Discussion 7

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Authentic dialogue: A main requirement is dialect. Dialect can reveal numerous things about a character. People in real life have a unique way of speaking, and literature should mirror that. Imperfect speech is a trademark of humanity, stemming from culture, demographic, age, gender, religious view, ethnicity, etc.  Interactive discourse reflects as much, with the use of slang words in dialogue being key to assisting in these revelations. For example: where a character lives can be deduced with little more than describing a carbonated drink--in the northeast it’s referred to as pop, in central U.S. it’s called soda-pop, while in the southern U.S. (especially Texas) it’s anointed as a Coke, no matter what type of drink it really is.

Authentic dialogue in literature should be consistent: characters to be believable should adhere to the same manner of speaking throughout the novel. A farm boy doesn’t go from a country dialect at the beginning of a story to speaking like a refined college graduate at the conclusion. Also, abstaining from frequent clichés would be much more authentic. Who actually utilizes clichés in conversation more than on occasion, when trying to be clever?

Some contend accents can make a dialogue authentic, but I disagree. Trying to “spell” words phonetically can become confusing and interrupt the flow of a story’s dialogue. Better to describe one’s accent (soft, cultured, southern, etc.), rather than force a character’s enunciation onto the reader.  

Mrs. Which speaking in A Wrinkle in Time:

            “I ddo nott think I willl matterrialize commpletely. I ffindd itt very ttirinngg, and wee have mmuch tto ddo.” (63.)

I would have rather her lisp simply described as such and typed in italics to emphasize her ethereal presence.

My preference is brevity for dialogue. “Too wordy” has come out of my mouth quite a few times when reading excessive dialogue. Make it short and interject it often, without disrupting the flow. It should be used to enhance a story, with minimal tags for identification. Too many “He Said—She Said’s” during a literary conversation is an irritation, in my opinion.

I concur with Pat Holt’s view on dialogue used to describe the emotion, whether it’s singular, one-on-one or group. That should be dialogues' main purpose in fiction. Use adverbs for setting and actions, not discourse.

[The] emotional state . . . will be conveyed in what is said rather than an adverb showing how it's said . . . Use those stronger verbs but never ever in dialogue."

Works for me.

Works Cited

LEngle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. Square Fish, 2007.

“The Ten Mistakes.” Holt Uncensored: Patricia Holt on Books and the Publishing Revolution, holtuncensored.com/the-ten-mistakes/.