The Seven Year Speech: Tips for Writing Dialogue in Fiction

I have a love-hate relationship with writing dialogue. Some days I skip over it and other days it's all I want to write. I've been looking for some tips on writing and improving my dialogue and this is what I've gathered so far. Hope some of you find it helpful and please, share any tips you may have too!

Read it!

Always read your writing aloud – you want to make sure that it sounds realistic. Would you actually say something like this in real life? Try to make dialogue sound as natural as possible. Watch out for clichés and oddly archaic sounding conversation bits. Delete unnecessary dialogue, superfluous or filler words, phrases, descriptions, repetitive information that a character may say to clarify a scene or setting (The action in your story should be sufficient to fulfill the imagination of your readers so that they can visualize the scene at hand.) On a similar note, when in doubt, use a VERB. “Verbs are our friends.” Ask yourself: Do my characters sound natural or forced? Are they coherent or all over the place?

Read More!

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, reading can be a great research tool. Look carefully at the dialogue used in other works of fiction and how it effectively fits into a scene, character description, relationship, etc. Ask yourself: Why was it used where it was placed in the story? What was effective about it? What was not effective about it? Could you have written it any differently?

 

Vary word choice.

You don’t want your dialogue to read like this: He said. She Said. She was going to say. He’d said out loud by accident. If he hadn’t said that, he would have said this. Use profanity and slang as little as possible – also be wary of stereotyping. Ask yourself: Is my dialogue active or passive? What makes this word choice better than another? Can I replace any of my dialogue with description? Or a more concrete statement/question/exclamation, etc.?

Congruency

You also want to be cognizant of the relationship between what your character is saying, their personality and the situation. Would your character truly say something like she just did? Or would it be better fit for another character to make such an exclamation? Ask yourself: Does my dialogue have fluency? Is it varied in its rhythm in accord with the story’s tone and setting?

Punctuation

Be wary of punctuation! Don’t go comma crazy. You almost never need exclamation points – the dialogue should infer the expression on its own (and if it doesn’t, think about revising.) Delete any (and ALL) unnecessary dialogue tags. Also, beware of excessive dialogue modifiers (many times you can just put dialogue in quotes with no “she said, he cried, she exclaimed, he pondered,” etc. etc. Ask yourself: Am I punctuating my dialogue correctly? Or am I confusing my reader with commas, apostrophes and tag lines all over the page?

Naming

Do you ever notice that you almost NEVER say another person’s name back to them in casual speech? Try not to have characters use another character’s name in speech to establish identity. If this is necessary in your dialogue, remember, it is most often typical of characters, such as car salesmen. When editing (see below) ask yourself: Are your characters are so individualized by their speech that you don’t even need to use things like “Joanne said.”?

Edit, edit, edit!

I have read over and over (and over) again that the delete key on your computer’s keyboard is your friend. Simplify, combine, make more concrete and clean up your dialogue. You will likely be surprised to find that you can say the same thing in half the amount of words you originally wrote. Ask yourself: What is the purpose for the dialogue here? Does it advance my story? Reveal something new about a character? Does it provide other important information? (Hint: Here are four reasons for dialogue: To convey exposition - to tell us, through the conversations of the characters, what we need to know to make sense of the story; to convey character - to show us what kinds of people we're dealing with; to convey a sense of place and time - to evoke the speech patterns, vocabulary and rhythms of specific kinds of people; and finally, to develop conflict: to show how some people use language to dominate others, or fail to do so.)

I found a web site that has some great (and fun) exercises that are applicable to the art of writing dialogue for fiction. My personal favorites are #1, 2, 4 and 10. If you happen to try any of these, feel free to post the exercise in my comments section. I’d love to see how your interpretation of the dialogue practice turns out!

Please see below for details of refer to their site:

http://www.poewar.com/12-exercises-for-improving-dialogue/

1 Write down the things you say over the course of the day. Examine your own speech patterns. You don’t have to get every word, but you may find that you say less than you think and that your statements are surprisingly short. You might also find that you rarely speak in complete sentences.



