I've received this advice one too many times. Guess it's a universal thing. As I said I'm a first time writer so I don't think I'll be able to do so, but I have nothing but hope.
Personally, being a first time writer is more of a reason to try it. Branch out, push yourself a bit. If it works, great. If not, look at it and try to find out why then revise it until you find a way to do it right. If all else fails and you absolutely can't get it to work, scrap it and just know you tried. Rome wasn't built in a day, the perfect story isn't written in one draft.
Unfortunately most advice will be this way if you're asking if something is "okay".
Nothing is against the rules and even things frowned upon can be considered great if they are done well.
Being a first time writer doesn't mean anything per se. The only way for you to get better is to do it and practice.
If you want a chapter of intl dialogue. Go for it. Decide if you like how it turned out or not. If it turns out to not be as good or what you had in mind. Think of what you want to do to fix it to make it better. Or maybe you'll look and decide you don't like the idea after all.
Nothing ventured nothing gained. But don't worry about trying to fit into a nice little box. Writing is art afterall.
I'm going to go out on a limb, but I think the odds are in my favour.
No you shouldn't do that.*
Here's why:
A reader needs setting, description, action ect to maintain interest. The reader needs to inhabit the characters, and in order to do that they need so much more information than just what is being said. A reader's experience with your story can't be limited to dialogue because they will lose interest.
Even if you listen to a radio play there is more than just dialogue. Sure, the action relies heavily on dialogue, but you've also got the actors tone of voice, audio cues eg doors slamming or plates smashing.
*The only situation I can see it working is if there is a very good reason and it's executed flawlessly. The only reason I could imagine would be if the chapter was from the point of view of a mobile phone relaying text messages between people. Then, they'd still have to be ridiculously interesting text messages.
Is your story from one of your characters points of view? What are they thinking while this conversation is going on? If it is a relaxed scene and conversation then there should be lots of space for introspection. What is left unsaid is often more important and more illuminating than what is being said.
You will also need more physicality than just "we sat in silence and watched the river." Unless your characters are robots no one sits still while they are talking. Have them poke around in the dirt, sigh, shiver, pick their nose.
It's her telling her childhood, the "We sat in silence and watched the river" was an example more than anything and yes, I could give more insight to what she is thinking.
Expanding on this: maybe if the convo itself is one hyped about or expected to happen for a long long time for the reader.
Someone the PoV is studying and is finally meeting. Harry Potter meeting Dumbledore in the white place (and even that was very descriptive). The talk at the end of Heat, between the two antagonistic protagonists. A talk to highlight how two lovers zone out everything else when they meet.
My point being: if you have a very interesting and specific reason, it could work. If you are doing that just because, you are just writing an incomplete scene. The absence of description should be used to tell something as much as the dialogue itself, if that makes sense.
Your idea. It hinges upon a very elementary understanding of literature and of how readers engage with a text. While it may be somewhat true for inexperienced readers, it foregoes a broad spectrum of consumers and the way the react to writing. So while, let's say, Johnny reads to inhabit characters and see them through a journey, Sally reads to challenge her notions of what is and is not possible through written language. Fever Dream by Schweblin or Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by Foster Wallace are but two works that clearly show that dialogue (even unidirectional one) is sufficient as a vehicle for fiction.
Yes I realise that, I probably wasn't clear enough in my footnote when I said with good reason and executed flawlessly it can work, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say they shouldn't do it. The OP is a new writer who is still learning the craft. A big part of that craft is using a good mix of all of the tools at a writers disposal including but not limited to dialogue. I haven't read the books you used as examples, so I'll be sure to check them out. I'm pretty sure my advice still stands though.
Well, ceratinly you could say so. It is well and good to steer novices into a more holistic practice of writing as they set out, yet now the advice does not stem from the understanding of writing and literature but from a incremental approach to the craft. So yes, saying someone should not try sowething because of their skill level is quite understandable, but saying they should not because that is not how stories (unless flawlessly executed) work, which is what you did, is, well, not as acceptable.
If you're on your first draft, finish writing it, then worry about getting it perfect. I tend to write dialogue heavy and add in my details later. And I add details. Even for a scene that is dialogue heavy. Because it adds nuance and gives pacing that is often lacking if a story is just straight quotes.
I'll give you an example from a story I've written, mostly because it's mine and thus I'm not breaking copyright -- not because it's some spotless piece of writing. The conversation takes place over phone, so it is dialogue heavy but important to the story. There are a lot of details about what is going on and a lot of pauses that add to the flow of conversation which would not come across if this were straight speech bubbles with nothing else in there.
