Today, we crack open my book, Eating an Elephant: Write Your Life One Bite at a Time, a reference book with 200 helpful bites to guide your writing.
Some people read it cover to cover, which is amazing to me, but most keep it handy for when they need a little guidance.
This episode is all about dialogue—why it matters and how to get comfortable using it.
Many writers avoid dialogue because they think they can’t remember conversations exactly. Good news—you don’t have to! Dialogue is reconstructed speech, not a word-for-word transcript. Hearing characters speak brings them to life, reveals their personality, and creates intimacy with readers.
Eating an Elephant’s Bite #48 explores why dialogue is essential. Tell us, do you use dialogue in your stories? Love it or struggle with it?
After you’ve watched this video, check out episode ninety-four, where I focus on Bite #61, “Say It with Meaning,” which also focuses on writing dialogue.
But, remember, whether you write dialogue or not, the only way to get it wrong is not to try. Until next time, happy writing!
Dialogue isn’t easy for me to write; as Dave says, it takes some work. I’m more comfortable using dialogue in fiction than in memoir, as I don’t have to worry about putting words in people’s mouths when they’re my own creations! It’s easy for me to fall into the trap of using dialogue to tell the reader something I think they should know, whether or not it’s a natural topic of conversation. Keeping the dialogue natural might mean the reader doesn’t get the whole story, at least not right away, but that’s better than freighting the characters’ interactions with extraneous… Read more »
I write dialogue but am unsure if I am using it correctly. I sometimes write what I think the character would have said in a certain situation. The dialogue is true to the character. It helps the story come to life. Dialogue is something I could work on—to improve how I am using it.
I don’t mind using dialogue. When I’m writing a story involving two people, it makes sense to me to include dialogue. As Patricia says, it’s not verbatim but the gist of what they are talking about becomes clearer.
Writing dialog isn’t hard but writing realistic dialog that captures the essence or flavor of each person takes some work.
Patricia. When I began writing my memoir I had no concept about using a dialog in it. But then I learned it was important fact in moving the story along, and bringing characters to live and many other reasons. I went back and rewrote the entire thing.
I love writing dialogue but when I share it verbally with my writing group, I feel funny. Is there a way to get over that?