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Q&A

Posts tagged dialogue

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Q&A Punctuating dialogue that is interrupted by thoughts/internal monologue rather than action?

So I've got a bit: Alta blinked. She pushed on, smiling, “—the argument. When the argument succeeds, which I still don’t fully deem, even after that—it looks to me like you’ve still got to do a...

0 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by BrassOrchids‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Should I change my method of indicating internal monologue (parenthesis) to something more conventional?

I am writing a fantasy novella that ends up using a lot of internal monologues, often mixed with dialogue, descriptions, and other character's monologues. For example, this excerpt from the first c...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Tropingenie‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question fiction dialogue
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Q&A Secondary Dialogue

When writing a novel how would one best represent background dialogue from a radio or television that is perhaps only half heard by the characters but still important for the reader? Should I have ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Richie Hayes‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to include detailed, long dialog in a narrative written about a few events taking place over many months

A narrator is writing a letter about the last 6 months of his father's life, a narrative which includes around 5 individual scenes, some of which have extensive back and forth dialog. How should th...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by David‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question dialogue
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Q&A How to simulate someone talking with a full mouth?

If, for example, someone said : "How are you today?", how would you go about "translating" this into sounding like they were talking with a full-mouth? Like, phonetically.

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by klippy‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to give characters a unique voice

When writing dialogue all the characters sound the same. I'm not sure I even know what giving a character a voice means, but my dialogue sucks so any advice will be greatly appreciated.

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by pandalarry‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing part word

If I'm writing a dialog and my character get interrupted and cut off in the middle of a sentence can I write half a word and put three dots? I thought it was okay to do this, but I realized that I ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Lymaba‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question technique dialogue
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Q&A Alternatives to starting a sentence with well [closed]

I'm new to narrative writing and especially have trouble with dialogue. I too often am using the word well to start a character's sentence after receiving some information to then ask a question ab...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Seth Painter‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Describing an important emotional turmoil in the character's life I've never been through

I have this young character who grows up to be very strong and powerful but while he was young he was still discovering how strong he was. This incident happened to a friend he's protective of. W...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Dorrien‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A What is the correct way to switch dialogue between two or more characters during a conversation without it being confusing for the reader? [closed]

When I use dialogue within the stories I write I have a bad habit of writing dialogue after dialogue without indication as to who is talking. An example is when I do this in a story “Arden! Dar...

0 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by P.L‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to write an online screen name in dialogue?

Might be a bit nitpicky - but I really want to get the formatting correct - especially because this is one of the first lines in the script. The screen name is: ArgyleMan29 Like this? JACK: Onlin...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Marcus Meier‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Breaking up a talky piece of writing

Dialogue is my favorite thing to write. I tend to use a lot of dialogue in my writing, which sometimes results in long, talky passages -- a bit similar to this question about breaking up exposition...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Chris Sunami‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Dialogue from a distance? [closed]

There’s a Quadbike going down a hill, the two people on the quad are talking, but you can’t see their mouths move. You know it’s them talking as you saw them talk before and know their voices... m...

0 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Hal‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question dialogue
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Q&A Using questions in dialog to facilitate exposition

What are the guidelines on using questions in dialog (between ignorant characters) to expose setting and backstory? A few exchanges between my characters seem to fall flat. I'm trying to sort out...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by DPT‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question exposition dialogue
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Q&A How to break up dialog if some of the dialog is not in quotes?

I have a technical question. In my story, I've several chunks of dialog where one character's response is a grunt or a groan or rude sound or a swear word, or whatever, but is not in quotes. As a...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by DPT‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question dialogue
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Q&A Can I make a character make a philosophic observation or say their opinion, even if it's unnecessary for the plot/story?

I have a character in my story who has the habit of making philosophic observations about life and the functioning of things, or his opinion/vision about something. Although most of his observati...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Yuuza‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question fiction plot dialogue
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Q&A Using a pronoun outside of quotations to refer to a person mentioned in quotations who hasn't been introduced yet

Would the line: "Peter!" cried his father. make grammatical sense? It seems to work intuitively, but I'm just not sure. It's also a tough question to google, as it turns out, so any reply wou...

