Chuck Wendig + Your Authors @ChuckWendig NYT-bestselling fox enthusiast. Miriam Black | Zer0es | Invasive | Star Wars | Damn Fine Story | Sundance Screenwriters Lab alum | Wanderers out 7/2/19 | NSFW

Writing dialogue is a fascinating thing because there's *so fucking much* going on when you do it. A brief, sorta rambly thread to ensue here, so...

I think there's an inclination in writers -- especially those who are very Plot-Forward, so to speak -- to make dialogue to be purely about INFORMATION CONVEYANCE. Informing the reader of information, right? Each bit of dialogue is a shovel moving the earth of plot.

But it can and should be so much more.



Dialogue is like fighting and fucking -- there's an energy exchange, sometimes it's about balance, sometimes about imbalance, sometimes about power, need, want, fear. So much character packed into not just what people say, but WHY.

You think about how humans -- real humans, not just people on the page -- talk, and it's really fascinating. We rarely tell the unvarnished truth. We often lie a little or hesitate or at the least, keep a whooooole lot of cards face-down on the table.

Part of that is just the social contract -- when you say, "Hey, how are you?" I don't necessarily sit you down and give you a lecture on how I REALLY am. "Well, sit down, this shit starts about ten years ago, and I've got a lot of pent-up stuff--"



And you're thankful for that.

But all that stuff is still in a person, and when they choose to share it -- and why, and to whom -- is the stuff that makes good dialogue.

It's interesting to think about what a character's motivation is in the scene -- and I don't mean LOFTY, PLOT-MINDED MOTIVATION like "Well, I want to seek the McGuffin," but stuff that's more emotional-based. "I want to make this other character hurt, and I don't yet know why."

Again, considering power dynamics in dialogue (and fight scenes, and love scenes) is really necessary -- who has the power, what are they doing with it, what is their goal, do they even KNOW what their goal is, or are they speaking and acting out of rawboned emotional need?

Further, it's cool too when you think about *how* a character speaks in dialogue -- not just the why, but some people are simply waiting for you to stop talking so they can start. Others want to stay quiet. Some want to blabber, some want to be curt and to the point.

And that needn't be universal. That "style" of how a character talks will change depending on who they're talking to -- the context of their relationship, of the current situation/crisis, AND the power dynamics at play between them. What they want, or need, or fear, and how bad.

I love being in a scene of dialogue and having it flow in such a way that a character wants to say a thing or learn something -- and they fail to do so! They can't find a way to get information out of their own mouths or out of someone else's. Or they fail at an emotional goal.

Anyway, none of this is super actionable or practical advice -- it's just a rumination of how fascinating dialogue is. There's a wonderful push-and-pull at play between characters, and if you're relying only on PLOT DATA EXCHANGE, it gets boring. Characters begin to sound alike.

This is such a tricky thing because you want to find a way to have this happen in dialogue while also not making it sound as brutally erratic and interruptive as *real* conversation can be.





This speaks to the larger writer conflict of how to keep stories and characters authentic -- and note especially that AUTHENTICITY is not FACTUAL, but rather, indicates the FEELING of reality while not cleaving obsessively TO reality.

Worth noting too that dialogue, as I've noted before, tends to be an accelerator of prose -- it lubricates, because we move fast through it. Which is good. Then you use description and action and larger hunks of text to apply the brakes again, which is also good. Rhythm is key.

ALL RIGHTY WHATEVER I gotta get back to it -- I only note all this because I wrote a scene of dialogue where one character decided (I mean, I decided, but I did so without planning it) to share a big piece of personal vulnerability unbidden.



OKAY BYE





You can follow @ChuckWendig.

Share this thread

Bookmark

____

Tip: mention @threader_app on a Twitter thread with the keyword “compile” to get a link to it.



Enjoy Threader? Sign up.



Since you’re here...



... we’re asking visitors like you to make a contribution to support this independent project. In these uncertain times, access to information is vital. Threader gets 1,000,000+ visits a month and our iOS Twitter client was featured as an App of the Day by Apple. Your financial support will help two developers to keep working on this app. Everyone’s contribution, big or small, is so valuable. Support Threader by becoming premium or by donating on PayPal. Thank you.



Download Threader on iOS.