Okay, I was going to write my first blog following my resolution on writer groups, but at Monday’s writers’ group meeting, our president and moderator made this comment that caused even the seasoned authors to shake their heads as if they’d heard wrong.
Conversation isn’t dialogue.
Of course dialogue is characters speaking – conversing. What she meant, however, is that readers don’t need to know everything they might say, only what moves the story forward.
For example, you wouldn’t want to have this:
Suzie said, “Hi, Jen. This is my neighbor, Allen.” / Jen shook the man’s hand. “Hi, Allen.” / ”Nice to meet you, Jen,” he replied.
This is conversation that is going nowhere. Instead, consider:
When Jen arrived, Suzie introduced her to Allen. “He’s helping me change my tire,” she explained. “Someone went through the neighborhood last night slashing tires.” / ”That’s awful!” Jen said. “Did you call the police?” / Allen said, “I did. They told us several streets were hit.”
You see that the first is just conversation and the second is dialogue that tells us something we need to know. So, next time you hear someone say “conversation isn’t dialogue”, you’ll know exactly what they mean.
This is the first of, hopefully, many reports on “what I learned at a writers group meeting”. Let me know what you think.
Audrey
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