0 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Flirprum‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question style dialogue quotes
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Q&A Sorkin: "Dialog is music" - In what way(s)?

I recently watched Aaron Sorkin's Masterclass on screenwriting. One frustrating section of it (overall it's quite good, IMHO) is about dialog, and Sorkin says that dialog is important, it can't be ...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Todd Wilcox‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can I make a "meeting in VR" less dumb?

I've written myself into a sci-fi cliche which I have never seen done well: two characters meet in virtual reality. The gist of my scene is one character has been in a pseudocoma, more aware of he...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by wetcircuit‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do you mix dialogue with actions of a character?

I'm not talking about if it's right to go like: "See you later, Mom!" Sierra grabbed an apple and ran out of the front door. I'm more concerned with something I remember seeing but can't remember ...

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Alaerth‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing dialogue

How much dialogue to use when novel writing? I find it so boring and unimaginative to write, but yet when I read I appreciate that it often provides key information for the story. How much is too ...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by naomii44‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question dialogue
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Q&A Is inner monologue a bad way to show character traits?

Is directly showing a characters inner thoughts and conversations with themselves too telly or cheesy?

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Allan Smithy‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A What is the correct way to write dialogue? [closed]

When writing dialogue I usually just make one character say whatever I want them to say and then write "said" at the end, but I feel like I'm doing it wrong. What is the correct way to write dial...

0 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Mikayla‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing a phone call scene in a screenplay

I’m writing a scene that is on a phone call. I don't want to hear one person in a voiceover. Instead, I want to cut back and forth between the two people speaking. Do I have to use a new scene h...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Matt‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can I make dialog sound like that of a six year old?

I'm a contemporary romance author writing a romance Christmas book. The hero in my story has a six year old girl. There are lots of conversations with the six year old, but when I read my story bac...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Constance Bretes‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to create tension during a conversation

In my novel my protagonist speaks to a man while being held at gun point. She (protagonist) tried to kill him. He was her boss, was involved in her best friend's death and wants the protagonist dea...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by E.Milla‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is it okay to sum up unimportant dialogue in the description? Let me explain

Like many, I’m a huge fan of the HBO series True Detective. I was reading the script for the second episode and I noticed this: INT. STATE CID - NIGHT Hart and Cohle enter the squad room, acknowle...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Marcus Meier‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do I format dialogue for an AI chatbot in a screenplay?

In my script, there is an AI chatbot character - ANNIE - that real characters communicate with via text. ANNIE has animated reactions and has an artificial speaking voice. Would I write ANNIE’S...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Marcus Meier‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Dash and space usage for dialogue interruptions, stuttering, starting over

I'm hoping for guidance on several very similar situations, which I suspect are all meant to be punctuated and spaced differently. Stuttering How would you write someone stuttering out the word "...

0 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Domenic‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How much dialogue in a first date scene?

Something I always get stuck with is how to describe a first date. E.g. I have a story where 2 characters are on a blind date, so they have to get to know each other. How much of the date should be...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Claudia Pascali‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do you guide a character into discovering a world? [closed]

I'm writing a story about a creature that takes the shape of a human and travels seeing the world. This character has no clue about this new reality, as he had no body before this incarnation, and ...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Luiso‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question characters dialogue
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Q&A To break free and write something new or finish the rough draft

I'm at a crossroads to figure out the better plan of action. I've heard you should always try to finish the rough draft, but...are there exceptions? I'm wondering if any readers here ran into this,...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by BugFolk‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing a full conversation in free indirect speech

I'm writing a conversation between some no-good thievin' teens, and one of them has stolen a wallet, which has turned out to be that of an FBI member. They converse, written in indirect speech, wh...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Piomicron‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Broken up dialog in single paragraph

I'm writing my first novel, and I'm using a style that seems fine to me, but I'm not positive I'm punctuating correctly. I hate overusing dialog tags. I like the technique of sometimes avoiding th...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Steve‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is there a name for layers of subtext?

