im not sure if this has already been covered or not but if it has please point me in the right direction. ok so i was working on my story today when i realized that it was mostly dialog. For almost the entire time the story took place it was either the two characters talking to one another or it was the MC thinking to her self ( not sure if it's important but my story is in third person) So basically does anyone have any tips for how i can describe the world around my characters enough so that i can at least give my audience a sense of where my characters are. it seems like i have gone through two extremes. Reading over some of my old work ( mind you this means it was writen when i was probably between the ages of 12-16) I use to describe things in detail. and i mean in DETAIL. I admit that i went over board and started describing things that really didn't need to be described. i can only describe it as trying to literally paint a picture with words. ( which of course makes for a very very boring story). Now years later i have tried to cut back on my describing but now i practically don't describe anything at all. I see it in my head. Like as if i were watching a movie. But im not sure what to put in and what not to. i once heard that you shouldn't describe more then what you need to make the plot go forward. But im writing a fantasy and i want to share the wonder of my magical land with my audience. So how can i learn to do that? I also heard once that there was a different between talking at someone about your story and showing people your story. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone else but i want to be albe to show people my world not just talk at them and hope they can understand what i mean. any advice or tips would be greatly appresiated
Of course, the ideal is a personal balance that works. Different themes lend themselves to be written in different ways, but ultimately it is the author's skill that makes a piece great, or not. Great books (not many mind) have been written with no dialogue at all, and though I know of none, I am sure great books exist entirely written in dialogue (in so much as that's possible). On a different note, I recently re-read Of Mice And Men and noted the heavy reliance on dialogue in that, so perhaps, for the purposes of research, you may want to pick that up (again, if applicable). That is heralded a classic and taught in many schools - surely a good point of reference.
The road was foggy like a cloudy river. The wind brushed the fog down the road like a cloudy river. She walked down a foggy road, a thick fog that brushed around her legs like a cloudy river. She could only feel its cold bite, otherwise it was an unfelt ghost. Or: She walked down a foggy road and a thick fog brushed around her legs like a cloudy river. I prefer the third. If I can ever describe scenery using actions, I do so. You have to deside what things to describe. But first you should think about the mood you wish to create because that should help you deside what things to describe and how to describe them.
You just need to get the balance right, first and foremost. There aren't any established rules about this. All you need to concern yourself with, is to make sure you are sufficiently accounting for each scene-building element. Give the reader enough description to be able to construct a mental picture of the scene, and not too much as to overwhelm the reader with superfluous information, more than likely to make he/she want to reach for another book. I invite you to post an excerpt of your work on the Novel Review section of the forums. I would certainly be happy to go through it in detail, and in reference to your own writing. --Martin Lesnoy
I often feel like I am not showing enough of my surroundings and too much dialog too. I do a lot of dialog. Just take a look at my short story in the current contest. I barely describe my characters, I briefly describe where they are (sitting on a fallen log in my secondary character's back yard,) and I don't give any character description of my MC, only my secondary character. In my current story, everything is told from my females MC's first person POV. Everything is either in her head or spoken in dialog. I use her to describe the people around her and the places she is, but I only do the bare minimum to give the reader enough to go on, so that they can fill in the blanks with their imagination. I really try not to over detail people. I find all that purplely prose to be boring and dull. I think the only people who could get away with that died years ago...and were published between 1700's and 1920. Look up the story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman. This story is full of imagery, but is done so well that it isn't boring. It's also a really good read. When I am writing a first draft, I tend to just write. I worry about the editing process later, when I will see if my setting description is enough to invoke the imagery I was aiming for. I know what you mean about seeing it like a movie in your head. I do that too. The best why I have found to see if my work has enough, is to let someone read it and get their opinion. Whether we like what they have to say or not, it is the best way to gauge how much more we need, or less in some cases. Try giving a few critiques here and post a short story. I'm sure you'll get some good help here, the people who review here seem to do a pretty good job of it.
I would be intrested in knowing when there is too much dialog in one page. I'm puzzled adding to much of a conversation on a single page. How do you make it sound good?