2 Find a crowded place such as a restaurant, a bar, or a shopping mall and write down snippets of the conversations you hear. Avoid trying to record whole conversations, just follow along for a brief exchange and then listen for your next target. If you are worried about looking suspicious, you might want to purchase a Palm Pilot, Handspring Visor or other hand-held PDA device. These handy spy tools make it look like you are conducting business or playing with your favorite electronic toy rather than eavesdropping.



3 Test responses to the same question. Think of a question that will require at least a little thought, and ask it of several different people. Compare their responses. Remember that you are focused on their words. Write them down as soon as you can.



4 Record several different TV shows. Some choices include: sitcom, news, drama, talk show, infomercial, sporting event, etc.). Write down a transcript using just the dialog and people’s names. If you don’t know the names, just use a description such as announcer or redheaded woman. You can also transcribe two shows of the same genre, using one show you like and one you dislike. Compare dialog between the fiction and non-fiction programming you recorded. Look for such things as greetings, descriptions of physical actions, complete sentences, slang, verbal ticks (Such as like, you know, uhhhh, well, etc.). Compare how these dialog crutches change according to the show format and quality.



5 Rewrite one or more of the shows in exercise 4 as prose, trying to recreate the show as accurately as possible. Note how easy or difficult it is to work in the entire dialog from the show. Does it seem to flow naturally and read well or does it get in your way. Rewrite again eliminating any dialog you feel is unnecessary. Try not to change any dialog though until your final draft. Work with what you have. Remember that you don’t necessarily have to rewrite the whole show. Do enough to be sure you have the feeling for it.



6 Rewrite one of the transcripts from exercise 4 using as much of the dialog as possible, but changing the scene in as many ways as possible. Change the setting, change the people’s intent, and change the tone. See how easy or difficult it is to give the same words a different intent. Again, do enough to be sure you have the feeling for it.



7 Write the dialog for a scene without using any modifiers. Just write down a conversation as it goes along naturally. After you have completed the dialog, add narrative description, but not dialog tags such as said, shouted or ordered. Instead, try to work the dialog into the action as a logical progression of the statements. Finally, add any dialog tags that are absolutely necessary, and keep them simple such as said, told, or asked. Again, only put them in if you can find not other options. Compare this to the previous dialog you have written and see what you like or dislike about the changes.



8 Write a scene in which one person tells another person a story. Make sure that you write it as a dialog and not just a first person narrative, but clearly have one person telling the story and the other person listening and asking questions or making comments. The purpose of this scene will be both to have the story stand alone as a subject, and to have the characters’ reactions to the story be the focal point of the scene.


9 Write a scene in which one person is listening to two other people have an argument or discussion. For example, a child listening to her parents argue about money. Have the third character narrate the argument and explain what is going on, but have the other two provide the entire dialog. It is not necessary to have the narrator understand the argument completely. Miscommunication is a major aspect of dialog.



10 Write a conversation between two liars. Give everything they say a double or triple meaning. Never state or indicate through outside description that these two people are lying. Let the reader figure it out strictly from the dialog. Try not to be obvious, such as having one person accuse the other of lying. That is too easy.



11 Write a conversation in which no character speaks more than three words per line of dialog. Again, avoid crutches such as explaining everything they say through narration. Use your narration to enhance the scene, not explain the dialog.



12 Write a narrative or scripted scene in which several characters are taking an active role in the conversation. This can be a difficult aspect of dialog to master, because with each additional character, the reader or audience must be able to keep track of the motivations and interests of the individuals involved. This can be especially difficult in prose, where the time between one character speaking and the next can be interrupted by action or description. See how many characters your can sustain within the scene and still have it make sense and be engaging.



I will be looking more closely at the dialogue written in the books I am currently reading and I plan to provide a follow-up post to this one on dialogue soon thereafter. If you have any suggestions for books that you’ve noticed to be extremely well-versed in the art of writing dialogue, please let me know here (either with, title and/or author, or even better yet, with an example of some of the dialogue written).






As always, thanks for reading and Happy Writing!