For each line of dialog, I have three pieces of text: the dialog itself, and two things I call Subtext1 and Subtext2 for now. Dialog: Self-explanatory, the only thing actually "visible" to the rea...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by noClue‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to avoid repetitive sentences? (Describing actions, he/she)

I was just wondering if anybody had some tips on how to avoid repetitively describing characters' actions in the same way? Here is an example which I'm struggling to reform, mostly because I keep u...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Soph‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is it dull to have a world where all characters cannot speak properly?

I am thinking about setting my story in a postapocalyptic world where all art and literature are gone, and people are mostly illiterate. People lost the ability to formulate deep thoughts, became i...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by FraEnrico‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is it necessary to use words like "said", "asked," etc in dialog?

I am writing a novel. I'm not sure if the below sentence structure is correct. I have not used any word like said/replied/asked. He was looking at the painting. “You do not have to believe me. ...

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Abhishek dot py‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can I write silent communication?

How to write silent communication? Humans communicate in a lot of different ways, often concurrently. While writing dialogue I frequently find myself interrupting the lines to add stuff like the fo...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by FFN‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question dialogue
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Q&A The basics of making a "reason you suck speech" that doesn't feel contrived

"The reason you suck speech" is a trope, that is described as: A character gives a speech on why someone or something is shit. And here's an example: Well done. Here come the test results: You...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Mephistopheles‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A When does use of offensive language in a book go from a character trait or to convey emotion to bad use of English skills

I decided to included some offensive language in one of my novels as many novels do. I was wondering however at what point does it become poor dialogue or just plain bad English. Obviously I'm not ...

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by EJ785‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Doing walls of text dialogue right

Shakespeare did it, he did it quite a lot of times, but there are a few problems with it: He was a screenwriter in an age, where we couldn't afford building enough sets (or cities that don't catc...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Mephistopheles‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question style dialogue
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Q&A When/why are action lines broken up into different entries?

I'm speaking of more than one action line with no other text between them. I guess I'm asking if this is done because they relate to very different actions or actions of different people, etc. plea...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Matt‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing accented dialog guides?

I was wondering if anyone was aware of a quality guide or text translator that would allow for realistic accented dialog speech? Say I wanted to write a character with a Texan Drawl or a heavy Bro...

0 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by hszmv‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A voice over or off screen for AI in a TV script

I'm writing a sci-fi script for a T.V. pilot (my first) in which there is, initially, an AI (that runs a spaceship) with no avatar (that comes later). It is not a narration when that "character" sp...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Kamal‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question voice dialogue
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Q&A Internal and telepathic dialog [closed]

I'm writing a story about mental telepathy. In it, I have telepathic dialog between two characters. First let me say that I've been writing internal dialog i.e., thoughts, using italics. Example...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by terrasculp‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is it okay to have made up words/slang in a story?

In my story there are some words in there that even Grammarly couldn't understand, but they make sense in the story. They're slang, or things teenagers might say. Here is an example of what I am t...

1 answer  ·  posted 7y ago by Aspen the Artist and Author‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Stories with Philosophical Conversations?

I'm working on a short story that has two characters debating a philosophical view. Other than the inherent conflict built into the two opposing stances taken by the characters on the topic, it av...

1 answer  ·  posted 7y ago by William L‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How is a dialog interruption actually shown?

Let's say two characters are conversing and one character interrupts the other in mid-sentence. How would that actually be shown in dialog? I have seen some use a hyphen at the end of the sentence ...

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Osiris93‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Issue with flow of dialogue

When I'm writing dialogue, I have a problem figuring out what is the appropriate thing to say in the conversation. Could you please help?

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by writertip‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question dialogue