Help with Dialog

Anybody know how to write good dialog?
Any tips that you can provide would help.

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My insanity is what keeps me sane.
生命は吸う。それの取り引き。

"I don't write for morons. I refuse to lower my intelligence so I could have a conversation with someone who happens to be an idiot, and who thinks George Bush is a genius for saying, "Most of our imports come from overseas." ----- OpposingForce

There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. Which one are you?

Good dialogue... I don't think that I'm the best person at anything but let me try to help you on this.

People often mix around their tenses in their stories, and this is probably one of the places it gets most confusing if you're not careful. Just work in past tense if you're not sure. (Sorry, off-topic.)

Anyway, good dialogue would probably entail certain things.

1) Some action in between.
2) Thoughts of characters.
3) Good descriptions of what's going on. (Including verbs like "shouted" or "moaned")

No one wants to read straight dialogue. It's boring and it gets confusing. Even if you stick in the character's names to make it clear who's talking, it still gets confusing. No one just stands and talks without thinking or doing something.

-Example-

"You're not going anywhere, Cherisse!"

"Oh, no? You bet I am, Jack."

"You wish!"

"Hey, let go of me!"

"No. I'm not letting you go anywhere."

"Let go of me or I'll call the cops!"

-End example-

Well, there's a heated conversation! You can tell there are two main characters, but after a while, it gets a little confusing, no? How about if we add some details about what is actually going on physically?

-Example-

"You're not going anywhere, Cherisse!"

"Oh, no? You bet I am, Jack." She walked for the door, only to have her arm grabbed by Jack.

"You wish!"

"Hey, let go of me!" She tried to yank her arm free, but he was too strong. He pulled her to him.

"No. I'm not letting you go anywhere." His face was full of anger.

"Let go of me or I'll call the cops!" She tried to grab the door-handle but she couldn't reach it.

-End Example-

Is this more interesting? Now we know what the characters are doing, as opposed to figuring it out from the dialogue. Now let's add some thoughts. This creates more character development. Even if you're working in first person, you can definitely use this. Maybe your main character is guessing what they are thinking.

-Example-

He couldn't believe what she had just said. "You're not going anywhere, Cherisse!"

"Oh, no? You bet I am, Jack." She walked for the door, only to have her arm grabbed by Jack.

"You wish!" Thoughts were swirling around his head but the only thing he could think of was pain and anger.

"Hey, let go of me!" She tried to yank her arm free, but he was too strong. He pulled her to him.

"No. I'm not letting you go anywhere." His face was full of anger. Suddenly, she was afraid, afraid for her life.

"Let go of me or I'll call the cops!" She tried to grab the door-handle but she couldn't reach it.

-End Example-

A little more "oomph"? (I think I'm having a little too much fun here... Very Happy

) Okay, let's add the speaking words, and much more description. Just be careful on all parts not to add too much description that it overloads the conversation.

-Example-

He couldn't believe what she had just said. "You're not going anywhere, Cherisse!" he shouted, his normally quiet voice distorted in anger.

"Oh, no? You bet I am, Jack," she answered as she walked for the door, only to have her arm grabbed by Jack.

"You wish!" Thoughts were swirling around his head but the only thing he could think of was pain and anger.

"Hey, let go of me!" She tried to yank her arm free, but he was too strong. He pulled her to him.

"No. I'm not letting you go anywhere." His face was full of anger. Suddenly, she was afraid, afraid for her life.

"Let go of me or I'll call the cops!" she screamed, not knowing what he would do. She tried to grab the door-handle but she couldn't reach it.

-End Example-

Ah... There we go. A good piece of dialogue. Well, I hope that helps. This is my writing style, so this is what I would do. I wouldn't do it in all these steps, but I just write. There are some times where you won't need so much description. That might just be your style.

Hopefully this was helpful to you. Razz

Hm, kinda reminds me of Sanna needing this...

-YuLian

_________________
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Matthew 22:36-40

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"One of the least user-friendly truths that the Bible teaches in this life, something is always missing." -Larry Crabb

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When you're gone, the pieces of my heart are missing you. -Avril Lavigne, When You're Gone

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The angelic half of us.

LOL yes, I did me dear... Good job! =D Very helpful, I will try and do that...but in my own writing style of course...xD

Thanks for the help. I also found this if anyone wants a second opinion, but I doubt you need it.

http://www.finaldraft.com/writers-resources/tips-and-articles/larry-brody-18.php

_________________
My insanity is what keeps me sane.
生命は吸う。それの取り引き。

"I don't write for morons. I refuse to lower my intelligence so I could have a conversation with someone who happens to be an idiot, and who thinks George Bush is a genius for saying, "Most of our imports come from overseas." ----- OpposingForce

There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. Which one are you?

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=96106213&blogID=286461909&Mytoken=EC0CC2DF-381B-4175-8EAE0DF45544281352866635

More dialogue help. Also look at part 2 of the blog when you're done. =]

-YuLian

_________________
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Matthew 22:36-40

---

"One of the least user-friendly truths that the Bible teaches in this life, something is always missing." -Larry Crabb

---

When you're gone, the pieces of my heart are missing you. -Avril Lavigne, When You're Gone

---

The angelic half of us.

good dialogue on the last one...XD, although, I think the main point of everything is to be descriptive enough to keep readers interested but not so much that it gets boring and repetitive. Keeping tenses the same also helps, along with grammar and spelling checks. You can check for everything yourself by writing something, and then rereading everything a few weeks later, you'll probably catch mistakes to revise....or just think, "Did I really write this...?" either because its really good, or really bad....usually its really good, but if it's bad and you don't know how to improve it, ask others, or post it here and someone will help with suggestions...

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Obsession is bad...but aren't chibis cute? XD