I Wannabe A Chick Lit Writer: How Do You Do It? Some How-To’s From Some of My Favorite Authors

I know what you're going to say: writers write and wannabes talk about it. Well, I agree but can't I do both? My analytic mind loves research and my creative mind loves imagination, so while I'm crafting my story in my head and on print, I also like to seek out the brilliance of others and their great works of fiction at times. I figure it's a good activity to do when my eyes are burning from writing the details of my plot or when it's like my mind is running through a maze chasing after character after character. I also admit, I just like to find out the latest and greatest and the tried and true from some of my favorite authors. Like how does Emily Giffin create such wonderful characters that every time I read one of her books, I get so lost in their lives that I constantly have to remind myself that it is just fiction; Rachel and Darcy are not real. So until I can get my very first interview with one of the many fabulous chick lit writers of our world, I will be posting tips, ideas, suggestions and opinions from a variety of sources that I have collected over the years. (If you would be willing to answer some of my questions on how to be a writer and just life, in general, please please please do not hesitate to email me at cgraceh at gmail dot com.) I would love to have you on my site! (Yes, you!)

Some Tips (And Opinions) from Jennifer Weiner, Author of Good in Bed:

(Abridged slightly (please don't  take offense) for the purposes of my blog. Please click on link below for the complete hilarity of Ms. Weiner's original post.)

Well, there's no one path to take. Novelists come in all shapes and sizes. They're men and women, wunderkinds and retirees. Some of them are very attractive. The rest of us resent them horribly. And if there was a single magic bullet, or a list of steps to follow that would guarantee publication, believe me, someone would have published it by now. What follows is just my take on the question - a completely idiosyncratic, opinionated, flawed and somewhat sassy take on some of the steps you can take to get published. Important caveat: I have only written two books, and I'm thirty-two, which, as my mother would hasten to point out, means I am probably not qualified to give advice to anyone about anything. If you're looking for lessons from the life masters - people who've made long careers in the world of fiction - then run, do not walk, to your local bookshop and buy Stephen King's On Writing and Anne Lamott's utterly indispensable Bird by Bird, and Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings and Ursula LeGuin's Steering the Craft.

If you want my advice, read on (and if you've already written your book and just want to figure out how to get it published, skip ahead to Step 8).

1. The Unhappy Childhood

Why do unhappy kids grow up to be writers? I think because being an outsider - a geek, a dweeb, a weirdo, a smart, mouthy girl or boy who just doesn't fit in - means that you're naturally equipped for observing life carefully. You're not on the inside, you're on the outside - and nobody's a more careful, dedicated observer of life than a kid or teenager who's trying to figure out how to finally fit in with the in-crowd.

Also (and this is totally my own take on things, unproven by any kind of study or research), but I think that kids whose parents are divorced, separated, single, or otherwise un-Cleaver-ish might have a slight edge over those who grew up in happily-married homes.

2. The Miserable Love Life

Again, a crucial ingredient for the formation of a novelist - romantic humiliation and heartbreak. The unhappy childhood gives you the tools of observation. Unrequited crushes, romantic despair, a few memorable break-ups, will give you something to write about, an understanding of grief. No prospect of heartbreak in sight? I can provide phone numbers upon request. Now that our would-be novelist has survived high school, heartbreak, and perhaps her parents' divorce, it's time to talk higher education. My advice?

3. Major in Liberal Arts (but not necessarily creative writing)

Why? Because a liberal arts education, whether you're studying history or anthropology or political science or English, teaches how to read, how to write, and how to reason. Once you've got the foundation of a liberal arts education - you know how to think. And in order to write, you have to be able to make sense of the landscape of the world. In order to be any kind of artistic innovator, you have to understand everything that came before you. And a liberal arts education gives you a framework in which to place your own experiences, a context you can use to look at everything else, a framework that any writer needs.

4. Get a Job (not an MFA)

This is pretty controversial, but I think if you want to be a writer, you're probably going to be better served by going to work (or by traveling, if you've got the financial wherewithal to do so). Best piece of advice ever - go into journalism. "You'll see a different part of the world. You'll meet all kinds of people. You'll be writing every day, on deadline" - which, of course, turned out to be invaluable when it came time to write fiction. Best of all, you'll be getting paid to write, instead of paying someone to tell you that you can. And if you can't be a journalist, or aren't inclined, or can't get hired? Go do something that's going to take you out of your comfort zone, putting you in contact with different kinds of people, perhaps in a different part of the world. You're looking for challenges, for adventure, for new faces and new places. Plus, if you've followed Part Two of this plan, you're most likely single, and will want to get out of town anyhow.

