Dialogue? Yes, that’s something writers must get right. Dialogue tells us quite a bit about the different characters in a story, can show their social standing, underline their educational level, and reveal their emotional state. It can be used to avoid information dumping, and it’s a handy tool for breaking up long prose passages. It also pulls readers right into the story.
And just to illustrate the power of dialogue, I went into my local café and noted down the conversation. Here it is:
Man with shaggy moustache: (looking out the window) Pfffhewww. Cold out there.
Café owner: Sure is.
Shaggy moustache: Much colder than yesterday.
Bar owner: Much.
The door opens. In comes a youngish, clean-shaven man with dark hair. He sits at the bar, and orders a beer.
Youngish man: Phew. Cold out there.
Café owner: Sure is.
Youngish man: Colder than last night.
Café owner and Shaggy moustache together: Certainly is.
The door opens. In comes another youngish man who also sits at the bar and also orders a beer.
Second youngish man: Cold out there.
First youngish man: Certainly is!
Café owner: Colder than last night.
First youngish man: You can say that again!
Second youngish man: Much colder!
Short silence
Shaggy moustache: They say it’ll be even colder tomorrow;
First youngish man: Heard that too.
Me: I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but this is the month of March.
Very long silence
3 comments:
Great post, J. Arlene.
Thankfully, dialogue is easy for me. It's narration that's a bear, making it short yet informative.
Love the cartoon at the top. Is it your work?
Yup, my cartoon. And yes, this is the sort of inspiring conversation one has in cafés these days. As for narration, it can be quite a challenge to get down something that isn't tedious and ho hum.
Fun conversation. The interesting thing is that the people involved probably didn't realize they were repeating themselves.
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