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Dialogue; Can you have too much of it?
Topic Started: May 8 2009, 09:11 AM (1,326 Views)
Lola
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bionic4ever
May 10 2009, 05:30 PM
I usually just try for a balance between dialogue and description, since dialogue moves the story along but description puts the pictures in the readers' heads. Sometimes, though, depending on the story, it becomes necessary to lean on one more heavily than the other.

I agree. Ideally a balance between the two is best but sometimes it's necessary to have more of one than the other. I know as a reader that too much dialogue can be tiring because it does move the story on quickly and there's a lot to take in. The descriptive parts slow it down, provide more details and give time for reflection both for the characters and the reader.
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messyhead
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Good answers girls. Mind you, dialogue doesn't necessarily move the action along - but it certainly can be a shortcut.

"Where's Steve?'

"He left five minutes ago."

I find writing action in an interesting way much harder than dialogue, and I worry about using it as a crutch - but I do really enjoy it when full conversations play out in my head and I can just transcribe them.
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Lola
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messyhead
May 10 2009, 06:18 PM
Good answers girls. Mind you, dialogue doesn't necessarily move the action along - but it certainly can be a shortcut.

"Where's Steve?'

"He left five minutes ago."

I find writing action in an interesting way much harder than dialogue, and I worry about using it as a crutch - but I do really enjoy it when full conversations play out in my head and I can just transcribe them.

True! Dialogue doesn't always move the story along quickly. Especially if it reflected the way people normally talked. People can spend hours talking and end up saying not much at all. (I've had conversations like that! :) ) Usually in fiction though dialogue is used to advance the story.

It is fun to 'hear' whole conversations in your head. I've done that. I just wish I could remember it all to write it down when it's finished! Are you able to write it all down afterwards?
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messyhead
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Only sometimes. Mostly I feel I've lost the really good bits. Of course you can't trust your brain - it always thinks you're on to something fabulous and then when you try to capture it you realize your vision was hazy and unformed, often nonsensical, and then you've got to put the hard labour into it!
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Lola
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messyhead
May 10 2009, 06:36 PM
Only sometimes. Mostly I feel I've lost the really good bits. Of course you can't trust your brain - it always thinks you're on to something fabulous and then when you try to capture it you realize your vision was hazy and unformed, often nonsensical, and then you've got to put the hard labour into it!

That's like dreams. I come up with what seems fabulous stories in dreams but then when I try to recall them in detail there isn't much there after all. So frustrating.
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messyhead
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It is AMAZING the patch job your unconscious mind will do for you - convincing you have a full and rich vision, and when you examine it you discover it's not really there!
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OJFan
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Oh, I've had some really good dreams, and even then thinking they would make a great story, but then the sequence is all messed up. The idea is still there, but I can't make anything coherent out of it. Still a good dream though :)
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bionic4ever
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I've dreamed some stories that looked like toe lint on paper and others I dreamed about (that I knew were good), I couldn't remember in the morning!
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OJFan
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It's the sequencing that messes me up. The idea is still good, but in the dream it seemed to flow, but on paper it doesn't.
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bionic4ever
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My new one, so far, is extremely dialogue-heavy. I'm trying something different (for me) - no prologue, just straight into chapter one. Maybe I'll try to go descriptive in the next section, kind of even it out....
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OJFan
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I do sometimes "switch" - going from a dialog intensive part to a descriptive part. What I find hard is when I keep switching back and forth between view points without making it too confusing to my reader.
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bionic4ever
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This new story is quite dialogue-heavy. Chapter 2 even more so than chapter 1. Not sure if that's a good thing, but seems to be the only way to tell it.
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OJFan
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I think it just depends on the story. Some I find are much more dialog heavy. I like a blend myself - but it can be some stories that are mainly dialog and then the next isn't. As long as it isn't rushed (which I do a LOT myself).
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bionic4ever
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Sometimes 'dialogue-heavy' is the only way to move a story along. But yes, it does balance out. I'll have a chapter that's nearly all dialogue and the next one might have almost none. (Hopefully that's not too jarring or distracting.)
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bionic4ever
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I TALK TOO MUCH! LOL!
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Whoa! That last chapter was dialogue-HEAVY! I'd like to challenge myself to write a chapter with absolutely no dialogue...and maybe will be able to do that in a few more chapters. But the next chapter is going to have a rather...interesting...confrontation between Jaime and Steve. (Not a fight or argument; just a very spirited confrontation. Okay, maybe they'll argue a little too - but nothing serious.) Anyhow, it's necessary to move the story along and it will be interesting to write...and hopefully to read, too!

I do sense an upcoming chapter - and probably several - being almost fully descriptive though, with little or no dialogue. That'll be fun too!
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