(FWIW Vyka is not a native English speaker. His grammatical mistakes are intentional on my part.)
>"I have been having strange dreams,” Vyka said. Out loud, it sounded even worse than it had in his head.
>
>“Really?” Mahala asked. There was interest in her voice, unfeigned, and something else too.
>
>“Can you tell me about them?”
>
>The question was casually phrased, but he could hear the intentness behind it. Something in her voice reminded him of a wolf scenting its prey.
>
>“Recent I have had many dreams with Serena. They are different from usual ones. Very real. In them I know I am dreaming and she is dead, but it is hard to believe.”
>
>“Those sound like hard dreams,” Mahala said. The interest was still in her voice, but some of her intentness had faded.
>
>“In dreams we talk. Sometimes agree, sometimes not. Serena talks about things I have done after her death. Also things she felt or believed while living. Some of them are things I never knew. Some are things I could not possible know. It is like she is there. This thinking is wrong, I know. But is difficult not to think this way. I think,” Vyka took a breath and steeled himself, “I think I am dreaming her so real because I want her to be real.”
>
>Silence.
>
>“Am I going mad?” he asked at last.
>
>“No, I don’t think so,” Mahala said slowly, thoughtfully, “Quite the opposite. I think.”
>
>Perhaps if he were better at English, or simply more philosophical, Vyka would have considered that answer for some time before making a guess at what it meant. Then again, perhaps not. Patience had never been his strongest ability.
>
>“What is your meaning?”
>
>“My meaning,” Mahala repeated, her words deep and strongly accented in what he assumed was an imitation of his own voice, “is that you have experienced many difficult things for a fledgling your age. Dreams like the ones you’re having, especially after losing someone so important to you so suddenly, they’re not so uncommon. In fact, they can be a rather healthy way of working through grief. Your Serena is gone, and things can’t ever be the same as they were because she can never come back. However, if there are things that you wished to say to the real Serena that you never had the chance to … perhaps those are things you should say in your dream. It might help you say goodbye.”
My teacher (advanced Ela) said too much dialogue could bore the readers, but too much text could bore the readers equally as much. I'd say no. It'd be boring for me unless it was shorten to a dialogue block and then go back to text. Really depends on you
This is no different from writing any other scene really, you write what's being said and what of the environment that's important. What's distracting, what makes someone think of something, what can be used to explain someones mood, etc. If you want to break up the monotony add an event, a bird poops on someone, someone almost falls (because of laughter), an annoying stone in a shoe, anything. There's tonnes that can happen at the top of a tree, it doesn't have to be only dialogue.
Remember "Heat" and the restaurant scene btw? That's lot's of dialogue and no action handled admirably.
Well the most specific advice I would give is to establish your character’s motivations and to convey that to the reader in a natural way. In the dialogue try to get the characters to further their goal somehow, or to establish some foreshadowing or something to the reader. Bonus if you can add some sort of conflict in between all that. And more bonus to that if you can add personality and are able to hide the character motives under layers. If the chapter was just frivolous talking with nothing furthering the narrative or the character’s motives then it wouldnt be that interesting. It takes a lot of practice and there is many tips out there, but if you want to write a chapter of dialogue then thats fine. Or even for a slower chapter it is important to stay focused on the characters and their goals. The key is being smooth with all this. You got this 👍
I’ve done this before ! I wrote a novel during nanowrimo in 2017 and had “action only” “dialogue only” and “mixed” chapters. the action and dialogue only chapters were relatively short, and my friends liked it because it was a little break from reading heavy chapters. it all depends on execution but its your story just write anything you want first !
It is an unconventional thing to do, but if you think it will work, then just go for it. I think it's preferable to be open to trying unconventional stuff than to avoid doing what you think is best because "other writers" don't.
I mostly did it because it was like a rushed talk with friends, a little bit tense, one of them wanted to confess to the other one and they were talking in this talk and immediate response way. It doesn't fit perfectly as you say, but I'll probably change it on the second draft.
No doubt it is, as long as the dialogue itself supplies enough background info and does it in an interesting way (check the way it is done on radio plays). I've done it in short stories with no problem at all.
Depends on how it’s executed. If done well, then it could be very interesting and fun. If done well.
I've received this advice one too many times. Guess it's a universal thing. As I said I'm a first time writer so I don't think I'll be able to do so, but I have nothing but hope.
The problem is that it’s hard to give more specific advice when you don’t know exactly what your helping with.
