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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41005
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I would suggest using a variety of methods.

**Allow the first conversation to be _a bit_ longer** than the rest (do notice the emphasis on the 'a bit'), for two main reasons:

1) You are presenting a new character and it may be best to let the readers make their minds about the character through the dialogue itself

2) Your MC will be making up her mind about the master so let her opinion of him grow through the dialogue (eg., at first she thinks he's weird, then he says something that resonates and, as the dialogue progresses, her opinion evolves and solidifies)

What must NOT be a reason for a longer dialogue is dumping a whole bunch of teachings. A 'master-type' first conversation works best if it

a) teases some important ideas, or

b) gives short, to the point ideas (perhaps cryptic, perhaps blunt).

No preaching (unless you're trying to convert the reader through the MC... and it's still a bad idea).

**The following conversations should have a variety of approaches** as to avoid boredom:

1) Include the beginning of a dialogue but end the chapter (or scene) shortly afterwards. The main idea of that 'session' should be presented in the beginning and what is cut out is the explaining of details. Later on, there may be actions the MC takes based on what she learnt from this dialogue.

2) During another scene, have the MC remember a particular teaching in flashback and then either apply it or correct something she'd done which had gone against said teaching

3) Start a chapter with the end of a 'session'. You don't even get to 'hear' anything deep from the master, but as the MC leaves, she mulls over some key ideas or quotes

4) The MC is talking to a friend and quotes / paraphrases / explains some key ideas she's learnt from the master. This can also work well if she recalls his exact words and then explains them to the friend. The friend can either agree with the master's wisdom or think it strange and ask the MC if she understood that teaching correctly.

This also allows you to work with a realistic detail: one often misunderstands some things when learning new philosophies. It doesn't have to be a dramatic misunderstanding. It could be something that has her phoning the guy and saying 'does X really means 5y+8 or did I get something wrong'.

5) Have a flashback of part of a dialogue motivate her to go out and do an uplifting activity (from sport to volunteering). This one also shows how the teachings aren't hollow words, but actually help the MC in her personal growth.

You can play with a wide range of variations on the points above. Be creative!

* * *

**Word of Caution**

Keep those dialogues you wrote but do not copy-paste them into the novel. Work through them.

For the first dialogue, do your best to make the master's lines simple, short and to the point (or cryptic, but still simple and short).

Whenever you're going through actual dialogues, make sure it doesn't sound like a stilted schoolbook. Have some phrases and expressions make them sound like actual people, even if that means giving them spoken ticks (maybe the MC says 'OMG' for anything out of the ordinary or simply has the habit of scratching her earlobe when she's impatient).

Do your best to include the environment in the narration in between dialogues and let actions be part of it too, whether they're the MC's and the master's or of random nameless characters going by. This takes the focus solely from the dialogue and let's the readers enjoy what surrounds them. Above all, it diminishes the feel of 'info dump'.

> His gaze got lost in the horizon.
> 
> "Most people talk about time like..."
> 
> A group of young men ran by, their feet lifting sand up energetically as they raced each other almost violently, some screaming obscenities, before diving into the gently breaking waves.
> 
> "People are so rude!" She grumbled, nearly revolted.
> 
> "No, no! That's precisely what I was talking about. Look." He picked up a handful of sand and slowly let it slide down till there was nothing left. "This is how everyone describes time. But did you see how the sand jumped when those youths ran by? _That_ is how time really works. It is fast and lively when you act, but lies listlessly in the face of inaction."
> 
> She frowned but didn't say she hadn't followed his drift. He kept on talking about time for nearly half an hour but she barely heard him. They were beyond her, those images and parables. It wasn't until she got home and was impatiently waiting for the water to come to a boil that it finally clicked. Those 20 seconds she had stood by the cooker, waiting, had felt so much longer than the 10 minutes she'd spent folding the clothes she'd left drying.

Original score: 9