"But if I got an MFA, I'd get to spend two years just concentrating on my writing!" True. But remember: a writer writes, whether or not she's in school for writing.

5. Write to Please Yourself

Tell the story that's been growing in your heart, the characters you can't keep out of your head, the tale story that speaks to you, that pops into your head during your daily commute, that wakes you up in the morning. Don't write something just because you think it will sell, or fit into the pigeonhole du jour. Tell the story you want to tell, and worry about how to sell it later (more advice on that to come). And also…

6. Get a Dog

Okay, you're thinking, what does getting a dog have to do with becoming a writer? More than you'd think. Writing is about talent and creativity, but it's also about discipline - about the ability to sit yourself down in that seat, day after day, often after eight hours of work, and make yourself do it, day after day, even if you're not getting published yet, even if you're not getting paid. It's a form of training that's as much physical as mental in nature - you sit down, you do the writing, no matter what distractions are out there, no matter that you're tired or bored or uninspired.

Being a dog owner requires a similar form of discipline. You wake up every morning. You walk the dog. You do this whether you're tired, depressed, broke, hung over, or have been recently dumped. You do it. And while you're walking, you're thinking about plot, or characters, or that tricky bit of dialogue that's had you stumped for days. You're out in the fresh air. Your legs are moving. Your dog is sniffing the butts of other dogs. It gives you a routine, a physical rhythm, a loyal companion, and a way to meet new people when you're in a new place. It gets your body used to doing the same thing at the same time - and if you're walking the dog for half an hour at the same time of every day, it's an easy step to go sit in front of the computer and create for half an hour at the same time every day.

7. Get Published

If you want to be a writer, you've got to bear the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (not to mention evil reader reviews on amazon.com). You've got to put your stuff out there for the world to see, and fall in love with, or revile. In short, you've got to get published.

If you're trying to sell a short story - and this is where I'd recommend you start - you can just be Joe or Jane Schmoe, with a great short story and a killer cover letter, and you can get published. I sold my first story to Seventeen magazine - one of the shrinking number of mass-market magazines that still publishes fiction. No agent. I just printed up my story, wrote a cover letter saying who I was and what I'd done, and mailed it off, and was thrilled and delighted a few months later when I got a phone call….and, eventually, a check. Eventually, you get started on the story you want to tell - your novel. You finish said novel. Finally, it's time to….

8. Find an Agent

Agents want to find you just as badly as you want to find them.

Think about it. How do agents get paid? By selling stuff to publishers. How do they find the things to sell that are going to make them money? By referrals, by word of mouth, and, in many cases, including the case of my agent, from people they've never heard of before who basically just wandered in off the street. They're looking for the next Grisham, the next Susan Isaacs, the next Tony Hillerman, because if they find that person, they're going to get paid. It's as simple as that.

Step one: I spent a day in the bookstore, and in my own shelves, going through the books that in some way resembled GOOD IN BED, making careful note of the names of agents (and agents are almost always thanked in the acknowledgements, so it's not like it's some big secret).

Step two: I availed myself of one of the many fine guides to literary agencies available, that lists contact names, addresses, websites and phone numbers and whether the agencies will even consider unsolicited material (most will, some won't). The Literary Marketplace publishes a yearly guide to agents. This can be your guide.

Step three: I put together a list of about thirty agencies, places that represented writers sort of like me who were willing to consider unsolicited manuscripts.

Step four: I wrote a kick-ass cover letter. It began with a paragraph from the opening pages from GOOD IN BED, ending with the line where Cannie reads the phrase "Loving a Larger Woman" and realizes, with a sinking heart and M&Ms stuck to her teeth, that the larger woman is her. It went on to say who I was, and what I'd done - that I'd published short stories in Seventeen and Redbook and written non-fiction pieces for Mademoiselle and Salon.com. It said that I was currently a staff writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer, that I'd finished my novel, and was seeking representation. I sent off about two dozen of these cover letters, sat back, and waited.