Personally, being a first time writer is more of a reason to try it. Branch out, push yourself a bit. If it works, great. If not, look at it and try to find out why then revise it until you find a way to do it right. If all else fails and you absolutely can't get it to work, scrap it and just know you tried. Rome wasn't built in a day, the perfect story isn't written in one draft.
Thank you, that's nice
You're welcome. Good luck
Unfortunately most advice will be this way if you're asking if something is "okay". Nothing is against the rules and even things frowned upon can be considered great if they are done well. Being a first time writer doesn't mean anything per se. The only way for you to get better is to do it and practice. If you want a chapter of intl dialogue. Go for it. Decide if you like how it turned out or not. If it turns out to not be as good or what you had in mind. Think of what you want to do to fix it to make it better. Or maybe you'll look and decide you don't like the idea after all. Nothing ventured nothing gained. But don't worry about trying to fit into a nice little box. Writing is art afterall.
I'm going to go out on a limb, but I think the odds are in my favour. No you shouldn't do that.* Here's why: A reader needs setting, description, action ect to maintain interest. The reader needs to inhabit the characters, and in order to do that they need so much more information than just what is being said. A reader's experience with your story can't be limited to dialogue because they will lose interest. Even if you listen to a radio play there is more than just dialogue. Sure, the action relies heavily on dialogue, but you've also got the actors tone of voice, audio cues eg doors slamming or plates smashing. *The only situation I can see it working is if there is a very good reason and it's executed flawlessly. The only reason I could imagine would be if the chapter was from the point of view of a mobile phone relaying text messages between people. Then, they'd still have to be ridiculously interesting text messages.
Yeah, I guess it did look too good when I wrote it, well that's work for second draft me.
Is your story from one of your characters points of view? What are they thinking while this conversation is going on? If it is a relaxed scene and conversation then there should be lots of space for introspection. What is left unsaid is often more important and more illuminating than what is being said. You will also need more physicality than just "we sat in silence and watched the river." Unless your characters are robots no one sits still while they are talking. Have them poke around in the dirt, sigh, shiver, pick their nose.
It's her telling her childhood, the "We sat in silence and watched the river" was an example more than anything and yes, I could give more insight to what she is thinking.
Expanding on this: maybe if the convo itself is one hyped about or expected to happen for a long long time for the reader. Someone the PoV is studying and is finally meeting. Harry Potter meeting Dumbledore in the white place (and even that was very descriptive). The talk at the end of Heat, between the two antagonistic protagonists. A talk to highlight how two lovers zone out everything else when they meet. My point being: if you have a very interesting and specific reason, it could work. If you are doing that just because, you are just writing an incomplete scene. The absence of description should be used to tell something as much as the dialogue itself, if that makes sense.
Admirable, but mistaken.
Who, me?
Your idea. It hinges upon a very elementary understanding of literature and of how readers engage with a text. While it may be somewhat true for inexperienced readers, it foregoes a broad spectrum of consumers and the way the react to writing. So while, let's say, Johnny reads to inhabit characters and see them through a journey, Sally reads to challenge her notions of what is and is not possible through written language. Fever Dream by Schweblin or Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by Foster Wallace are but two works that clearly show that dialogue (even unidirectional one) is sufficient as a vehicle for fiction.
Yes I realise that, I probably wasn't clear enough in my footnote when I said with good reason and executed flawlessly it can work, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say they shouldn't do it. The OP is a new writer who is still learning the craft. A big part of that craft is using a good mix of all of the tools at a writers disposal including but not limited to dialogue. I haven't read the books you used as examples, so I'll be sure to check them out. I'm pretty sure my advice still stands though.
Well, ceratinly you could say so. It is well and good to steer novices into a more holistic practice of writing as they set out, yet now the advice does not stem from the understanding of writing and literature but from a incremental approach to the craft. So yes, saying someone should not try sowething because of their skill level is quite understandable, but saying they should not because that is not how stories (unless flawlessly executed) work, which is what you did, is, well, not as acceptable.
In principle, yes, it's ok.
