Dialogue, Natural Speech Patterns, and Punctuation
Dialogue, Natural Speech Patterns, and Punctuation
Dialogue and Narrative
Grammar is essential to good storytelling; it keeps the reader from getting lost. When writing narrative good grammar is essential. But when your characters speak they talk like human beings. People don't speak in semicolons and neither should your characters.
Robert Harris wrote a trilogy about the great legal orator Cicero: Imperium, Lustrum, Dictator. In these stories, whether speaking in private or conducting a public oration, Cicero does not speak with semicolons in the dialogue.
Natural speech is a key element in creating an empathic character. Your editor may get stuck with the fine points of grammar within dialogue, but your readers want a character to speak in flow, just the way real people do.
An editor sparked the idea for this post with a comment about the lack of semicolons in a character's speech. My reply was the title of this post: Characters don't speak in semicolons.
Simple tricks to dialogue
As a writer, you can enliven your dialogue by writing in natural speech flow. The trick is to use punctuation and possibly break some grammar rules.
Break up bits of dialogue with periods.
The one place sentence fragments work as thought fragments as the character speaks.
If the character is speaking short sentences as one piece of thought, use commas, not semicolons, to indicate a long thought even if they are "grammatically" separate thoughts which would require semicolons while writing narrative.
Your readers will understand. They don't speak in semicolons either.
Dialogue Punctuation
On the other hand, you'll want to make sure your dialogue is punctuated correctly for interruptions, breaks, and attributions.
Read more http://goo.gl/xN8jPZ
#amwriting #dialogue #grammar #punctuatedialogue
http://www.zaraaltair.com/write-time/characters-dont-speak-in-semicolons
Dialogue and Narrative
Grammar is essential to good storytelling; it keeps the reader from getting lost. When writing narrative good grammar is essential. But when your characters speak they talk like human beings. People don't speak in semicolons and neither should your characters.
Robert Harris wrote a trilogy about the great legal orator Cicero: Imperium, Lustrum, Dictator. In these stories, whether speaking in private or conducting a public oration, Cicero does not speak with semicolons in the dialogue.
Natural speech is a key element in creating an empathic character. Your editor may get stuck with the fine points of grammar within dialogue, but your readers want a character to speak in flow, just the way real people do.
An editor sparked the idea for this post with a comment about the lack of semicolons in a character's speech. My reply was the title of this post: Characters don't speak in semicolons.
Simple tricks to dialogue
As a writer, you can enliven your dialogue by writing in natural speech flow. The trick is to use punctuation and possibly break some grammar rules.
Break up bits of dialogue with periods.
The one place sentence fragments work as thought fragments as the character speaks.
If the character is speaking short sentences as one piece of thought, use commas, not semicolons, to indicate a long thought even if they are "grammatically" separate thoughts which would require semicolons while writing narrative.
Your readers will understand. They don't speak in semicolons either.
Dialogue Punctuation
On the other hand, you'll want to make sure your dialogue is punctuated correctly for interruptions, breaks, and attributions.
Read more http://goo.gl/xN8jPZ
#amwriting #dialogue #grammar #punctuatedialogue
http://www.zaraaltair.com/write-time/characters-dont-speak-in-semicolons
Zara Altair, I'm especially fond of your last section, Dialogue Punctuation. As I was reading, I was thinking, "But what about em dashes for breaks in thought or interrupted dialogue?"
ReplyDeleteDelightful Bonus: Writing this gave me a refresher spelling lesson. I was inclined to use dialog, but I couldn't defend it or cite a source. So I did a bit o' research and see Merriam-Webster.com lists dialog as a variant of dialogue.
Adel Brown Yep, still a variant in our world of changing language. :) Thanks for reading.
ReplyDeleteZara Altair shoooot, it's the character that captures the reader
ReplyDeleteMicheleElys Mer It is!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteZara Altair ;D
ReplyDelete