Dialogue – by Kevin Kissane, Bethany Ashley, and Lydon Colston

  

Dialogue can be difficult to write effectively, and as a result difficult to read effectively. Have you ever wondered how writers successfully create dialogue that reads well? 

Dialogue in written work refers to the words spoken between characters in a short story, or a novel/novella. It further refers to a character speaking to themselves within a story. Writers often use dialogue to reveal the personality of characters, as it’s a great way of “showing” characteristics or describe setting without “telling” them. Dialogue is often used in writing as a way to portray conflict between characters to the reader, and as a way of advancing the narrative. When writing effective dialogue, it’s imperative to develop conversation between characters that the reader recognises as natural, realistic discussion.

Typically, there are two main types of dialogue in storytelling, inner dialogue and outer dialogue.

In inner dialogue, the characters speak to themselves and reveal their personalities. Writers use inner dialogue by employing a stream of consciousness for the character, or by using a dramatic monologue. This can be seen in the works of authors like Virginia Wolf, who regularly employs linguistic techniques like these, in order to show certain traits of her characters.

Outer dialogue is a simple conversation between two characters, and is used in almost all types of writing works, whether that be fictional or non-fictional work. However, writing effective outer dialogue is not as simple as it seems. In “The Art and Craft of Storytelling,” author Nancy Lamb explains that “the goal of writing dialogue is to not mimic how people speak; the goal of the writer’s dialogue is to create the illusion of authenticity.” There are many great ways to create an illusion of authenticity in character’s dialogue.

Dialogue is a literary device that can be used to advance narrative in a way that no other literary device can. Literary writers employ many different linguistic techniques and devices in order to develop their narratives, and portray their characters’ personalities. These include: exposition, description, characterisation and so on. However, dialogue is perhaps the most valuable tool for a writer, as dialogue can successfully portray setting, location and even the age or education level of a character.

Accent and Dialect

Using a particular accent and dialect for your character will allow the reader to determine what location and time the story is set in. Through particular choices of lexis in characters’ dialogue, the reader can also decipher what sort of lifestyle the characters have. Accent and dialect also adds authenticity to a conversation, and helps writers to achieve a conversational, realistic dialogue between two characters.

One example of a story which has successfully used accent and dialect to advance their narrative and reveal information about characters, is 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck. This novel is often considered to be difficult to read and understand, but there's no doubt that the chosen dialogue captures the authenticity of the characters, their education level, their mental health, and their birthplace. Steinbeck successfully creates indirect characterisation through his use of dialogue. A character's traits, such as personality, are defined through the character's actions, dialogue, or through the dialogue of other characters. 

Example:

"Lennie looked timidly over to him. "George?"

"Yeah, what ya want?"

"Where we goin' George?"

The little man jerked down the brim of his hat and scowled over at Lennie.

"So you forgot awready, did you you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you're a crazy bastard!" 

In this particular example of Steinbeck's dialogue, the reader is able to determine the setting, character, conflict, and the relationship between Lennie and George. By using a particular dialect, words like "ya" and dropping g's, it can be inferred that the characters are from the Southern United States. From this conversation between the two characters, the reader can also observe that Lennie forgets things very easily. George's aggressive response leads the reader to believe that this isn't the first time Lennie has done this, suggesting that Lennie's character possesses a learning disability. George's response also portrays to the reader that he is short tempered, being quick to lose his patience. Just from this section of dialogue, the reader is now aware that the two characters have conflicting personalities, all without having ever been told. 

Radio

The link below contains and audio file of an 'Of Mice and Men' radio play. 

Read along with a script version to note the translation of text into spoken word. 

http://www.kristaprice.com/Krista_Price/Final_Scenes_2_files/OF%20MICE%20%26%20MEN%20SCRIPT%20(scene).pdf

This play demonstrates the importance of dialogue, as the actors have to describe what the audience can't see. With the absence of visuals, dialogue is crucial, as the actors have to use their voice to portray every aspect of the script. This enforces the idea that dialogue is important for communicating to the reader or audience what is happening. It is an important tool for crafting character and revealing narrative.