Hot answers tagged dialogue
11
The short, cop-out answer is: It depends.
Longer explanation is:
It depends on the type of novel you're writing, and also on your skill level as an author. It's possible, and common enough, to have none if you're writing the kind of novel that's epistolary (written communication, eg. letters, reports, postcards) or a monologue from the main character(s). ...
7
@Lexi makes a good point here; dialogue is a vital tool to express a character's personality, opinions and so on in a "show" way rather than a "tell" way.
Dialogue enables us to connect directly to the characters. Reported speech has its place, but it makes it feel like I'm sitting here and you're telling me what happened, when what I really want is to ...
7
If you end the quote with a period, that makes it a complete sentence. And that turns:
I muttered.
into a second sentence.
If you want to indicate that he (or I) muttered the words between the quotation marks, then yes, you must end the quoted words with a comma.
5
I don't have a problem with them (they're called bookisms, I believe) if:
You don't overdo it. It's tempting to make every dialogue tag something vivid or extra. Don't. D.W. Smith pointed out in a writing tutorial once that "the word said is invisible." It really is. Be judicious with bookisms. Think of them as salt: a little is good; too much ruins the ...
5
Dialogue has a bit of a different style. Here's some examples of correct dialogue grammar (with respect to punctuation at the end):
"You're looking well this morning," said Tommy.
"I'm doing well," said Theresa, "thank you kindly."
Katherine said, "Let's have pasta for dinner."
"That sounds good," said Austin. "Do you want to go to the place on Broad ...
3
Using words like laughed and sighed give more information about how the person is talking while using adverbs like laughing and sighing tell what the talker is doing while communicating. As a reader, I interpret sentences like
"Ok," she said, sighing. "Just this time."
"Ok," she said with a sigh. "Just this time."
"Ok," she sighed. "Just this ...
3
Since the author’s voice in a novel can communicate both the character’s actions and directly relate their state of mind, there is no fundamental need for novels to contain dialogue. That being said, your question also hinted at story length and a fondness for economy in writing, which I think is a good thing. The path to reaching larger stories is not ...
1
Interestingly enough, I read a full-sized novel that had (theoretically) no dialogue. Not to say that the characters weren't speaking; they were. Yet in this 100,000-150,000 word novel, not one quote/unquote mark was made. Period. I wouldn't call this good writing, necessarily, but it worked in the book.
"Run", by Douglas E. Winters, if you're interested. I ...
1
Lexi is surely right in saying "it depends". But that said, a novel with no dialog would be quite strange. If you had a story about someone living alone on an island or some such, the story might be purely narration and his internal train of thought. One can always dream up other odd cases, like a story about aliens who do not speak but communicate by waving ...
1
Dialogues are not easy to write. Bad dialogues are easy to write.
I use dialogues a lot and I think they - if well used - can make a text richer.
My answer to you is: depends on the writer's style.
In my case, since I really like dialogues, it's essential.
Other writers may almost don't use dialogues at all.
Of course you can insert dialogues inside ...
1
Use something like:
He folded his arms and sat up straight. "And you suppose he had a different motive?"
or
Her eyes widened. "Really?"
I also like to use this style in an ongoing conversation:
"You're telling me that I'm fired," Jeremy muttered.
His brother, the current president of the company, shook his head. "No I'm not."
"Then ...
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