Step five: Believe that the good agents are out there, and with enough hard work and self-addressed stamped envelopes, you will find the one who's right for you.

Which leads to an important point…

9. Be a Smart Consumer

A good agent will readily discuss who she's worked with, at which houses, and what percentage of your earnings you can expect to share with her. Most importantly, a good agent should have a plan - a vision not just for your book, but for your career -- that sounds and feels right to you, the author.

10. Read

Read everything. Read fiction and non-fiction, read hot best sellers and the classics you never got around to in college. Read men, read women, read travel guides and Harlequins and epic poetry and cookbooks and cereal boxes, if you're desperate. Get the rhythm of good writing in your ears. Cram your head with characters and stories. Abuse your library privileges. Never stop looking at the world, and never stop reading to find out what sense other people have made of it. If people give you a hard time and tell you to get your nose out of a book, tell them you're working. Tell them it's research. Tell them to pipe down and leave you alone.

So that's all I've got in the way of advice. As always, feel free to email me with follow-up questions. Take care, and happy writing!

http://www.jenniferweiner.com/forwriters.htm

Top 5 Writing Tips From Hester Browne, Author of The Little Lady Agency

1. Don’t base characters on real people, or attempt to exact revenge for any heartbreaks, personal slights, or family feuds. At best, the writing will be too painful for anyone else to read; at worst, it will be published, and you’ll have to deal with it.

2. Read as much as you can, in as many genres as you can. Even bad books can teach you something (why was the pace wrong? Why didn’t the love story feel true? Why did you get bored?)

3. Pace yourself for the long haul. Lots of people start writing novels, then lose interest and energy. You should be aiming for 90,000 words minimum for a mainstream novel; slightly less for a Mills & Boon or Little Black Dress romance. Try to set yourself a deadline and work backwards from that – what’s an achievable weekly word count?

4. Write the novel you want to read; if you’re not excited about it, and anxious to know what happens next for your characters, your reader won’t be either. If you’re not excited, ask yourself why – is it predictable? Turn it around – think of the worst thing that could possibly happen to your heroine, then do it.

5. Think twice to avoid clichés. It’s easy to write on autopilot, or mirror Characters You Have Loved Before. Be honest: is your heroine’s mother a control freak who’s desperate for grandchildren? Does she max out her credit cards? Is she, in fact, Becky Bloomwood/Bridget Jones/Bella Swann?

**A very funny (and genuinely instructive) book to read is How Not to Write a Novel If You Ever Want to Get Published, by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman. They’re agents. They’ve seen it all.

http://www.novelicious.com/

Top 5 Writing Tips From Martel Maxwell, Author of Scandalous

1. Finish it. Yes it’s a mammoth task but if you really want it, just do it.

2. Believe your story is worth telling. Readers are going to laugh, cry or be inspired by your writing. They are.

3. Live life fully to have great experiences and characters that influence your novel.

4. Find what works for you – getting away to write alone, making your home your writing place – whatever it may be, figure it out and apply it.

5. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. If someone doesn’t like your novel, that’s fine but it’s only their opinion. Move on, keep knocking on doors like there’s no tomorrow. Hustle. It’s worth a fight and it will happen

http://www.novelicious.com/

7 writing tips from authors Sarah Mlynowski & Farrin Jacobs, Authors of See Jane Write:

1. Be true to yourself as a writer - and a human being. “If you pretend to be someone you’re not, your writing voice will sound forced,” write Mlynowski and Jacobs. Create a world you understand, that you naturally gravitate towards. Jacobs writes, “I’ve gotten tons of manuscripts from older women trying to sound like 25 year old hipsters, recent college grads trying to affect the voice of a hardened career girl, and women who’ve never spent a day in New York City trying to work the attitude of a grizzled Manhattanite. Sure, some people can pull off these hat tricks, but I’m here to tell you that most can’t.”

2. Always have your wit about you. Showing your sense of humor is key to writing chick lit – and sprinkling any piece of writing with bits of wit makes it more interesting and memorable. Successfully writing humor is difficult, and requires practice, practice, practice! For help, read How to Make Your Writing Edgy and Quirky.

