Are you more comfortable writing dialogue or narration?

[pink_silk_glove]

What would prompt you to consider dialogue overdone? I can think of a couple ways I might define it, but I'm curious what you had in mind.

You kinda answered it yourself here.

Agreed. I feel the same way. But do you find the opposite is true? Have you ever been reading a scene with a long conversation and thought, "Wow, these two have been talking forever! I wish they'd shut up."

From time to time you read something where the author seems so hung up in their cool characters bantering away, shoehorning in every little remark that he thinks is remotely witty and you're thinking, "fuck, are these folks ever going to actually do anything? when is something going to happen?"

Last year someone started a 'post your best banter' thread and most of the examples weren't really great banter, they were just two characters talking naughty about the author's fave kink. They weren't terribly clever and they didn't do what good banter (banter being a subset of dialogue) should do and that is to establish the dynamic between the two characters. They were just two characters saying exactly what the writer wanted to hear. The writer was getting carried away with it.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

From time to time you read something where the author seems so hung up in their cool characters bantering away, shoehorning in every little remark that he thinks is remotely witty and you're thinking, "fuck, are these folks ever going to actually do anything? when is something going to happen?"

Ah, you've seen my cutting room floor...

I usually try to stop my characters rambling on and edit them down to get to the point, but sometimes I let myself be self-indulgent. Just be glad I'm not being paid by the word!

Commenters say my dialogue is a strength, but it needs to be balanced with narration. Especially if you have fairly taciturn characters who would be more likely to get through a whole encounter without saying a word. But writing whole scenes just of meaningful looks, raised eyebrows, nods and the odd quirk of lips is beyond me, so they have to resort to words occasionally.

 

[Erozetta]

I'm more comfortable writing dialogue because of all the conversations I have with myself when preparing to try and talk to other people. I literally rehearse potential outcomes/responses so I can prepare to hold a conversation if I have to.

I try not to have more than three back and forths between characters before narration comes into play again.

But I've also written a story where the characters said absolutely nothing to each other during or after sex. (A conversation was had beforehand to establish they they didn't really get along but tolerated each other.)

 

[intim8]

By narration, I mean basically anything that isn't dialogue. It could be scene setting, world building, backstory, interior monologue, etc.

I put inner monologue in the dialog category. It is a character expressing his thoughts, even if not out loud.

What's your experience? Do you gravitate more toward narration or dialogue? Or are you one of those sickos who is equally comfortable in both worlds, able to wield either brush with skill and precision as the situation calls for it, you miserable bastard?

Writing descriptive narration comes more naturally to me, so I guess you could say I'm more comfortable in it. But writing dialog feels like I'm moving the story forward, it's more rewarding.

More, I rely on it, and inner monologue, to trigger ideas for everything from character development to plot elements. Both are all about what the character wants and needs; character development is him striving towards them, plot is about things getting in the way of it. I don't usually have a handle on what a character wants and needs - beyond the trivial or immediate - until I've written some scenes. It takes dialog for me to discover that.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Sometimes pure silly slips out.



"Mmm, you have strong hands Shoeman!"

After I made three selections, I asked him for the total sales price so I could pay him.

"OH, that's OK Ma'am, they're on me."

"Oh, don't be silly Shoeman, I think they look better on me!"

His face contorted as if in pain and his voice only barely squeaked out a "So do I!"

I took $200 out of my handbag, stuffed it into his shirt pocket just below his name tag and patted him on top of his head.

"Thank you Al, I hope this covers it!"

 

[StillStunned]

How about a story that's entirely monologue?

Alright everyone, gather round! I don’t recognise any of your faces, so let me introduce myself. I’m the director, you do as I tell you and we’ll get along fine.

No, don’t bother with your names. Lights, Second Cam, Boom, Makeup. The equipment gives it away. Just make sure you know when I’m talking to you.

Has anyone seen Andy? Looks like a washed-out homeless drunk? He’s not that bad, I promise. He has somewhere to live.

