Lesson 2: Elements of Fiction
Dialogue
Gillian Roberts in her book, You Can Write A Mystery, refers to three functions of dialogue in her book. They are: Provides information that's needed, moves the story forward, and characterizes the speaker.
Provides Information That's Needed
Dialogue provides information to the reader. For example, let's look at the following passage:
"I'm glad we live in town. It's nice to walk across the street to school." Megan said.
"I know. River City isn't too large. We could live almost anywhere in the city and be close to the school," Christy replied.
"That's true."
This passage indicates the size of the city where Christy and Megan live. It also shows readers that their school is across the street from where they live.
You can use dialogue to reveal any kind of information that you want readers to know. You might discuss the weather, size of the setting, people, etc.
Moves The Story Forward
In chapter fourteen of Gillian Roberts' book, she mentions that "[good] dialogue is action. If your story contains dialogue that advances the action, then you have written it correctly. If your dialogue is stale and doesn't advance the action, then you need to get rid of it."
When you are searching for a book to read, you probably open it up and see how it is written. If it contains very little dialogue, you are likely to put in back. If the story contains dialogue, then you will pick it up and read it.
One author whose books I have read and enjoyed is Jay Bennett. He writes young adult suspense books. His style of writing moves the action along. The books are short and easy to read because it contains short speeches between the characters.
There needs to be a balance between narration and dialogue. You don't want the whole book written with dialogue, and you don't want to read a book that contains very little to no dialogue.
Characterizes the Speaker
Think about the types of characters the author is using in his/her story. The dialogue reflects the character's personality. One passage Gillian mentions in her book is, "Think about the roles people play and have yours speak accordingly. Do you have a yes-man? A negotiator? A smoother-over? An agitator? A confrontational devil's advocate? A timid, fearful, non-commital type? Each would shape different sentences." (pg. 87) People don't speak the same way. Everybody has developed their own style of speech. Therefore, your characters need to develop their own style of speech that fits their personalities.
You learned that characters need to be believable and realistic. Dialogue is the same way. It has to be believable, too. It should sound natural.