3. There’s a fine line between clever and catty. “So much of chick lit is centered around revenge and spite, but you have to earn that for your character,” write Mlynowski and Jacobs. I didn’t know revenge and spite are keys to writing chick lit – and I can’t recall many books that revolve around those qualities – but their point is sound. Aim for edgy and quirky writing…but don’t get caught in the “catty” trap!

4. Remember that good writing isn’t as easy as it reads. Whether you’re writing chick lit, your third novel, or your 33rd article this year – good writing is hard work and requires mountains of discipline. This “chick lit writing tip” applies to all successful writers, published or not, famous or not.

5. Make sure it feels right. “Don’t keep working on a story or with a character you hate writing,” write Mlynowski and Jacobs in See Jane Write. “We’re not saying that every time you hit a rough patch you should give up. Au contraire – you need to write through that.” Writing is hard work, but it shouldn’t be something you dread. Write about topics you enjoy, that feel natural (because the more you write, the more your writing skills will improve).

6. Commit yourself to writing your book. Again, this “chick lit writing tip” applies to all genres of writing! If you’ve finally generated a brilliant plot, character, article idea, or book topic – then commit to that idea and start writing. If you struggle with self-discipline, read Tips for Staying Motivated to Write.

7. Be prepared for rejection. This is a key writing tip because rejection is part of every writer’s work: “If you give up at the first rejection, then you’re selling your book – and yourself – short,” write Mlynowski and Jacobs. “Sometimes the best thing to do is take whatever advice was given in your rejection letter and rework that manuscript; in other cases, you might want to start something brand new and come back to the first story later.” Another key to writing in any genre is to learn how to fail and bounce back from rejection as a writer.

“The single most important element of your chick lit novel is your main character,” say Mlynowski and Jacobs. I think character is the most important element of most novels, articles, and even nonfiction books. If readers don’t care about a character or topic, they won’t stick with the book or article…and neither will literary agents, editors, or publishers.

Various Quotes on Writing from some Pretty Published Ladies of the Genre:

I never bother to structure a book. And the worst thing you can do is to concentrate on plot at the expense of the characters. As long as the characters live and breathe, not an awful lot need happen. Don’t get too complex. ~ Freya North is the author of Home Truths

If a book is good enough it can break any rule. It’s important to create a fictional world that people want to be in for whatever reason. I avoid extended “biological” sex scenes. Unless they’re done brilliantly, they can be a bit cringe-making to read, let alone write! ~ Sophie Kinsella’s Mini Shopaholic is out later this year

Women should write from the heart, and because they can’t not write. I don’t think that there is a chick-lit formula: you come across some heroines like Bridget Jones, but mine tend to be bitches. Entertain yourself, and don’t ever imagine your mother reading your book. ~ Adele Parks, author of Young Wives’ Tales

When it comes to women’s fiction, critics have a condescension chromosome. The demeaning label chick-lit says it all. While male authors such as Nick Hornby, who also write contemporary comic fiction satirizing the sex war are hailed as the new Chekhov, you will be dismissed as having undergone some kind of DIY lobotomy. ~ Kathy Lette, author of How to Kill Your Husband

Dialogue is a great way of showing character — a gushy person might say “darling” a lot, an older person will speak differently from a younger person. When a man doesn’t say much it adds to his mystique. It’s also a great way to speed up the action. If you find yourself writing long paragraphs of description, bung some dialogue in. ~Fiona Walker wrote the Lodes Valley series

If you're comfortable writing autobiographical fiction, well, writing in the first person plus honesty basically gives you your main character — you. It helps if you’re funny and interesting and willing to humiliate yourself. ~ Sarah Dunn, author of The Big Love

If something comes out of a character's mouth that makes you wonder if she’d say that, chances are, she wouldn’t say that. You have to go back and ‘listen’ and revise. ~ Lynda Curnyn, author of Confessions of an Ex-Girlfriend

From See Jane Write: A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit by Sarah Mlynowski and Farrin Jacobs

Writers' Wednesdays: Come Back Next (And Every) Week for More Tips on My Blog