Dialogue

Dialogues, trialogues and septalogues – basically any situation where one living entity is speaking to another – are quite simply the most difficult part of writing a story. If you think about films, the primary mode of displaying human relationships is through words. It is in fact the only time in a dramatic production that words are actually used over props, special effects and camera footage. Dialogue is therefore identifiable as the most important and awkward type of interaction any human being can perform.

This prompts the immediate reaction to set out dialogue as clear and segregated from the rest of one’s writing as possible.

Kim and Jono bumped into one another at the park.

“Hello.”

“Hello. How are you?”

“I am well thanks. How are you?”

“I am well too, thank you.”

The human brain tries its hardest to see the world as simply as this, even in real-life situations. But the fact is that nothing is ever so straightforward. Humans speak with their bodies as much as their words. Consider the difference made even to my trite dialogue above when I do the following:

“Hello!” Kim puffed, ending her spirited jog as she landed flat on her heels in front of Jono.

“Hello. How are you?” Jono replied, quite unprepared for Kim’s sudden arrival. He slipped his mobile into his pocket, self-conscious about the message that glared across the screen.

“I am well thanks,” Kim panted out, gaining her breath. Her eyes met his for a moment and she quickly looked away. “How are you?”

Jono shrugged and looked at Kim’s feet. Her sneakers were muddy, choked with long spaghetti threads of grass. “I am well too.” He tried to look at her eyes again, but she was obviously just as nervous as he was. A weak smile lifted his lips at the thought. “Thank you,” he murmured.

This is how even the most basic dialogue should look. Time doesn’t stand still when two people talk. Thousands of things are happening all at once. Even if the person who the protagonist is speaking to isn’t that interesting, it says a lot if a character is busy describing the background while someone is talking to them. Similarly, if two people with real chemistry are talking, the background fades and the speaker’s tiniest gestures become significant.