second, I need to let out some of the contents in my stomach.

That's not how you spell "hot." H-O-T, need I say more? And one exclamation point will do. If you really want to put emphasis on that fact, why don't you just say something a tad bit more poetic. "Hot" doesn't describe anything about his physical appearance, it only tells me he's the sun, which tells me you should just maybe you should stop looking at it, girl. Say "his firmly curved chin twitched into a smile, wavy blonde hair barely scratching across his eyebrows and into his streaked hazel eyes." Leave it up to the reader to decide if he is "hot" or not.