Monday 15 February 2016

Newbies Corner: Dialogue and Narrative - Getting the Balance Right.



with Sharon Burke



Dialogue and narrative have important jobs to do. Are you using each writing style to best effect?


Achieving a balance between dialogue and narrative isn't easy. Image courtesy of Daily Mail.  

Many recent category romances are “dialogue driven”. Dialogue is interesting to read because it allows your characters to speak for themselves. It should seem natural, never stilted nor perfect. It is important to “show not tell”. Dialogue interwoven with narrative can do this very effectively. Try to avoid lengthy sections of narrative as these can make your work less reader friendly. Often narrative can be rewritten as dialogue, giving your story pace, and inviting greater reader interest.


It is important to give your characters distinctive voices reflecting their culture and personality. A common trap is excessive use of tags like “he/she said”; many can be replaced with facial expressions or short descriptions of what the character is doing. Tags with adverbs, e.g. “she said angrily”, are best avoided. Rather, the words used should convey the characters emotions. Sometimes narrative can convey irony, when the character means something different to the message his/her words convey.



In this excerpt from Down Outback Roads by Alissa Callen, there are no tags but it is clear who is speaking. Dialogue and narrative have been skilfully interwoven to create an impression far different from the spoken words alone. The narrative provides clues to the background and personalities of the hero and heroine. It is clear that Ewan (the hero) is attracted to Kree, even if he is not yet fully aware of it. The conversation heightens the tension between hero and heroine, and immediately arouses the reader’s interest.





“He met Kree's serious eyes. 'Tish isn't my wife.'
For some reason the denial left his mouth quicker than cattle through an open gate.
'Sorry, I mean partner, though she did introduce herself as Tish MacKenzie on the phone.'
'My brother's surname. Tish is my sister-in-law. The twins are my nephews.' His words slowed. 'Kree, I'm not married, and never will be. I'm a confirmed bachelor.'”







Balancing narrative and dialogue effectively is not easy. Too much dialogue risks your reader feeling bored and uninvolved in your story. It may not “ring true” and the reader won’t know why. On the other hand, with too little dialogue, your story may lack depth. The reader might feel that “something” is missing, and not know what it is.

Dialogue gives your story pace while narrative slows it down. However, without well-written narrative, the reader can never truly enter the mind of your viewpoint character and fully identify with them. Clearly, there is an art to writing good dialogue and narrative, and to appropriately balancing the two: an art worthy of your attention as an aspiring author.

Which do you find easiest to write: dialogue or narrative? Do you have trouble interweaving the two?



I love to love: We went on a South Pacific cruise with my father before Christmas. It was so special to spend extended time with him.




I love to laugh: I’m currently watching episodes from a boxed DVD set of the 1970s TV series Upstairs Downstairs. Mrs Bridges (the cook) is so funny. I wish I knew her.










I love to learn: Asking questions and finding the answers is fun. In this technological era answers come quickly but are not always accurate. This makes for great debates and discussions.


The winner from last week of the signed copy of The Farmer's Perfect Match by Marilyn Forsyth is Joanne. Congratulations! We'll be in touch.


14 comments:

  1. Hi, Sharin!
    Some golden nuggets here. Thank you.

    For me, narrative is easiest to write in the first draft but dialogue is easier during revisions when I'm getting rid of all those unwanted tags and adverbs.

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    1. Hi Dee, I'm a bit like you. Narrative comes more naturally to me when I'm writing my first draft.

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  2. Hi Sharon. You've revealed some great info relating to narrative and dialogue. When the balance is right the writing is easy on the eye and the reading goes quickly. For some writers dialogue comes easy. For others like myself the narrative is the easy part, then I have to work at the dialogue to make it so intriguing that it doesn't bore the reader.

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    1. Hi Enisa, I agree with you. The best writing is easy to read so balancing dialogue with narrative seems deceptively simple. In reality, learning to write effectively requires commitment and hard work. It's also lots of fun.

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  3. Thanks for this post, Sharon. It's a timely reminder for me of the importance of getting that balance right with my current wip. I love writing dialogue and often, if I'm having trouble with my story, I'll write pages of nothing but dialogue and then come back when I'm feeling more productive and fill in the tags and the narrative.

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    1. Hi Marilyn, It's interesting how some authors find dialogue easier to write and others prefer narrative. I find narrative easier to write in my first draft.

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  4. Hi Sharon, and you're right. Going the right balance between dialogue and narrative is so important! I love writing and reading dialogue the most, especially when it's sparkling and witty (Georgette Heyer, Wodehouse, Amanda Quick, Anne Gracie, etc!). The thrill of delight in clever conversation will probably never leave me. I love the unexpected pleasure of laughing at something fun and smart, and enjoying seeing personalities grow through their speech. Too much narrative slows the pace for me.

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    1. Hi Malvina, I agree with you about clever conversation. I enjoy reading it too, particularly when there is humour involved. I also enjoy the way narrative allows me to get inside a character's mind. Both are fun to read.

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  5. Hi Sharon

    I love dialogue. I love to write it. I love to read it. I always start with the dialogue and then layer in the narrative etc around it. Then I usually go back and layer a bit more. Like Malvina I love witty banter and clever conversation which is maybe why I love the Regency romances. They are often chock full of great conversation.

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    1. Hi Cassandra. Great conversations are so enjoyable to read and to have. I think they convey the nature of the relationship between two or more people in a way narrative cannot. I love reading and writing narrative also.

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  6. Hi Sharon, great post and very relevant to all writers.

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  7. Thank you Karen. I'm glad my post will help other writers. Researching the subject matter certainly taught me a great deal.

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  8. Hi Sharon, such a lovely surprise to see my cover in your post. Thank you so much for reading DOR and for using my dialogue as an example. I'm the first to say I find dialogue tough - narrative feels much more natural to write.

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  9. Thank you Alissa. I find narrative much easier to write too. I loved reading "Down Outback Roads". I felt that I could really connect with Kree and Ewan. I recently discovered it's part of a series. I can't wait to read "Beneath Outback Skies".

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