Blog Chain: Say what?

It’s blog chain time again. Kate brought up the topic of dialogue.

What is dialogue? Do you enjoy writing dialogue? Do you use a lot of dialogue in your writing (for our purposes "a lot" will be defined as more than a smidge and yet not so much that the quotes key on your computer is completely worn out.)? Do you have example(s) of dialogue you especially enjoyed from something you've read? Do you have example(s) of dialogue from your own writing? What about these examples makes them special?


I love reading and writing dialogue. I think dialogue helps to propel a story forward -- if it's done effectively. Effective dialogue has a nice balance between the words characters speak, the body language they use and the way it grounds the reader in the setting.

The tricky thing about dialogue, however, is what may be effective to some may be distracting to others.

Using Mildred Taylor’s 1977 award-winning novel, “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry," I'm going to expand on the tag issues some of the other chain gang members talked about.

“Well, ole Little Man done got his Sunday clothes dirty,” T.J. laughed as we jumped down from the bank. Angry tears welled in Little Man’s eyes but he quickly brushed them away before T.J. could see them.

“Ah, shut up, T.J.,” Stacey snapped.

“Yeah, shut up, T.J.,” I echoed.

“Come on, Man,” Stacey said, “and next time do like I tell ya.”

Little Man hopped down from the bank. “How’s come they did that, Stacey, huh?” he asked, dusting himself off. “How’s come they didn’t even stop for us?”

“’Cause they like to see us run and it ain’t our bus,” Stacey said, balling his fists and jamming them tightly into his pockets.

“Well, where’s our bus?” demanded Little Man.

“We ain’t got one.”

“Well, why not?”

“Ask Mama.”

Through body language (balling fists, brushing away tears) and dialogue, Taylor gets her readers to see and feel so much about the story -- setting, age, emotion -- in less than 150 words.

It’s brilliant. I’ve adored this book since I was a little girl.

But there are things I don’t like about Taylor’s dialogue. For me, her tags – especially the word “demanded” – interrupt the flow of the scene.

A former UNL journalism professor used to tell the students in his classes that using anything other than “said” and “asked” to tag dialogue is the sign of a hack writer. That's pretty harsh. I’m not sure I’d be bold enough to call anyone a hack, especially a splendid writer like Taylor who has a Newbery Award to her credit.

But I know using generic tags like "asked" and "said" makes the dialogue smooth because readers’ eyes skim right over the top of them. Those words are so common, they don't need to be read and processed.

Tags like stated, exclaimed, squeaked and declared should be used sparingly. Personally, I like to avoid them as often as I can, like this snippet from the current WIP.

“You just seem, I don’t know,” I stammered, treading careful into volatile territory. “You’ve always struck me as kind of a loner type. Either that or you’ve been very deliberate in keeping your friends away from me.”

“I have not.” His tone bit.

“Well, I’ve never met…”

“What about T.J.? We played pool with him that night at the bar. Or were you too drunk to remember?”

I pursed my lips. Maybe the isolation had been my imagination.

Doug scowled at me until the gas pump clicked off. “If anyone has been deliberately guarded about us, it’s been you. I haven’t met anyone you know.”

“I don’t know anyone.”

“Really? What about the people you work with? Have you told them about us?”

I lowered my eyes. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a small town. Because Tam’s husband is a paramedic, and I know you know him.”

“Barely.”

“But we never go anywhere together.”

“Damn, Penny, we’re going somewhere right now. Quit being so dim.”

Doug sounds like a nice guy, huh? Not so much.

Now that this is officially the longest post on this blog, I’m going to turn things over to Christine. Don’t forget to check out what Eric had to say about dialogue yesterday.