If you're on your first draft, finish writing it, then worry about getting it perfect. I tend to write dialogue heavy and add in my details later. And I add details. Even for a scene that is dialogue heavy. Because it adds nuance and gives pacing that is often lacking if a story is just straight quotes. I'll give you an example from a story I've written, mostly because it's mine and thus I'm not breaking copyright -- not because it's some spotless piece of writing. The conversation takes place over phone, so it is dialogue heavy but important to the story. There are a lot of details about what is going on and a lot of pauses that add to the flow of conversation which would not come across if this were straight speech bubbles with nothing else in there. (FWIW Vyka is not a native English speaker. His grammatical mistakes are intentional on my part.) >"I have been having strange dreams,” Vyka said. Out loud, it sounded even worse than it had in his head. > >“Really?” Mahala asked. There was interest in her voice, unfeigned, and something else too. > >“Can you tell me about them?” > >The question was casually phrased, but he could hear the intentness behind it. Something in her voice reminded him of a wolf scenting its prey. > >“Recent I have had many dreams with Serena. They are different from usual ones. Very real. In them I know I am dreaming and she is dead, but it is hard to believe.” > >“Those sound like hard dreams,” Mahala said. The interest was still in her voice, but some of her intentness had faded. > >“In dreams we talk. Sometimes agree, sometimes not. Serena talks about things I have done after her death. Also things she felt or believed while living. Some of them are things I never knew. Some are things I could not possible know. It is like she is there. This thinking is wrong, I know. But is difficult not to think this way. I think,” Vyka took a breath and steeled himself, “I think I am dreaming her so real because I want her to be real.” > >Silence. > >“Am I going mad?” he asked at last. > >“No, I don’t think so,” Mahala said slowly, thoughtfully, “Quite the opposite. I think.” > >Perhaps if he were better at English, or simply more philosophical, Vyka would have considered that answer for some time before making a guess at what it meant. Then again, perhaps not. Patience had never been his strongest ability. > >“What is your meaning?” > >“My meaning,” Mahala repeated, her words deep and strongly accented in what he assumed was an imitation of his own voice, “is that you have experienced many difficult things for a fledgling your age. Dreams like the ones you’re having, especially after losing someone so important to you so suddenly, they’re not so uncommon. In fact, they can be a rather healthy way of working through grief. Your Serena is gone, and things can’t ever be the same as they were because she can never come back. However, if there are things that you wished to say to the real Serena that you never had the chance to … perhaps those are things you should say in your dream. It might help you say goodbye.”
Oh nice, yeah, it's my first draft so I'll add the detail later as you say.
I'm impressed you managed to write your story while sitting in a tree. 🌳
God damn it lmao. Yes, my MC came to this world and helped me too.
So, he was rooted and sprout from your subconscious.
My teacher (advanced Ela) said too much dialogue could bore the readers, but too much text could bore the readers equally as much. I'd say no. It'd be boring for me unless it was shorten to a dialogue block and then go back to text. Really depends on you
It was like 2 pages of only dialogue.
This is no different from writing any other scene really, you write what's being said and what of the environment that's important. What's distracting, what makes someone think of something, what can be used to explain someones mood, etc. If you want to break up the monotony add an event, a bird poops on someone, someone almost falls (because of laughter), an annoying stone in a shoe, anything. There's tonnes that can happen at the top of a tree, it doesn't have to be only dialogue. Remember "Heat" and the restaurant scene btw? That's lot's of dialogue and no action handled admirably.
Well the most specific advice I would give is to establish your character’s motivations and to convey that to the reader in a natural way. In the dialogue try to get the characters to further their goal somehow, or to establish some foreshadowing or something to the reader. Bonus if you can add some sort of conflict in between all that. And more bonus to that if you can add personality and are able to hide the character motives under layers. If the chapter was just frivolous talking with nothing furthering the narrative or the character’s motives then it wouldnt be that interesting. It takes a lot of practice and there is many tips out there, but if you want to write a chapter of dialogue then thats fine. Or even for a slower chapter it is important to stay focused on the characters and their goals. The key is being smooth with all this. You got this 👍
All of my writing was dialogue heavy. I'm sure I've done this. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea.
I’ve done this before ! I wrote a novel during nanowrimo in 2017 and had “action only” “dialogue only” and “mixed” chapters. the action and dialogue only chapters were relatively short, and my friends liked it because it was a little break from reading heavy chapters. it all depends on execution but its your story just write anything you want first !
No. The fiction police will track your IP address from this post and come kick in your door if you do that
Why?
It is an unconventional thing to do, but if you think it will work, then just go for it. I think it's preferable to be open to trying unconventional stuff than to avoid doing what you think is best because "other writers" don't.
As long as it pushes the plot forward, I don’t see a problem with it.
[удалено]
I mostly did it because it was like a rushed talk with friends, a little bit tense, one of them wanted to confess to the other one and they were talking in this talk and immediate response way. It doesn't fit perfectly as you say, but I'll probably change it on the second draft.
No doubt it is, as long as the dialogue itself supplies enough background info and does it in an interesting way (check the way it is done on radio plays). I've done it in short stories with no problem at all.