What I've learnt about dialogue 1

When I started writing longer fiction (rather than writing anecdotes, stories as birthday presents or jokey pieces), I avoided dialogue like the devil. I thought, it’s not for me. Surely, there are writers out there who do that? So, my first draft of my first manuscript, in all its 80,000-word glory did not have one single dialogue. All pure descriptions.

I know. Feel free to roll your eyes. Needless to say, it wasn’t very good. Apart from being a first draft, of course, it lacked engagement, action, drama.

I’ve come a long way since then. But I’ve worked hard on it. I’ve read, I’ve listened, I’ve read some more. I’m still learning and constantly revising but I’d like to share the most valuable lessons.

There are so many that I will have to put this in two parts.

In part 1, I am going to talk about the mechanics of dialogue. These are pretty straightforward rules that are easy to follow and revise for.

1. What is said aloud should be within quotation marks. If they are thoughts, do not use quotation marks! (if they need to be set apart from the narrative, use italics)

2. Punctuation goes within/before quotation marks.

3. Use dialogue tags - they tell us who has spoken. They are connected to the dialogue line with a comma.
        ‘I’m hungry,’ she said.
   a. The tag ‘said’ is adequate to the task, and is as unobtrusive as punctuation. Readers do
   not notice it.
   b. If the tag interrupts a sentence, it is put between commas:
        ‘I’m hungry,’ she said, ‘so let’s go.’
   c. If it interrupts an utterance but not a sentence, it is separated by a comma from the first
   part and finishes with a sentence.
        ‘I’m hungry,’ she said. ‘What’s for dinner?’

4. Avoid words less neutral like ‘she wailed,’ ‘she sighed,’ ‘he gasped,’ or ‘he hissed.’ They interrupt the flow of the conversation. Occasionally, these words are OK if they refer to volume (shouted, whispered), but only occasionally.

5. Also occasionally, it is OK to replace ‘she/he said’ with an action.
        ‘I’m hungry.’ She clanked the knife against the plate. ‘Is it almost done?’

6. Start a new paragraph for each new speaker.

7. If an action is described between direct speech, put it in the paragraph of the speaker it describes.

8. Use contractions whenever possible.
   Instead of:
   ‘I am hungry. I would like a sandwich.’
   Use:
   ‘I’m hungry. I’d like a sandwich.’
   (as an English teacher teaching Academic English, this one is hard for me)

9. Avoid using the name of the person spoken to in direct speech. It doesn’t sound conversational. Unless greeting them or trying to get their attention.

10. Avoid adverbs with ‘said’. Dialogue should convey that manner. If not, an accompanying action is better and more emphatic.
    Don’t write:
         ‘I’m hungry,’ she said angrily.
    Better:
         ‘I’m hungry,’ she said and clanked the fork against the plate.