It was great to see some of you at the two book events I went to, and thanks for coming and saying hello. It was lovely to meet you and have a chat.
This month I am going to events at Woodfalls on the 8th Nov, Blandford Literary Festival on 15th Nov, Bramshaw on 22nd Nov and Langford on 29th. If you are around, come and say hello. Most of these are craft fairs, so there will be plenty of other stalls and opportunities to purchase gifts as well as stock your own bookshelves and do some Christmas shopping.Happy reading.
The top picture was taken at the Verwood Book Fair where there was an extensive selection of books in different genres and plenty of choice in the ‘gifts for book lovers’ department. Including bookmarks!
Dialogue has been on my mind this month.
What is dialogue? It’s a conversation between two, or more, people. We talk to one another all the time, so writing dialogue is simple, right?
Is dialogue more than just words? Can dialogue help the reader to get a more rounded image of a character by the word choices they use? Do they show this by using different word choices when they speak to different people? Can dialogue act as a short cut in showing the relationship between characters? Can it show how they feel without having to tell the reader? Yes, yes, yes and yes.
When you listen to people speaking, they often use filler words, umms, aahs, and deliver incomplete sentences. This makes the speech seem natural as opposed to a rehearsed sentence that might be delivered at a job interview or in a formal situation. However, it is a fine line between making the speech seem natural and delivering boring sentences that ultimately annoy the reader by slowing down the story.
People sometimes use unfinished sentences; their words just tail off. This can be because they are interrupted by another speaker, or perhaps they have forgotten what they wanted to say. It could be because events have overtaken the comment, ‘Don’t slam the…’ for example. Dialogue can set the tone of a scene between two characters. The meandering, unfinished sentences of one character might be finished by another using snapped, impatient responses that show us that this is a frequent occurrence.
In ‘real life’, which of course the writer is trying to replicate, unfinished sentences can happen because the person they are speaking to has heard, understood and already moved on from the comment they had started to make. This often happens when two people have a close relationship and don’t need to clarify every comment or provide explanations. Dialogue can show the relationship between characters and their expectations of each other. It is also a good way to show a history between characters when their connection is relevant to the character and not the plot. ‘Remember how hot it was in Blackpool in ’76?’ The reader doesn’t need to know what happened in Blackpool, just that they were there together a long time ago.
An important function of dialogue is to move the plot forward, to keep pushing on towards the answer to that big question asked at the beginning of the book. In Killer in the New Forest, the big question for Callum was ‘who murdered Brendan Stafford?’ Every scene in the novel keeps this question in mind by giving us information about Brendan, for example in conversations with his ex-wife, or in witness statements by persons who saw him in the days leading up to his death. The words used in their statements show us something of the character of the witness in how they describe Brendan. Some might admire him for his intellect or how he dresses, others might be jealous of his car or his perceived wealth. Dialogue is a big deal. It sets the tone of the scene, develops character and moves the plot forward. It is little wonder that authors often write and then rewrite the same dialogue many times in an effort to make it function fully on so many levels.
This is the view from my office window. With a heavy sky in tones of charcoal and Paynes grey, and the rapidly denuding trees covering the lawn with russet, ochre and yellow leaves, I don’t need too many more excuses to stay indoors and read a book.
Happy reading.