The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day for participating blog owners who may be professional or amateur writers. (All you need is the passion and output, published or not). Started by Alex Cavanaugh the author of the Amazon top ten sci-fi space opera CassaStar, it is a means for writers to talk about their fears big and small. It is also an opportunity to connect to other writers who may have conquered these or are sailing in the same insecure boat as you.
Dialogues how much is too much or too little?
I write short stories and poetry (making a living on them will take another post, hell, seven lifetimes - seven being an auspicious number for Hindus, forget Voldemort's seven horcruxes please!!)
Short stories generally can be written with fewer dialogues, mine has just the bare minimum...poetry is a dialogue with myself and the rare listeners, so I can get away with almost anything even dark or erotic.
My insecurity stems from lengthy dialogues needed for my NaNoWriMo (International November novel month) in progress ( I say, two days is progress). Given that I am attempting space opera style, soft sci-fi makes it a doubly daunting task.
I am bad at dialogues, I openly admit. Does it have something to do with the fact that I can't converse just for the sake of it?...it has to be meaningful/useful interaction even if it's about which mascara doesn't run or whether it's going to rain in the evening, know what I mean? And as one of the commenters on a recent blogfest pointed out, when I do use them they turn out to be full of unnecessary details....
Is there a magical recipe for perfect dialogues? How does one avoid too much or too little of it?
I write short stories and poetry (making a living on them will take another post, hell, seven lifetimes - seven being an auspicious number for Hindus, forget Voldemort's seven horcruxes please!!)
Short stories generally can be written with fewer dialogues, mine has just the bare minimum...poetry is a dialogue with myself and the rare listeners, so I can get away with almost anything even dark or erotic.
My insecurity stems from lengthy dialogues needed for my NaNoWriMo (International November novel month) in progress ( I say, two days is progress). Given that I am attempting space opera style, soft sci-fi makes it a doubly daunting task.
I am bad at dialogues, I openly admit. Does it have something to do with the fact that I can't converse just for the sake of it?...it has to be meaningful/useful interaction even if it's about which mascara doesn't run or whether it's going to rain in the evening, know what I mean? And as one of the commenters on a recent blogfest pointed out, when I do use them they turn out to be full of unnecessary details....
Is there a magical recipe for perfect dialogues? How does one avoid too much or too little of it?
10 comments:
I used to struggle with writing dialogue, too! Lately it's been coming more easily. I've found it helps to write it all out as it comes, then go back over and delete every useless word (well, maybe, a little, a bit, etc) and delete the repetitions (that's what I told him, and then I said, and after I yelled, and...) and also get rid of all the unnecessary dialogue tags.
Hopefully what's left is much stronger!
When I write dialogue, it just goes out of my grips. characters say lot of things that are in no way connected to plot. Its a terrible thing
Hello from another Insecure Writer - Dialogue - I love it, but then I love to talk. Can't agree with you more that it needs to be meaningful/useful interaction. Everything in our writing needs to be meaningful/useful interaction, right? No room for fluff here.
I do believe that dialogue is one of those things that "will come" with practice. It's just like talking. Actually,it is talking.
I struggle to write anything and I am not a very good talker too .. I dont speak as much as I think i should bare minimum is my dialogue ..
Bikram's
Dialogue isn't my strong suit either. (Fortunately I have an awesome test reader who rocks at it.)
Just write without worrying about it for now. I've read a few books with too little dialogue, but not many with too much, so just go for it.
ur reading scenario is very vast I guess..and so u can tell us a few more characteristics of seven..
I agree with Alex. Others may and have told me there's too much dialogue in my writing. But I love dialogue; it's fun. So I keep doing it and working at it.
I've been following you long enough to say that you are too hard on yourself, Rek. You can do dialogue. You can do NaNo. You can do it all! Just keep going as your heart and creative mind lead the way.
xoRobyn
I have the same problems with dialogue, especially when it comes to the point you made about being meaningful. I'm an introvert, and small talk is not one of my strong suits.
For my last WIP, though, I used a lot of dialogue. If I had to guess, I'd say over 75% of the novel was just people talking--working on a project like that seemed to help me get used to writing dialogue scenes.
I think and write in a choppy manner. I also talk that way. Because of this, it's a struggle for me to create "real" sounding dialogue. I like the way I write it, but I'm not sure too many others would agree...
Dialogue should sound natural. Listen to other people talk. For this purpose, I think eavesdropping is OK. :) People do not use names a lot. People use contractions more than not -- the dialogue like the narrative is to move the story forward. Each person's response should answer what the other person said.
Crit partners are usually quick to say whether dialogue is working or not. Then add to the dialogue. The mc's reactions, emotions, thoughts. This adds richness.
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Glad you made it this far...would love to hear your take on the words scribbled. A comment every now and then keeps the blues away. :D
Since, crazy Mr. Blogspot won't let me reply to the comments here (is upset with the water ladies ever since they refused to verify visitors)...will do the next best thing, drop in to your blog to say my Vanakkam/Namaste/Salaam/Hello.