Help yourselves to coffee. Try not to spill any– Fuck, you fucker! I hope your hands are steadier with your camera. It’s porn, we don’t do shaky-cam like those action movie fuckers.

Yes, you fucking clean it up! You think we have a cleaning service on standby?

Right, while Second Cam is mopping, I’ll summarise what’s going to happen. One scene. Male-female. Repairman and housewife, bit of this, bit of that. You know the deal. Should be done in a couple of hours.

No, you’re not getting paid for the full day.

Because we’re only going to be here until midday. Noon, I suppose, to you people.

Because the fucking estate agent – realtor – needs the place back then. You think he wants to be showing buyers round an apartment while we’re filming a pair of people fucking, do you?

No, neither do I. So let’s make sure we’re out of here on time, and no-one else spills any more coffee.

Where the fuck is Andy?

 

[HordHolm]

What I try, try, to do, is move as much of the plot forward as I can in dialogue, not narration. I don't always succeed, but I have a little voice insistently reminding me that I'm not writing an essay, and no matter how much I enjoy narration it will become a dull screed of blocks of text if I don't have the characters discovering whatever it is that's going on through dialogue and reactions to dialogue.

 

[Sappho_CGN]

Narration is quickly boring.

Speech is more lively but mre diffulct to construct in a meaningful way.

 

[yowser]

Dialogue is most difficult when mouths are affixed to genitals.

 

[Tessinwales]

I find narration easier. Dialogue is more tricky, often because I have to translate what was actually said ( or as near as I can remember) from Spanish into English. It often loses it's subtle nuances. Also what I am writing I am seeing in my mind, from memory.

 

[MrPixel]

Dialogue is most difficult when mouths are affixed to genitals.

What? Like this?

"That's about right, sweetie. Ohgawd. Keep going."
"Mmmm. Dats mice. Doo peel tho gud immy mouse. Mum moor."

Translation: "Mmmm. That's nice. You feel so good in my mouth. One more."

 

[AG31]

Dialogue. I just finished reading two books by John Banville, a Booker Prize winner who has written detective stories under the name Benjamin Black. The first one I read was too long and too slow for the plot. Ponderous. It contained page long paragraphs of narration. I ended up skimming just to find out the denoument. The second was mostly dialogue. What a relief!

But dialogue can be dangerous. We all, to some extent, are able to recognize it when an author doesn't have an ear for dialogue. That will pretty much cause me to give up on a book in the first few pages.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

What I try, try, to do, is move as much of the plot forward as I can in dialogue, not narration. I don't always succeed, but I have a little voice insistently reminding me that I'm not writing an essay, and no matter how much I enjoy narration it will become a dull screed of blocks of text if I don't have the characters discovering whatever it is that's going on through dialogue and reactions to dialogue.

How dull the blocks of text are is usually factored by how much exposition is in them.

Use exposition efficiently and in the right spots it can speed up your pace. Use too much of it or in the wrong spots it will bog down your pace. Plot can still be 'shown' in narrative without dialogue.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Dialogue. I just finished reading two books by John Banville, a Booker Prize winner who has written detective stories under the name Benjamin Black. The first one I read was too long and too slow for the plot. Ponderous. It contained page long paragraphs of narration. I ended up skimming just to find out the denoument. The second was mostly dialogue. What a relief!

But dialogue can be dangerous. We all, to some extent, are able to recognize it when an author doesn't have an ear for dialogue. That will pretty much cause me to give up on a book in the first few pages.

A few months ago I read a piece here on lit that was about 10k words and I swear to God it was 7k dialogue. There were large sections, whole scenes where the only text outside quotes was speech tags. There was zero descriptions of anyone or anything and it was a large cast of characters and the only way to tell anyone apart was by their names. I gave up on that. It was bloody painful to read.

 

[Britva415]

To everyone saying "this way or that way is better writing."

Yeah, but OP asked which are you more comfortable writing?

