Anarky conveys anarchist philosophy through a dialogue in "Anarky: Tomorrow Belongs to Us". Illustration by Staz Johnson. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
As
an exercise in dialogue, I recorded dialogue that I heard throughout
the day. This gave me some surprising insights. I say “hello”
instead of “hi” but I say “hey” to the horses. I usually
follow a greeting with a compliment. At some point in the last few
years, I have slipped into saying “yeah” instead of “yes”.
These
may seem pointless observations but when I write dialogue, most my
characters say “hi” and “yes” and follow up the greeting with
a question. By doing this exercise, I am able to look at patterns of
talk. I noticed that most people do not typically greet strangers.
And they tend to avoid eye contact with people they do not know. This
is good to know for stories.
In
my early (and later) attempts at dialogue, people spoke the same. It
was formal and in complete sentences. When explaining something, a
character might talk for several paragraphs. Real dialogue is much
faster paced – with contractions, fragments, and interruptions.
I
have been writing dialogue the way I write prose but while the two
obey some of the same rules, I now realize that they read very
differently. I think dialogue has a more pronounced rhythm, faster
pace, and stronger voice. This makes sense since character voices
should stand out in the reader's mind while many authors' voices are
nearly subliminal.
Real
dialogue is also unexpected. I had thought it would be very
predictable. But to see what I mean, try to write a conversation
between you and someone you know well, then start the conversation
for real with that person and hear how quickly (or slowly) the
conversation begins to diverge from your predictions. Similarly,
written dialogue should not be predictable. I am still studying ways
to incorporate unexpected turns, based on how they happen in real
life.
I
suggest performing this exercise yourself, as awkward as it can be.
You may realize something new about dialogue.

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