Hi dear writers, I read this advice somewhere: Avoid dialog tags if you can and use actions instead. Have your character do things during the dialog. How do you brainstorm to find these actions or activities that a character could do during the dialog?
I read books that focus on characters and relationships. Romance novels are great for this kind of study. Then, I do a little de-contructing of passages that I like. I also watch movies and TV shows that focues on characters and dialog. Sitcoms are great for this and dramas too. I'm conscious of the characters and scenes I'm planning and try to watch shows with those elements. For example, Gilmore Girls is a great example of people stepping on each other sentences and talking over each other. You're not going to get dialog like that in a sci fi show. Godspeed!
It's something that doesn't come naturally to me yet. I'll fall into the talking heads thing if I'm not careful. But, I'm a pretty visual person, so it's really just a matter of picturing the scene. It helps if the conversation is going on alongside something else. I scanned a scene in my wip for examples, where the mcs have just gotten up and are getting ready to head out - one rubs at his eyes, clears his throat, stretches, frowns and squints because he's not awake enough to understand what the other mc is talking about, and the other is working on lacing up their boots and then getting their bag and coat. I like planning conversations around props where someone will have a glass or whatever else to move or gesture with or use, but I think it can get kind of obvious if overdone. Still, it's not a bad route. I also think about nonverbal communication. We get a lot of information and context in conversations from expressions, so I find it really helpful to pay attention to that stuff - there are these things called micro-expressions that are especially interesting to me, because I'm largely completely blind to them if I'm not really looking. We mostly process them subconsciously, so doing some reading about them might be helpful to you too. There's also just not using tags/beats at all. Not typically sustainable for long stretches, but definitely good in bites.
Hi Stormburn, Thanks for your answer and tips. True, in SF you don't have people stepping on each other sentences and talking over each other. Unless there is an emergency in the spaceship, maybe. I never saw the Gilmore Girls but should give it a try.
I wouldn't ride that horse off the cliff. A mix of both tags and beats is good. Too many beats can get super annoying. The reader will start to wonder why the character's can't seem to speak without twirling their hair, crossing their arms, picking their nose, or feeding more power into the hyperdrive. Tags are invisible if done correctly. The actions work best if they're interesting or unusual. Mundane actions--like washing the dishes or driving a car--don't add much more than beats for the sake of beats. It's hard to brainstorm actions because anything the characters are doing has to be contextual to the scene. You can't have two characters skinning a deer (for example) while they're at work in an office somewhere. Or playing backgammon while fighting off zombies in a mall.
Hi Izzybot, Same here. I am pretty good at creating an interesting dialog (at least I think so) but the action in between also does not yet come natural to me. I could have one do the dishes during the dialog and her emotion could be shown how rough she handles the expensive China. My dialog flows but as I said, the actions in between don't come easy to me and are slowing me down. I am looking at your activities between the dialog: one rubs at his eyes, clears his throat, stretches, frowns and squints because he's not awake enough to understand what the other mc is talking about, and the other is working on lacing up their boots and then getting their bag and coat. IMO, it is not bad at all. Repetition is what I fear with my actions in between dialog. How can I avoid it? Thanks for pointing out micro expressions. I notice them quite frequently in real life but haven't thought of using them in my writing! (Slapping on my forehead!) It is a great idea not just to concentrate on the big emotions but on the little signs.
LOL. Yes, there is a lot of twirling their hair, crossing their arms, picking their nose, or feeding more power into the hyperdrive in books, Homer. I don't like fillers in dialog either but my mind is on the big story, and the small actions in the dialog are like roadblocks for me. I know I can use he said a bit but it bothers me personally if I read it often. Are you sure about: "You can't have two characters skinning a deer (for example) while they're at work in an office somewhere. Or playing backgammon while fighting off zombies in a mall." Would be interesting stories.
I think writing dialogue is one of my strengths - at least it's where I feel the most comfortable - and to me it's as simple as imaging the conversation in real life. If, for instance, you have a couple having an argument, it would seem odd to have one of them playing the piano at the time. Just picture the conversation in your head and then have them do the kinds of thing they would in real life. I have to say I'm also with @Homer Potvin. The advice you've read seems odd to me. I don't mind the odd beat, but as a reader I'm far more interested in what they're saying during a dialogue, not doing. Also remember, if it's a simple two-way dialogue, you hardly need tags or beats at all.
