A Dialogue Experiment
I am now three days into my third week post-surgery. Monday I had 46 staples removed from my back and leaning back against anything hard is definitely more comfortable. However, I am still limited in what I can do. For one thing, I’m not supposed to sit at a computer for a long time.
That said, part of my problem is that over the years I have sat at this computer for long lengths of time without getting up and moving about. I know those of you who are writers understand how difficult it is to stop every 30 to 40 minutes and take a break from what you’re writing to exercise your body. If you’re in a scene and the words are flowing, how can you stop?
Well, if you don’t take those breaks, your body may let you know, as mine has, that you should have stopped.
So, take breaks.
While I’ve been recovering, I came across an interesting YouTube about writing dialogue. Actually, I get regular email posts from Mark Dawson and the one I recently read and listened to was The Self Publishing Show Episode 288—How to Write Engaging Dialogue with Jeff Elkins. https://rb.gy/hvuev2
What caught my interest was Elkins’ suggestion to write a scene using only dialogue. No dialogue tags. No inner thoughts. No transition or action narrative. No narrative of any type. Just dialogue between characters. His point, if I understood it correctly, is by doing this, the writer must truly know the character and can show the character through the words the character(s) uses and by the length or shortness of what each character says.
I thought I’d give it a try for one scene I’ve been thinking about. I’m not going to write the whole scene, but here’s some of what I have:
“Hello. Anybody home?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’m having car trouble and I went and forgot my phone at home. Could I possibly use yours to call Triple-A?”
“Where’s your car? Possibly I can help.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to bother you, but . . . but could I possibly come in and have a drink of water?”
“Well, I guess so.”
“Thank you. Lovely house. Wonderful view of the water . . . and the beach.”
“We enjoy it.”
“Where’s your wife?”
“My wife? She’s upstairs. Why? Oh my god, you have a gun. What?”
“Call her downstairs, and don’t say anything unless you want her to be a widow.”
“I . . but . . .”
“Call her.”
Once I’ve decided on all of the dialogue for this scene, I’ll go back and work in whatever narrative is necessary to give the reader a sense of place, etc. I may break up the dialogue a little more, or add or delete some.
I’m not going to do this for the entire book, but I think it’s an interesting exercise.
What do you think?
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Forty-six, wow. Sending healing thoughts your way. I’m better at getting up, though every now and then I’m sitting longer than I should have. The creaks tell me so. As to writing with dialogue only, I do it all the time and love it. My first drafts are more scenes of dialogue than anything else. This method forces me to get to the heart of the scene quickly and into their emotions. Once the dialogue is down, then I go in and add layers of action tags, introspection, and more action. It’s not unusual for me to have 2-3 pages of nothing but dialogue. Even then I don’t do the usual tags of “dialogue,” she said feeling disgruntled or “dialogue,” he acknowledged. Instead, it’s easier to add action, with no tag whatsoever. “Dialogue spoken.” Finished, she turned hiding her disdain. She wasn’t ready to reveal her true feelings, blah, blah, blah.I’m always amazed at how quickly the pages add up when writing only dialogue. The layering usually doubles the number of pages, which always makes me happy.
Diana, I’m not surprised that you use this method considering you’re also a screenwriter. I am going to try this for a few scenes.
First, wishing you a speedy and complete recovery. Second, I’m looking forward to reading all the supporting apparatus around that dialogue. We’ll done. I may try the technique myself.
Hello MarisI totally understand your experience. I had two of them within 2 years. Wishing you well and follow doctor’s order. What an interesting concept. Your message wants me to sit down and try it. Nicely done.
Thank you, Gerda. This is my second. The first was a simple lamendectomy and I recovered quickly. This one was more extensive and seems to be taking forever, but you’re right, I need to follow the doctor’s orders and let my body heal.
I think readers might get confused about the speaker if there’s no I.D.
Jacqueline, you’re right, without any ID, it would be confusing. This is simply the first step. Once the dialogue is down, the writer then goes in and adds either dialogue tags (He said/she said) or action tags or simple narrative.
Yes, really useful exercise. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Dallas. I’m always afraid my characters all sound the same, so, for me, this is a great way to see if I am giving them different voices.
That was some scary shit. Good job.
Thanks, Rohn. I’m glad it’s behind me, but it’s sure taking a long time for me to feel normal again. Everyone keeps telling me to have patience. That’s not one of my strong suits, but I guess I have no choice.
I often write only dialog for much of a chapter. I find I get to the story part faster that way. when going through it, I put in where and when. I also add in some movements that show more of the character’s real attitude. I think bantering comes into play easier if you’re not stopping to add in eye twitches or grins. I often hear these conversations and I put them down to fit into the story later – like when the characters actually meet. Sometimes I start with something like a guy riding a horse down a grassy hill and what he says. My husband says its more fun being in my head than his. Best wishes for a speedy recovery
Susan, that was what the YouTube video stressed: doing dialog first gets the story moving. Sounds like you do exactly as he suggests. Thanks for the good wishes.