Dialogue is War
June 13, 2011 4 Comments
“Did I hear somebody?” Footsteps pounded from a staircase somewhere behind the curtain. “Is that Tundy down there, I hear? You can’t hide her from me, don’t you dare.
I drudge this dialogue up from a work in progress as introduction to the idea that dialogue is war. I read that in a book once, and the concept instantly had meaning to me. Imagine all the ways I might have shown Vira saying hello to Tundy. Even before I get started I know hello and goodbye are the two least liked dialogue ideas in genre fiction. Every good writer knows to hack the bookends off most conversations. But, if you’re going to say hello, at least make it war.
Now, having come under assault, Tundy has to brace her defenses:
Tundy bit her lip.
It’s no use cowering, Vera is always on the offensive.
“Tundy!” The elderly woman broached the curtains.
Tundy decides upon surrender.
“Vira! I’ve missed you.”
And Vira is having none of it. She strikes Tundy where it hurts, and pokes a sword into her father at the same time.
“Well, that’s because you’re always off doing things too dangerous for a decent woman, or out at that homestead where your mean father keeps you locked away like he’s afraid someone will snatch you up. Which someone will, so it’s useless.”
Tundy parries.
“Nobody’s going to snatch me up.” Tundy smiled.
Vira’s an old hand at warfare, and deftly deflects the counter strike.
“Not with that hair. Off with your hat!”
This aggressive notion kind of reminds me of when I coached summer track. I especially enjoyed coaching the special events like hurdles and high jump. One day I was coaching my oldest daughter and some other hurdlers when a member of the men’s team asked me to give him some pointers. He did a few hurdles while I watched.
I said, “Son, you have perfect form. If I took a picture of you they could put it in Track and Field under the caption, This is How it Should Look While Over the Hurdle. Unfortunately, runners don’t win the 100 meters hurdles by running the 100 meters hurdles. They win the 100 meters hurdles by running the 100 meter dash. You can’t look good over the hurdles. You can’t even like the hurdles. You have to hate them and nip every one of them on the way over. You have to want them out of your way because they’re keeping you from running the 100 meter dash, and anything you do to reduce the amount of time you spend looking pretty while running the 100 meter dash is wasted effort.”
That kid went from consistently placing 3rd in dual meets to placing second in the states two months later. It was mostly about his attitude. If you write without attitude, it slows you down.
This is what writers have to do with dialogue. They have to stop being so damned at peace with it, and think of it as a battle worth our attention.
About Gary Wedlund
Yep. Dialogue, like so many aspects of writing, needs an undercurrent of tension to maintain reader interest. No casual ‘Oh hi Susan’ conversations, unless they serve a specific purpose.
Even knowing this, I find on my second and later drafts I’m constantly finding dead bits of dialogue to trim. In my first draft, I’m learning how my characters talk, what they would say. In later drafts, I’m refining those conversations. No talking without tension.
I agree. One of the things I learned as an actor and playwright is that drama (and comedy for that matter) is all about conflict and resolution. Even if a conversation seems to be light hearted on the surface there is always some underlying motive in the character’s dialogue. Sometimes characters say the oppsosite of what they are feeling, because of conflict. The dialogue is there to serve the story and move it forward.
Thanks. This is just what I needed to hear.
One of the main things that I have learned to do writing hardboiled style fiction is to keep in mind what each character’s goal is, and what each character wants to say and doesn’t want to say. People rarely ever come out and say anything in a straight forward manner in hardboiled fiction; they talk at right angles to each other. It’s a sparring match.