Comments on: Dialogue: My Least Favorite/Most Favorite Writing Tool

By: Amy G.

Amy G. — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:09:25 +0000

Love hearing about your process, Becky. For me, it’s like trying to tune into the radio — sometimes the signal comes through clearly, and then a page later it doesn’t, so I have strong bits and pathetic bits right next to each other in early drafts. The trick is trying to bring it all up to the same level, while keeping in character.

And since I write historical fiction, there’s another layer of challenge to everything: making sure the dialogue is true to the time, or at least keeping it from getting too modern.

By: beckylevine

beckylevine — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:12:11 +0000

Work, Patience, Persistance!

By: Sherrie Petersen

Sherrie Petersen — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:10:21 +0000

Dialogue is tricky. And you’re right–when it’s good, it makes all the difference.

By: beckylevine

beckylevine — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:45:30 +0000

I don’t have that ear either. And I really do work on the eavesdropping!

By: Stella Michel

Stella Michel — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:38:13 +0000

I, too, love great dialogue but also find it a struggle to get it right. Some people have that pitch perfect ear for mimicry but I’m afraid I’m not one of them. I have to work at it, over and over. Keep on, Becky.

By: beckylevine

beckylevine — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:03:20 +0000

Okay, so good–it’s not just me! Did they talk about how to get the actual dialogue just right?

By: Susan Taylor Brown

Susan Taylor Brown — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:54:58 +0000

I will go ahead and say it – I AM jealous. Dialogue is so so so difficult for me. First bursts sound so wooden because it is all he said and she said and he said and she said. I had a current run of 7 pages that was JUST dialogue. Ugh!

Then there are all the tags and backstory and stage directions to weave in (sorry, Becky, I still have adapted to your term “dialogue beats” as I’ve never heard that before.) And when you weave them in, of course, they are supposed to sound so organic.

I struggle because I either weave in too much and you lose the fact that there is a conversation going on or it feels so forced that I know it can’t be right.

Funny you should just post this though since that’s right where I’m at with the WIP and it was something that was discussed at the Austin VCFA day, the importance of the “extra stuff” tucked in and around the dialogue.

By: beckylevine

beckylevine — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:50:43 +0000

I bet–I think dialogue would be even harder with memoir. Trying to juggle writing “good” dialogue with remembering what was really said, etc. Glad you liked the post-thanks for stopping by!

By: Sharon Lippincott

Sharon Lippincott — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:36:26 +0000

Thanks for sharing your process. Understanding how other writers think as they work, how they go about drafting and revising, fascinates me. No book on the fine points of the craft of writing ever goes into this aspect of things, and of course it’s so personal.

Since I write and teach memoir, character and plot development are a little simpler in most respects, but aside from the constraints of remaining true to the characters and events we know, writing technique is pretty much the same across genres. Many of my students struggle more with dialogue than any other aspect of the writing process.

By: beckylevine

beckylevine — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:28:00 +0000

So I’m just a LITTLE bit jealous. I know what you mean about getting it all out there too soon. And then, when you take those words away, you have to figure out what they SHOULD be saying so early!