How to convert dialogue in to paragraph?
This is my first time writing a novel. In my novel, there is a part of the married life of my protagonist who is a woman. I don't have any experience of married life so I have taken inspiration from a movie. There is pages and pages of dialogue between the two for an e.g. this one...
What time is it?” I asked.
“Half past Ten”
“I am glad we went to see the movie”
“Yeah, after a long time, something realistically sensible”
“Aakash, do you believe two people can spend a lifetime together?”
“It’s a ridiculous convention passed down from god knows where.”
“A five-year contract would be ideal. Or an agreement subject to renewal.”
“Would that be applied to us too?
“No”
“Why not?”
“We are the exception that proves the rule.”
“So you think we will stay together?”
“That sounds like a strange question”
“Doesn’t it bother you to never get to sleep with anyone else?”
“No. Does it bother you?”
“Sometimes, yeah”
“I’ll be damned”
“On a purely speculative basis”
“I wonder whether something's wrong with me”
“I don’t have fantasies like that. I am content”
“Well so am I”
“Oh Now I get”
“I know why Zhenya and Boris in the movie go through hell”
“They do not speak the same language, I mean in terms of expressing themselves like expressing their thoughts and feelings, I think he did not ever understand what she meant when she said what she said, that really is a couple of story moving for separation. They should translate everything into a common language.”
“Ahhh I think its simpler than that”
“You and I we understand each other, we speak the same language, that’s what makes us click”
How should I convert it into a paragraph? Is there any trick?
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1 answer
First of all, what do you mean by "taking inspiration from a movie"? If you mean copying the dialogue from a movie line for line, you're not allowed to do that. That's plagiarism.
I would also question your statement regarding "having no experience with married life". You might not be married yourself, but what about your parents? Your parents' friends? Your own friends? Acquaintances? Surely you must know somebody who is married? It is also perfectly fine to take inspiration from stories you encounter, whether in literature or film, provided what you take is inspiration, rather than verbatim quotes. Inspiration means asking yourself what would a character who is in some way similar to the one you've seen, do in a situation you've created.
But if your question is "I have written what both people say, but the words aren't really enough for it to work", the answer isn't too complicated. The words aren't the only thing happening in the scene. There's how the words are said - angrily, ironically, lovingly? There's what the characters are doing while they're talking - looking at each other, fidgeting, eating breakfast? What else is going on - chirping birds, something on TV, arguing neighbours? You've also got to give sufficient indication to who says what, since your readers can't "see" the scene.
You add those elements to the extent that they enhance the scene, but do not drown it. (For that, of course, you need to have a very clear understanding of what the scene is supposed to do.) Then you've got yourself a passable dialogue scene.
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