How to write good dialogue

Absolutely they do. Some of my favorite stories are about mentally ill people doing hilarious things. And since I have mental disorders, I can relate to the stories too.

 

Good - I hate taking things seriously. Laughter is therapy, and smiling is our defence against all evils of the world

Besides, I'm British. If we couldn't take the piss out of things we'd probably have nothing left to say

 

I do agree. I do really get tired of writing dialogue. Mostly because it happens in my head first, so it feels repetitive in my head. But also because more of life IS about interactions through actions not conversations.

 

Your characters do not have to have a personality disorder in order to have functional little dialogue in the story... I think it very much depends on what kind of story it is. For instance I am writing a story right now that is split into two different scenarios: There is one sister who is sleeping and dreaming and whenever I write about her and her surroundings it is more about her own mind than anything else therefore there is almost no dialogue at all, and if there is it is probably just the memory of a dialogue she had in the past. Whenever I write about the other sister however; who is awake I do write alot of dialogues and there is also alot more action in her life.
A problem that I am working on regarding dialouges is that I find it hard to use regular dialogues, I want my dialouges to have a purpose that leads to some kind of growth with the characters and therefore I might be pushing the dialogues to be rather unlikely at times...

 

btw, sb, 'dialogue' is a collective noun, so isn't used in the plural form when referring to your various characters' 'dialogue'... it may be different in norwegian...

 

All of my writing is almost entirely dialogue. It reads more like a play than a book. How do I get around this?

 

wow, to me that sounds great, not like a huge problem. I have even seen shorter novels with only dialogue, so I don't think you have to worry much. Write it until finished and then look for where you can/need to insert a little narrative to break it up. what kind of stories is it that you write? Short stories? novels?

 

I'd do some thinking about what the storyline is and where the plot's going, and I'd see whether I'm trying to make the dialogue carry the story along. Generally, dialogue should be used to reveal characterization, and to show interactions between characters. Don't give dialogue more jobs than it can take on -- things like showing conflict and moving the story forward can be accomplished by description. You can also break up dialogue by showing what the characters are doing while they're talking. Most times, we do not just sit motionless and talk -- we're washing dishes, we're looking out the window, we're trying to get the kids to be quiet.

Alternately, you could turn your work into a play.

 

I don't like plays too much. But the rest of your advice is great. Thanks.

I guess you could say I write books. But its more like I start them. I always get frustrated with myself and stop.

 

You are missing description.

Write what is going on around your characters and what they are doing.

 

If you feel like it might be too much dialogue, go with your gut feeling; you might be right. Read your dialogue again. Do you really need it all? Often I write way too much dialogue at first, but then cut it down to the bare minimum amount that still gets my ideas across.

But really, it all depends on the scene. Some scenes require more dialogue, some none at all.

 

Was going to post this exactly but Joanna beat me to the punch.

I sometimes have the same problem, and I've found that action cues break up the dialogue nicely and also give the reader a more vivid description of what's going on.

 

I have worked so much at putting dialogue in my stories, I feel the same way as you! Do that first, and then backtrack and think about how you can describe the people, reactions and setting more to clarify what you mean. I also have been thinking my stories could easily become plays because of the amount of dialogue. I personally like reading stories though that have more dialogue than less. I learned to show through dialogue more than anything, so I think it's definitely a good thing!

 

Dialogue is often the backbone of my scenes and the thing I first write down. I have to go back and add the where, how, what... I will pick one thing, maybe smell, and see if I can add that to the scene and then pick something else and so forth.

 

Most of my writing is dialogue and description. Once i fit the setting with the story perfectly, that's where my action scenes come in.

 

Write plays?

Writing doesn't need to conform to a set standard.

 

Try writing a couple of practice scenes where there is no dialogue at all, but one or more characters in the scene; have them interacting with just body language, or whatever. Don't labour it, though: if it's a really dramatic scene there's no reason people wouldn't talk unless they were mute. Perhaps find a scenario where people would be silent, forced or not.

