Page 74 - DENG102_COMMUNICATION_SKILLS_II

Unit 4: Dialogue Writing

Exposition and dialogue only really engage when one character genuinely doesn’t know notes
what the other character is telling them and it’s natural for them to explain at the moment
they’re explaining it.

l Use the Rule of Twelve: Look at any good dialogue and count the words between punctuation
marks. You’ll rarely find more than twelve. In official situations also we speak in short burst
of words, and your characters should do the same. If you find longer phrases and clauses in
your dialogue, shorten them. Use twelve as a maximum, and aim for exchanges of half that
many words to keep dialogue brief and crisp.

l Write Dialogue that uses distinct voices: Readers should have no problems in distinguishing
one character from another. We should be able to recognize the characters by what each
character says and how he or she says it, just as we can recognize our friends by their
attitudes and speech mannerisms.
l Write dialogue that “shows” rather than “tells”: Often you must have you seen speaker
attributions or dialogue tags that end in adverbs.

Example: “I want the report by today evening,” the boss said angrily.
“I’m not ready with the speech,” she said crankily.
Writers often use this sort of speaker attribution to tell a reader what a character feels
because telling is always easier than showing. But in reality, showing is a mark of good
writing, telling is not.

You must eliminate adverbs and show emotions instead. “I want the report by today
evening,” the boss said angrily, can be better written as:
He slapped his mammoth palm on the table with a force that rattled the papers and said,
“I want the report by today evening.”
The last version has a warning tone, and readers will recognize anger in the character’s
actions, so you don’t have to tell that the boss is angry.

l Writing Dialogue that employs variety: Very often you must have noticed in a dialogue:
he “said” or xyz “said”. “Said” is often the best choice for dialogue tags because used in
moderation, readers glide by “said” without noticing it. However, using too many of them
in succession makes the dialogue monotonous. Repeated, told, explained, advised, and
remarked, are all verbs that won’t attract attention. Nevertheless, replacing “said” with
an assortment of verbs is unnecessary if you write in such a way that readers understand
which character speaks.

Notes Steps to Provide Feedback in a Difficult Conversation
l Seek permission to provide the feedback. Even if you are the employee’s boss, start
by stating you have some feedback you’d like to share. Ask if it’s a good time or if the
employee would prefer to select another time and place. (Within reason, of course.)

l Use a soft entry. Don’t dive right into the feedback - give the person a chance to brace
for potentially embarrassing feedback. Tell the employee that you need to provide
feedback that is difficult to share. If you’re uncomfortable with your role in the
conversation, you might say that, too. Most people are as uncomfortable providing
feedback about an individual’s personal dress or habits, as the person receiving the
feedback.
Contd...

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