Writing: Dialog

I like writing fislog. It lets out the voices in my head, is my usual explanation. I have read novels without much in the way of usual forms of dialog (see E.L.Doctrow's Ragtime) and ones where it is almost all dialog (give Robertson Davies' Cornish Trilogy a read). I like the ones with dialog. I think this is how to show character

I agree with what I read in The Art of Masterful Fiction Dialogue. This is a long, thoughtful article on what is good dialog, with examples, that should be read. All I will quote is the following, just to give a taste:

And look for these culprits that show flawed dialogue:

 Overuse of characters’ names in direct address (“You know, Mary, that I’m right . . .”)

Using speech tags with every line

Using flowery verbs for speech tags (“Go away,” she cajoled . . . or extrapolated or interjected)

Using inappropriate verbs for speech tags (“Go away,” she sighed . . . or groaned or wished)

Putting a speech or narrative tag at the end of a long passage of speech identifying who is speaking instead of placing it close to the beginning

Using flowery adverbs to tell how the words are being spoken instead of showing the emotion (“Go away,” she said angrily)

Having all your characters sound alike, even though they have different personalities, backgrounds, and cultural influences

Using “on the nose” dialogue, which means saying exactly what a character feels and which isn’t very believable

Padding scenes with a lot of unnecessary discourse such as boring greetings

Lack of contractions in speech of characters that would use contractions in conversation (as well as in the narrative and internal dialogue in POV)

Showing dialogue floating in space: talking heads that aren’t attached to bodies engaged in activity and in real places in your scene

Lack of an interesting, effective THAD for your scene (Talking Heads Avoidance Device)"

sch

 1/4/22