DD is for Dialogue Dilemmas

I hope this piece will entertain and educate my readers.

And, as I am writing exactly one month after the previous post, I will say first of all, in dialogue-style:

   'I wish my readers, fellow Later Writers, A Happy and Productive 2022.'
   'And how might that come about?' I hear you ask.
   'Through practice, through reading, through listening, you will find your material. Through perseverance and bravery, you will send your work into the world,' I advise and urge.
   'Writing is my New Year's Resolution,' you might respond.
   'Then you have reached the write place - Later Writer is for you.'

Setting Out Dialogue

Look at the above piece. Note:

• The words spoken are set between single speech marks, so, ‘…..’ rather than double speech marks, thus “…..”. This is part personal preference, part convention and part required style. Each market you aim at, each editor who reads your work, will use their choice of speech marks. Generally, the single mark is used in fiction with double speech marks used to quote “something someone said at another time”.
• The left-hand vertical line of the sentences within the sample of speech needs to be indented. In word processing, you can set a style for this (and you need to learn how to set up a template for your writing).
• Each person that speaks is given a new line.
• He said, they said and she exclaimed …find ways to vary how your denote the identity of the person speaking, and how they are speaking.

To Use Accents or Dialects?

It can be tempting to display your knowledge of regional accents and dialects by littering dialogue with words spelled accordingly. My preference is to drop the occasional piece into a character’s dialogue and use other ways – description, scene setting, actions – to show who you have in mind, what you want the reader to see and hear as they read.

Moving Forward

Dialogue is not necessarily a piece of chitter chatter for its own sake. Perhaps your characters are having a lovely cup of tea together at the kitchen table, passing the time of day, minding their own business. At the risk of boring your reader! So ask yourself these questions:

1. Why are your writing this dialogue – what element of your story is illustrated here?
2. How is the relationship between the characters portrayed – what mood are they in, do they really like each other or is there any tension? On the other hand, if they are meant to be falling in love, how does your dialogue portray this – is it subtle clues, or spoken feelings?

Read It Aloud

What does your dialogue sound like? When your reader has your passage of dialogue in their sight, their brain will decode the words and ‘hear’ them. It is your job to make sure:

• the characters are speaking in their own voices with distinct patterns of speech so that the piece does not read monotonously.
• the clues you’ve used to assign each spoken sentence to the right speaker need to be clear and correct.
• where you’ve inserted some dialect or hinted at an accent, is it easy to read aloud? If it isn’t, how can your reader develop the voices in their own heads? Clarify the dialogue for your reader.

Reading aloud is necessary for your entire writing output. Text on a computer monitor is good at looking perfect!

Print all your work! I know you may be concerned about conserving paper and ink, and trees, but you can use sustainable products.

Seeing your work in print is the best way to proofread and edit it. With practice you will be able to leave this stage until you are almost 100% sure it is is error-free. But still print and double-check your work! Reading aloud will facilitate this process quicker and more effectively.

Look Elsewhere

I seldom offer hyperlinks to other websites because it so easily results in a blog full of broken links in the future. We all know how to use the search engines – find a reliable site where dialogue and punctuation are explained – or buy a book, one that is user-friendly for your needs.

Check what conventions the editor of your chosen market prefers and then use them. Change tack for an alternative market if necessary.

Tip:
Use FIND and REPLACE but avoid selecting they"re as an editing result when you originally wrote they're!

Over To You

The skill of writing dialogue needs plenty of practice so please do as much as you can.

Try writing the dialogue for:

• a conversation you’ve had recently
• an argument between a boss and a worker
• a discussion between a teacher and student about a piece of homework
• a conversation overheard on a bus
• an interview in a police station (from experience of you have any!)

More writing practice at ABC Alliterative Title Challenge.