C h a p t e r 2 2
Dialogue
D
ialogue is conversation. Narratives, character sketches, autobiographical sketches,
biographies, feature stories, short stories, and novels all depend on dialogue to
stir the reader’s imagination and promote their understanding of characters. Drama
exists entirely on the basis of dialogue. Politicians win or lose elections based on
their spoken word. Teachers and pastors make their points via the spoken word.
Marriages thrive or disintegrate with the spoken word. So writers use dialogue to
make characters, either real or imaginary, live for the reader.
cHaracteristics
Writing successful dialogue demands special attention to the techniques. In general,
dialogue
-^ shows the speaker’s exact words by enclosing them in quotation marks,
-^ includes spelling clues to indicate dialect or speech patterns,
-^ produces natural-sounding conversation, usually using short sentences and
contractions,
-^ may include sentence fragments to illustrate a speaker’s exact words or to
enhance style [see fragment in the Glossary],
-^ uses phrases such as he yelled or she snarled to allow the reader to “hear” the
words in the context of the situation,
-^ relies heavily on accurate punctuation, including commas, end marks, and
apostrophes as well as quotation marks,
-^ shows a change in speaker by a change in paragraphing,
-^ includes description, not just of voice and expression but also of mannerisms
and other nonverbal means of communication.
Process
Use the following prewriting, writing, revising, and proofreading steps to produce
successful dialogue.