 

[AWhoopsieDaisy]

Dialogue is more fun to write. I actually have to cut back on it in my edits, because as nice as it would be for characters to be good at communicating with eachother, there's a handful that are supposed to be really bad at it. Can't have a mysterious brooding man if he's yapping all of his silly little secrets away.

 

[AG31]

A few months ago I read a piece here on lit that was about 10k words and I swear to God it was 7k dialogue. There were large sections, whole scenes where the only text outside quotes was speech tags. There was zero descriptions of anyone or anything and it was a large cast of characters and the only way to tell anyone apart was by their names. I gave up on that. It was bloody painful to read.

Well, yeah. Anything can be overdone, as was the narrative in the book I mentioned.

 

[ElectricBlue]

What's your experience? Do you gravitate more toward narration or dialogue? Or are you one of those sickos who is equally comfortable in both worlds, able to wield either brush with skill and precision as the situation calls for it, you miserable bastard?

Don't know if I qualify for skill and precision, but I think I do okay with both.

Although someone did say of a three chapter story that they loved the first two chapters, but found the third chapter over the top and theatrical, so you can't even please the same person all the time.

 

[ronde]

Both dialogue and narration are just tools of the writer and have different uses.

I tend to favor dialogue in first person stories because in first person stories, the story is "told" to the reader. What the first person narrator says is always filtered through his or her understanding and or bias. Using dialogue from another character can serve to "correct" the first person narrator's opinions as it can reveal a part of the other character's personality that the first person narrator didn't see or chose to ignore.

Dialogue is also useful in third person stories as it serves to reinforce the narration and also can give that narration a more personal feel.

In either case, narration conveys information. Dialogue conveys the personality of the characters through their own words, and without personality characters are just cardboard cutouts instead of real people.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Dialogue is more fun to write. I actually have to cut back on it in my edits, because as nice as it would be for characters to be good at communicating with eachother, there's a handful that are supposed to be really bad at it. Can't have a mysterious brooding man if he's yapping all of his silly little secrets away.

Oh, hey! Haven't seen you in a while! You made some throwaway comment about vampires going down on a woman during her period and it turned into a whole story that I still haven't gotten around to posting...but people liked the prequel I wrote later:

Vampires Don't Wait Tables
He's a cryptid-obsessed cook. She's just a waiter. Right?

So, thanks!

 

[elizaloo]

I'm trying to finish up my Halloween story today and apparently narration is my forte today! I'm surprised as I always think my characters talk too much, but I guess not.

 

[Melody_Lightdraft2]

When I started writing again, one thing that surprised me was how much more comfortable I am writing dialogue than I am writing descriptive narration. By narration, I mean basically anything that isn't dialogue. It could be scene setting, world building, backstory, interior monologue, etc.

When I'm coming up with a scene, it almost always starts with a conversation between two or more characters. What do they want? How is that in conflict? How does it drive the story forward? All the other stuff in the scene I add to support the dialogue (an oversimplification, but not by much).

What's your experience? Do you gravitate more toward narration or dialogue? Or are you one of those sickos who is equally comfortable in both worlds, able to wield either brush with skill and precision as the situation calls for it, you miserable bastard?

I find I'm more dialogue based, I find it easy to know my characters and how they would react to a given scenario. From a talking Border Collie, to a anthropomorphic mare.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Eeewwww.

 

[Gamblnluck]

With dialog you can assign a bit pf personality without saying it. Of course, my characters tend to talk alike a great deal of the time, but I do try to change things up. Like allowing one character to make smart ass comments often.

 

[Plathfan]

Writing dialogue is WAY easier, especially considering the shallow expectations of this platform.

It allows for a free flow of thoughts, with little attention to syntax or word choice. Plain, everyday language---no need to bother with phrasing, pacing, formality, or vocabulary. Minimal imagery; tell, don’t show---the perfect approach for the incompetent or lazy.

But our readers are like toothless infants, needing everything pre-chewed and spoon-fed, so there’s no reason to overstress ourselves about it.