I don't have a quantitative measure to offer, but to my mind a full page of uninterrupted dialogue is too much. At the very least you need beats in the dialogue to break it up. Maybe someone shifts nervously before raising an uncomfortable point, of someone scowls at a statement she disagrees with. The reader doesn't want to sit through a talking heads marathon (No, I don't mean the band). Break up the verbal volleying. Interrupt lengthy sermons by one character. Do it literally, such as a waiter arriving with a food order, so everyone shuts up until he has left the table, at which point the discussion may even get sidetracked. Our own Terry Erwin has published a short story, Vegetable Matters, in Mindflight, that illustrates this beautifully. One of the characters is telling his story to a journalist as they travel to the climactic setting. Terry keeps the reader hanging on the character's tale through well-timed interruptions. If he simply let the character ramble on, the reader would give up long before the end. But like the journalist, the reader becomes anxious to drag the story, piece by piece, from the main character.
Actions and thoughts that are pertinant to the situation. Sit in a cafe and check out what happens between two people involved in a conversation. They don't just blatter away at each other, but gesticulate and carry out actions to convey meaning or even to communicate subtext. They'll pause to eat or drink, and you may be able to 'see' their thought process as they digest the conversation's subject matter. Their actions/reactions will be as a result of a specific action carried out by one or the other, as well as how they are affected by their surroundings. Don't forget non-verbal communication and how such can be interpreted/misinterpreted, often leading to the relationship of the moment taking a new direction. So much to consider. Good luck with your writing.
Sometimes they will even monologue one another - neither is really listening to the other, they are just talking their own agendas. Or one will suddenly veer off onto a tangent because he or she doesn't want to acknowledge what was just said or asked. What is not said may be even more important than what is.
Some novels, like The Picture Of Dorian Grey and The Count of Monte Cristo rely heavily on dialogue, while other novels, such as The Bloody Chamber, make scant use of it. It depends on what you're writing, how many characters you have etc. Some stories need lots of it, others don't...
If you have too much dialogue and little of everything else, you can try turning it into a play. You won't have to rely on description much, so you can then focus on strengthening the dialogue.
My question is kind of related so I figured I'll post it here. A friend of my suggested to reserve using dialogue for important scenes. What do you guys think about that idea? Thank you.
A scene can be important for the dialogue alone. It can also be a distraction in a scene that needs to focus on the actions of the characters. Dialogue is a powerful writing tool, and is practically an art form in itself. Often what is NOT said is more important than what is. Try to avoid showing chit chat, unless the chit chat carries an emotional subtext of its own. For instance, a girl discovers she is pregnant, and rushes go see her boyfriend, but all she ends up talking about is the fine spring weather, and new flowers popping up, and needing to clean her room. All somewhat symbolic, but circling wat is really on her mind. Meanwhile the boyfreind is talking about going on a road trip for the summer, and seeing the country - freedom symbols. The subtext tells everything, but the words themselves seem trivial. This is the power of dialogue.
Just something I was wondering about. Do you think it is possible to write a successful and readable short story (novel is unrealistic) that has no dialouge between the characters. Or is dialouge of such importance that although it could in theory be done, the story would not read properly without it.
I don't see why not. I have written a few without dialogue between characters, but they do contain internal dialogue.
The novel I'm attempting now has a couple werewolf characters, including the protagonist, and thus there can be no spoken dialogue during large chunks of the book. Besides internal dialogue, the characters are also revealed through actions and nonverbal communication. It seems to be working.
You can definitely pull it off, especially if it's the type of short story where there's only one main character. However, make sure you're not just describing action (readers should be able to be, not see, the character)
It certainly is possible even for a novel. One book that comes to mind is The Incredible Journey where the only dialogue is the very beginning with the master to his animals and the end when they find their masters. The rest is actions and internal dialogue if I remember correctly.
I've read a fair few short stories without dialogue that have been enjoyable, and a good read, so it's definitely possible to write a good short story without dialogue.
