Narrative or Dialogue – Which is easier to write?
I have achieved several writing goals in the past year which includes being published in a magazine. I am very proud of how far I have come in terms of dreaming about writing and actually doing it. I suppose most bloggers have secret dreams of becoming writers and living off writing heavy novels that inspire people (sounds like fun to me lol!) but reality sets in: what exactly makes an amazing novel ?
Narrative and dialogue most definitely come into it but how ? I love reading narrative and I think dialogue adds a nice break to it but I am finding dialogue much harder to write than narrative. much harder. I am working on a short story at the moment and I am very tempted to bin it because the dialogue feels fakey yet the narrative flows out much easier. Do any aspiring writers have this problem too ? Maybe it is because I am writing a short story but I feel like it is looking very pedantic.
I may post a fragment of the short story for critiques so stay tuned!
@black|woman|unhinged — i like your perpspective on screenwriting being like playwriting. where do you think it changes ? does screenwriting have to be more visual because it is done on film ?
__________________________________
Hmm, that’s an interesting question.
I would say playwriting is more contained, but the acting is bigger. In a film, the opposite happens. It’s more expansive and the acting (hopefully)is more subtle.
In screenplays the action lines usually contain minimal description on the visual set-up. The interpretation is left to the director. If you make no-budget indie films like myself, and you are both the writer and the director, no one cares if you write 10 pages of action lines…which I do way too often!!!
I definitely has this problem. My suggestion is to write something put it down for a few days and then look at it again. I think sometimes when you are away from your writing and come back to it you gain more perspective.
Narrative is perhaps even more important then the dialogue. Because the narrative is the actual story and the story has to make sense. I find some novels I have read recently rely too much on dialogue and I wonder how those writers got book deals?
@waltzingaustralia — I find it very interesting in how you view non-fiction as a way of sharing ( hope i didn’t mince your words!). I also agree with you when you mention being internally focused: i would argue it is so much easier to be internally focused as opposed to externally because writers have to draw from what they know.
@black|woman|unhinged — i like your perpspective on screenwriting being like playwriting. where do you think it changes ? does screenwriting have to be more visual because it is done on film ?
Aulelia – I really dug the way the novel was turning out, but realized pretty quickly that it could be a frustrating read in today’s market. Even now I try to make my writing less dense and more airy.
At a point I felt it could benefit from dialogue because it was written in 1st person. When I attempted to do it I was thrown off. It completely broke my natural self-expression. I’ll try it again when I have some idea how to integrate everything better.
Waltzingaustrailia – yeah, it’s hard to switch up. I think it’s much more important to write from your strength and stick with it instead of being mediocre at some other style.
Case in point – In commercial films, screenwriting is a lot like playwriting, especially in chatty films like Pulp Fiction. The director, Tarantino, is full of energy, and enjoys talking and listening to other people. Then there are directors like Kubrick who seem preoccupied. His films seem to focus on everything but dialogue to tell his story. Yeah, there is dialogue, but usually after long stretches of silence. I can’t imagine Kubrick writing and directing a film like Tarantino or vice versa.
I write about history, food, and the world. I love sharing things I think are good, and I find that writing is a way of sharing what I learn, see, and experience. It is a way for me to connect with the world and anchor myself and others in where we came from, as well as sharing things others might never see.
Of course, fiction can be a way of teaching, too, as it often shares truth through illustration — sort of like Jesus and the parables. The Prodigal Son is more powerful for being a story than it would have been as a sentence of instruction. So I love great fiction (theater or literature) — I just don’t feel driven in that direction.
I do love the comment above by black|woman|unhinged about whether you’re listening to internal or external dialogue connecting to the ease with which one writes dialogue. I think that’s a very good observation, as I’ve read other writers’ comments on how listening to the people around them helped them write dialogue. I tend to be more internally focused, but the few times I’ve had to write anything like dialogue it has generally been close to quoting someone else. For myself, I find writing narrative so much easier than writing dialogue, and perhaps this is why.
hello everyone, thank you for all your wonderful comments!! this topic is very interesting and something which i need to think about somemore.
black|woman|unhinged — did you feel like your novel needed dialogue or was stream of consciousness perfect for the novel ?
rawdawgbuffalo — i feel like i am not scared of the characters but i am fearful of dialogue because i think it is something integral to a story but something that is also inherently fragile too.
waltzingaustralia — welcome to the blog & thank you for your well-wishes. what kind of non-fiction do you write and what do you feel special about non-fiction?
g-nigeriana — i respect anyone who can write a play. i think writing a play would be harder than writing a novel.
terry finley — i like your point about “one hand washes the other”
Well I find both just as easy. Dont know why, if a writer aint scared, they write waht arthe say and hear and i always write like i talk and like im speaking to u
I have a theory -
If you tend to listen to your own internal dialogue, narrative is easier to write.
If you tend to listen to other people more, dialogue is easier to write.
I’m a screenwriter, but I tend to avoid dialogue.
I’m also writing a non-fiction book which is easier to write, because there is no dialogue.
A long time ago, I began a novel, heavily stream-of-consciousness writing, when I realized by page 100, I had no dialogue. Maybe I’ll get back to it when I can think of a way to include other voices.
Love your blog, by the way.
Congratulations. I write nonfiction, but I appreciate the different skill-set that goes into fiction writing. Hard work, however, belongs to both camps. Good luck with your dialogue wrting, and hope you attain the success of which you dream.
funny…i prefer dialogue-hence my love of plays…but dream of writing a novel, so i have to get better with the description…what helps me with dialogue is actually getting out and watching and listening to people…listen to how people talk, interact and react…it helps write more realistic dialogue…i also have a sister who studied psychology who i bounce ideas off…she helps tell me what is realistic for a person who is lying to her mother to say and the level of a reaction…dialogue is tricky because you have to extract yourself from it somehow, so your characters are distinct…people watching and find a friend who studied and enjoyed psych…good luck…you should visit atutupoyoyo’s blog as he has posted a writing opportunity you may be interested in…
Personally, I enjoy getting into dialogue,
but it would flop without description.
One hand washes the other.
@Baby Please – thanks for the advice! i think you are right that it is about taking a break sometimes. i think i am going to reformat it completely!
Hmmm. I’ve never written a short story or novel; only a script; so it’s different. I struggled more with the formatting and methodology than the narrative or dialog. But it’s not the same as what you’re doing. Be patient with yourself, Aulelia. And take a break from the work and then return to it. That may help you. It’s good to approach your material with fresh eyes. Hope this helps.