I'd have said its not great advice per se - there's nothing wrong with tags so long as you don't over do them "that aside think of the things you'd do during a conversation" Moose took a sip of his coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste "oh I see" said brigid "so it could be anything then ?" "Pretty much" Moose scratched his balls absently
"The other thing is that it needs to be in keeping with character" Moose paused to slap Matt with a wet halibut "or setting." "The words you use as beats can convey a certain.. " Moose gestured " Atmosphere or attitude, and once you've established that mood you don't necessarily need beats or tags to identify distinctive dialogue, to whit:" "Donde está el refigerador, me encantan sus pequeños cubos de hielo" Wrey looked up from rolling his 15th joint of the night "Man you're so so embarrassing when you're fried" Moose grinned, wrey had stopped making sense five or six blunts ago "Ella es la que amo, su frialdad" "Dude, seriously"
I'm sorry @big soft moose, I don't mean to be personal. I'm very rigorous in prose. I'm sorry also about the supermarket, that was facetious, and only half-true. I'm sorry. As well, what beach were you on during eclipse?
I pay attention to other people. Unless people are dead, they are ding something. What do you do during a conversation? Do you sit & stare at the other person with your hands in your lap? No. When you are wih your family or in public; what do people do when talking?
So what? Sometimes I want them to race through the words, stay in their own minds, and not see people scratching noses. Both ways are valid enough.
People also take a crap every now and then, but few writers bother telling us this. I know that sounds facetious, but the point is beats and tags are not always necessary. I was going to say check out Cormac McCarthy's The Road for evidence of this, but after what happened last time I took part in a discussion about this book, I better not.
in a two character scene beats and tags are only necessary occasionally as its generally clear who's talking... however in a multi person scene they are needed more (though not on every line if the characters have an individual voice) to sign post who is saying what to whom
You are correct. Maybe a better way to say it is tags are for run-of-the-mill actors, actions are for method actors. I have a partial story in the Horror section of the Workshop that uses quite a bit of action instead of tags. They come naturally to me because I pay attention to people. I don't watch people crap, so if I tried to describe it I would probably be lacking in variety of methods of sitting, cleaning, etc. I did watch a fascinating documentary once about crapping around the world in different cultures.
Ideally, any beats would do their share of carrying the scene. One of my characters is thoroughly manipulative, so I can think through his actions the way that he would--he will deliberately signal interest, approval, disapproval, etc., through body language. And he'll pay close attention to the body language of whoever he's with. But there are all sorts of other ways that actions can communicate, either to the reader or to other characters. The new and uncertain employee trying to get his table manners just right at lunch. The subordinate wife "fixing a plate" for her husband, and his nonverbal criticism when she gets it wrong. The child happily playing with his mashed potato volcano, while the child's parent tries to simultaneously make them cut it out and maintain a conversation with other adults. Yeah, those are all about food, but the general principle works.
There is no substitute for envisioning the scene as clearly as if you were watching a movie. Take your time. What do the faces look like, in terms of expression? Are they standing close to each other? Do they seem calm? Nervous? What's the interplay like? If you take time to watch as well as listen, and feel the emotions of your POV character and share their thoughts about what is happening, you shouldn't need to stick in nose-picking and ear scratching. The purpose of beats isn't to break up the dialogue. The purpose is to give us a visual picture of what's happening as the dialogue is being spoken. If there are pauses in the conversation, let that happen. If there are changes in tone of voice, let that happen. Remember, we have NO visuals whatsoever other than what you put in. So make it real. If you have any doubts about how to do that, take some time to read books you like and see how those authors handled the dialogue passages.
OurJud, originally, I was thinking that too. Most interesting is what the characters have to say, but I enjoy reading how some authors web actions the dialog. It might not be necessary but imo it ads often to the atmosphere. Unfortunately, it doesn't come as easy to me as the dialog itself.
big soft moose, I am getting your point but not how these actions within the dialog come to you. Okay, they take place somewhere. The setting where the conversation takes place might help, but I have to slow down each time and I find myself thinking. Would could I have the characters do while chatting?