 

I am currently formatting my first novel and am having a few teething problems with dialogue. My main concern is regarding whether or not you ALWAYS begin a new line/para at the end of each spoken sentence. I understand that it would go as follows:

'It's too cold,' I said.
The wind howled outside the window.
'I know,' Joe replied.

But, in first person narrative, if you carry on describing the conversation/speech, would you continue straight on from the dialogue or begin a new line? I.e. would it be:

'I'm not good enough.'
I try to finish this last part with a laugh but I can't even pretend I find this funny.
'Yes you are.'

Or

'I'm not good enough.' I try to finish this last part with a laugh but I can't even pretend I find this funny.
'Yes you are.'

Similarly would it be:

I take a deep breath.
'I love you,' I said.

Or

I take a deep breath. 'I love you,' I said.

If someone could shed some light, I'd really appreciate it! Many thanks.

 

You've got it right in your "Or" examples: generally just put the new line between different people's dialogue, then if someone's doing a lot of talking broken up with narrative, refer to other paragraphing rules such as starting new paragraphs when they reach a new topic. Or if the narrative covers a new topic in the middle of the two bits of speech even if they're by the same person.

It looks neater and less confusing to put action and dialogue by one person on the same line, particularly if they're talking to someone else, because you don't need to put in as many speech tags (he/she said and variants) since the action on the same line is doing the job for you.

 

so far so good... but for further info/affirmation, just check out how successful authors handle dialog...

 

Are you writing for a UK market? If so, the single quotes are okay. However, if you are writing for a US market, dialogue should be enclosed in double quotes.

This may help: He said, she said - Mechanics of Dialogue

 

Thanks for your advice. Yes, I am writing for a UK market.

 

On a prior thread a poster said it best when he or she wrote of 'beats' -- snippets of action to punctuate segments of dialogue. If an action was between or after in the same paragraph as dialogue, then those things are grouped, occurring together and consequentially. When there is a line break, then the consequence is broken and a new string begins. Consider the difference between a scientist carrying on a conversation while manipulating his experiment, turning nobs, adjusting dials, making notes. It would all group together. Yet consider a sparse conversation over a long period of time in which many utterances are left dangling and in between are actions like looking out a window, fidgeting, staring, or even a door slamming by the wind startling them both. Breaking all this up with line breaks would create the desired effect.
[I mean indents]

 

line breaks?... are you sure you don't mean just indents?

 

You only need to have a new line (or start a new paragraph) when a different person speaks. That is, according to the most recent fashion. In the old days, it wasn't necessary to break up the paragraphs like this. Paragraphs were often much longer, although they still tended to go by the one main idea, one paragraph 'rule'.

Your example here is correct for nowadays:
'It's too cold,' I said.
The wind howled outside the window.
'I know,' Joe replied. (different line for every speaker and description which is not directly related to a speaker)
But in novels published only, say, 25 years ago you can see:
'It's too cold,' I said. The wind howled outside the window. 'I know,' Joe replied. (all one paragraph--which is about this one particular conversation)
Your example:
I take a deep breath.
'I love you,' I said. (no, here a new line is not needed because the same person is breathing and then speaking. You might want to start a new line, though, to give the greater feeling that the speaking comes a bit later after the breath)
So:
I take a deep breath. 'I love you,' I said. (is fine, if the action/words are one right after the other)
But in this situation:
He took a deep breath.
'I love you,' I said. (the breather and speaker are different so they are on different lines--according to newer writing conventions)

P.S. Paragraphs still tend to be longer in British writing than in US novels. Just saying. I'm not suggesting one particular style is superior to another--check out examples of the market you are aiming for and adjust your work accordingly. Remember that short paragraphs are often less demanding for the reader.
P.P.S. Some UK magazines specify double inverted commas for dialogue, but if not otherwise specified, go with the normal single inverted commas for the UK. E.G. Mills and Boon specifies single inverted commas for the Richmond office, double for subs to the US.