The Tricky Thing About Dialogue
Image by Volodymyr Hryshchenko
If you’ve been following along, I’ve been breaking down the revision process—imagining it as if it were a layer cake. Revising a novel--or any full-length project--can be overwhelming for sure. Breaking the process down like this is a time- and sanity-saver.
If you’re mid-draft and not ready to even think about revising, bookmark this page (and part 1 and part 2) for when you are in that magical, nerve-wracking place. I think you’ll find that tackling your revision one layer at a time will really help!
Here's where we shine the spotlight on dialogue. And the handling of time. Straight up: dialogue can be tricky. So far in my short tenure working closely with writers I've found that it's one of the first things people say they need help with.
The great news is that, as with other finer details in your manuscript, you don't need to tackle dialogue early on in revision. In fact, I recommend you refine the big picture items like structure, scene creation, rich characterization and all those other things in part 1 and 2 before concerning yourself with fixing what comes out of your characters' mouths.
When it's time to construct this next layer of your revision cake, here's what to consider:
Does the dialogue serve the story?
Dialogue in fiction isn't like dialogue in real life, where we talk in circles, sometimes with half-completed sentences, stutters, and ums. Dialogue in fiction serves a crucial function in revealing our characters more fully through their own words and moving the plot forward. Additionally, we want our dialogue to sound natural and interesting and believable. Where to start? Read your dialogue aloud and see how it hits your ear. Is the dialogue serving your intended purpose? Does it have a natural flow?
Is the dialogue and narration in balance?
Skim through your favorite books (or comp titles) and notice the interplay of dialogue and narration. How does that compare with yours? If you have great swaths of dialogue with no breaks to indicate the scene--the physical presence of your characters, how others are reacting to the words coming out of mouths, the location they are in and how this affects--or not--the dialogue itself--this is a sign that there's revision to be done.
Is the passing of time within your novel clear and logical?
Handling time can be a lot trickier than you'd think. It's why I recommend not worrying about it until you've addressed larger, structural elements. (If you spend a lot of time refining your time signatures before you address some of the bigger issues, you'll just have to do it all over again!) Plotting the movement of time within your novel on a graph or even a calendar at this juncture can be really helpful, if not essential. Whether you are working with a single timeline or two or more timelines, you will want to ask yourself, "Is this clear to the reader--do I have it on the page--or do I just have this clear in my own head?"
(As with the previous revision layers, each of these points were adapted from Author Accelerator's Hierarchy of Editorial Concerns.)
Things like dialogue and time can be difficult to assess yourself. Your writer's group and beta readers can be a great resource to help you see your work as a reader would. And, of course, there are skilled editors and coaches ready to help, too. I'm lucky to count myself among them and would be honored to support you on your project--or help you find the right resource, if you are working in a genre I don't represent. Do reach out if you want to know more!
