Patricia Abbott (pattinase): Conversations

Friday, July 13, 2007

Conversations

What is your preference/thoughts on when a long conversation takes place in a novel. A conversation where necessary information is given. Like a police interview or the protagonist explaining the action to her boyfriend. Do you prefer almost no interruptions? By this I mean things like:
She got up and cleared the table as she listened. He cleared his throat and continued. The phone rang but she didn't bother to answer it. They both listened to the sink dripping in the other room.
Obviously in a long conversation, there needs to be some of this. But do you think it should be kept to a minimum or do you find long conversations tedious and need breaks.
Thanks for the help.

12 comments:

Sandra Ruttan said...: For the most part, I think it's natural to have some of these things in dialogue. I actually prefer them instead of standard dialogue tags.

"I can't believe you think I killed Jack!" The chair clattered to the floor as Susie jumped to her feet.

That sort of thing.

However, I suppose there are times when a conversation is so intense you wouldn't notice anything else going on. If it's heated excessive interjections might detract.; 11:49 AM
Sandra Scoppettone said...: I think they should be kept to a minimum. I agree with Sandra R. about dialogue tags, as she calls them.

It's all filler and annoying to the reader, I think. Check out Elmore Leonard for this. Or me, for that matter!; 1:09 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...: I h ave his list posted and agree with it. I can't quite use "said" exclusively though. Sometime you need things like "pointed out"
"asked" etc.; 2:39 PM
Sandra Scoppettone said...: Why?; 7:27 PM
Anonymous said...: I consider myself more of a reader than a writer so my 2 cents worth is from a readers perspective.

Exposition dialogue that starts with, "As you know Fred..." and then rambles on and on and on...it annoys the hell out of me whether it has breaks or not.

Another pat peeve as a reader---slogging through a thousand words about the difference between a North Dakota and a South Dakota accent.

But I can read page after page of dialogue that ratchets up the tension / moves the story forward AND gives some insight into the characters at just the right moment. [ The "right moment" is a whole 'nuther post.]

I also like dialogue interspersed with a lean but textured description of person/place/things. I know it's difficult to do--too much of it can bore a reader right out of the story -- but it's something you do quite well Patti.; 9:24 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: Thanks, John. In the shorts, I never had the luxury of an extended scene or conversation so I'm in new waters here. But I like your ideas on it. My writing group last night was deeply divided on the exclusive use of the word "said" as Elmore Leonard recommends. Yikes. A fight nearly broke out over his place in American Letters.; 9:48 AM
Anonymous said...: James Blish, somewhat ahead of Leonard, also would mock alternatives to said...suggesting, for example, '"Good morning," he pole-vaulted,' then noting in a footnote when this essay was collected that one of his colleagues knew someone who actually spoke rather like that.; 1:04 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...: Although I haven't sunk to that level, I do notice I have to fight with myself not to use alternatives from time to time. Maybe some fourth grade teacher encouraged us to be overly creative in our tags.; 2:32 PM
Sandra Scoppettone said...: Why must you say "he asked" after you've written ?

Also, writing "he pointed out", or "said angrily" comes after we've read the sentence. We've already read it the way we hear it in our minds.; 7:19 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...: I guess I still don't have enough confidence in my dialogue---or in the reader. But you're right.; 12:14 AM
Graham Powell said...: As for "he said angrily", you should be able to tell he's angry just from the dialog.

I had a revelation when reading a Lawrence Block novel a few years ago. I looked at a page of dialog I had just read and noticed that there was not any action or even attribution, just a transcript of what the characters said, but it was perfectly clear who was speaking at all times (only two characters, though).

After that I have tried to make my dialog as bare and free of clutter as possible, although sometimes some action is necessary to keep things rolling.; 3:44 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...: That takes so much confidence! Confidence that the scene is not static, confidence your writing is very fine, confidence you are getting everything you want to across, confidence you're characters have distinct voices. I think if you can do it, you're golden. But I am going back and remove some of the hand movements and walking around that accompanies those sorts of scenes.
P.S. Thanks for the nice look at my story, Graham.; 4:21 PM