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This book includes:
- An easy way to test how good your dialogue is
- An easy way to make your dialogue more realistic
- How to make your dialogue more active and dynamic
- How to give your characters distinctive and unique voices
- How to write accents and dialects
- Why all dialogue is tactical
- How experts communicate, and what you can learn from it
- How to find the right dialogue-action ratio for your story
- How to convey background detail without slowing down the
plot
- How people communicate without using words
- How to write thoughts and unspoken dialogue
- What to do when dialogue goes wrong
- How to use dialogue as a cliff-hanger
- How to give your dialogue purpose - and multiple
purposes
- Why each character can have several
different voices
- How to write a story when you don't
know what your characters will
say
- Expert eavesdropping and observation
secrets revealed
- How to foreshadow using dialogue
- How to use body language in
your stories
- Why visual people are different
from touchy-feely people
- How to ask the right
questions
- The secrets of layered
dialogue
- How to really listen
- How to write monologues
- and when to
use them
- The best speech
tags to use
- How to use
subtext
- How your
hero can
talk himself
out
of trouble
- An easy
way to
stop
your dialogue
from
becoming
boring
- How to
use
understatement
- And
lots
more
-
far too
many
great
ideas
to
list
here!
Sample idea: Active and realistic dialogue
You can make long sections of dialogue more lively by giving
the characters involved something to do while they speak. They
might touch each other by way of reassurance, make gestures,
or be involved in some activity such as eating a meal, drinking
in a bar, shopping, playing a game, or investigating a crime
scene. It's worth taking some time to study people as they talk
in real life. They don't just say the words, they do other things
at the same time. They might be heavily involved in the conversation
yet remain fully aware of everything else that's going on around
them. Or they might be so engrossed that they pay no attention
to anything else. Or they might be watching something happening
across the street and hardly hear a word of what's being said.
It's useful to act out your characters' parts as they say the
words. Put yourself in their place and say the words out loud.
Make a note of exactly what you do. Is your voice trembling with
anger or fear? Are you stroking the cat or a lover's hair? Are
you waving your hands around wildly? Or are they thrust deep
into your pockets while you gesture with your head, shoulders
and eyes.
It's a good idea to have someone else play one of the other
characters, rather than playing all of them yourself. That way
your reactions and movements will be much more natural.
You could write all the dialogue in your story this way. Decide
what sort of thing needs to be said, but don't write any of the
actual words. Then act it out with some friends, making up the
dialogue as you go and improvising, just as you would in real
life. You'll need to record it of course, and it'll probably
need some editing afterwards. But this is a very fast way of
writing realistic dialogue.
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