word. For example, in a radio piece the voice might be multitracked so
there are several different versions of it, and it dialogues with itself. Some of
these modes of dialoguing will be explored further in Chapter 10.
There are conventions about how dialogue functions in any particular
literary genre, and you can either follow or break these. In plays, for
example, dialogue is usually not interspersed with any authorial comment:
it stands on its own and everything has to be implied or stated through it.
On the other hand, in novels or short stories it is usually interspersed with
authorial comment. This is because dialogue in a play is acted out in front
of us, while in a novel the action usually takes place on the page. This is the
norm, and you may wish to follow it, but you can also overturn these same
conventions as a way of rethinking the nature of dialogue and how we rep-
resent it. For instance, the convention of leaving the dialogue to itself is
disrupted in the play Pandering to the Masses: A Misrepresentation by
American playwright Richard Foreman (1977). In this play, Foreman’s
taped voice comments on the action, and even the construction of the
play. On the other hand in the novel, Paradise , Donald Barthelme (1987)
suddenly shifts from normal narrative writing into whole chapters of
dialogue, without any authorial comment whatsoever.
Dialogue can be conceived either by writing directly on the page or
aurally. You might want to improvise dialogue with a friend and record it,
or you might want to use a multitrack recorder and dialogue with your-
self. Most importantly, read what you write aloud, so you achieve a real
sense of how it sounds. That way you will develop your ear for dialogue.
exercises
- Devise a question and then create a range of responses to it.
If you wish, develop one question and response into a more
lengthy dialogue. - Create two short pieces of dialogue: one realist and one non-
realist. - Create a dialogue which hinges on a power struggle between
two people. - Create a dialogue which:
a) progresses from low levels of communication through to high
levels of communication or vice versa, or
b) shows an unusual or unconventional form of communication. - Create a polylogue: that is, a text based on several voices rather
than only two.
Dialoguing 111