Dialogue gives a story color, makes it exciting and moves it forward. Romeo: O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied? Juliet: What satisfaction canst thou have tonight? Romeo: The exchange of thy love's faithful vows for mine. Without dialogue: (cricket sounds) So what goes into writing effective dialogue? Well, there are social skills: making friends, solving conflicts, being pleasant and polite. We won't be using any of those today. Instead, we'll be working on -- let's call them "anti-social skills." If you're a writer, you may already have a few of these. The first is eavesdropping. If you're riding a bus and hear an interesting conversation, you could write it all down. Of course, when you write fiction, you're not describing real people, you're making up characters. But sometimes the words you overhear can give you ideas. "I did not," says one person. "I saw you," the other replies. Who might be saying those words? Maybe it's two kids in a class, and the boy thinks the girl pushed him. Maybe it's a couple, but one of them is a vampire, and the woman vampire saw the man flirting with a zombie. Or maybe not. Maybe the characters are a teenager and his mother, and they're supposed to be vegetarians, but the mother saw him eating a burger. So let's say you've decided on some characters. This is anti-social skill number two: start pretending they're real. What are they like? Where are they from? What music do they listen to? Spend some time with them. If you're on a bus, think about what they might be doing if they were there too. Would they talk on the phone, listen to music, draw pictures, sleep? What we say depends on who we are. An older person might speak differently than a younger person. Someone from the south might speak differently than someone from the north. Once you know your characters, you can figure out how they talk. At this stage, it's helpful to use anti-social skill number three: muttering to yourself. When you speak your character's words, you can hear whether they sound natural, and fix them if necessary. Remember, most people are usually pretty informal when they speak. They use simple language and contractions. So, "Do not attempt to lie to me" sounds more natural as "Don't try to lie to me." Also keep it short. People tend to speak in short bursts, not lengthy speeches. And let the dialogue do the work. Ask yourself: do I really need that adverb? For instance, "'Your money or your life,' she said threateningly." Here, "threateningly" is redundant, so you can get rid of it. But if the words and the actions don't match, an adverb can be helpful. "'Your money or your life,' she said lovingly." So, to recap: First, eavesdrop. Next, pretend imaginary people are real. Finally, mutter to yourself, and write it all down. You already have everything you need. This is fictional dialogue, or "How to Hear Voices in Your Head."
Dijalog priči daje boju, čini je zanimljivom i pokreće napred. Romeo: “I ostavljaš me zar bez utehe?” Julija: “Šta noćas da ti dam za utehu?” Romeo: ”Veru da ljubav vratiš mi za ljubav.” Bez dijaloga: (zvuk cvrčaka) Dakle, šta je potrebno za pisanje uspešnog dijaloga? Pa, imamo društvene veštine: druželjubivost, umeće rešavanja konflikta, ljubaznost i učtivost. Nama neće trebati ništa od toga danas. Umesto toga, mi ćemo pričati o - hajde da ih nazovemo “antidruštvenim veštinama”. Ako ste pisac, možda već posedujete neke od njih. Prva je prisluškivanje. Ako se vozite autobusom i čujete zanimljiv razgovor, mogli biste da ga zapišete. Naravno, kada pišete fikciju, ne opisujete stvarne ljude, već izmišljate likove. Ali ponekad, reči koje čujete mogu vam dati ideje. “Nisam”, kaže prva osoba. “Videla sam te”, odgovara druga. Ko bi mogao da govori ove reči? Možda su to dvoje dece na času, i dečak misli da ga je devojčica gurnula. Možda je to par, ali jedno od njih je vampir, i žena vampir je videla muškarca kako flertuje sa zombijem. Ili možda ne. Možda su likovi tinejdžer i njegova majka, i oni bi trebalo da su vegetarijanci, ali majka je videla sina kako jede pljeskavicu. Recimo da ste se odlučili za neke likove. Ovo je antidruštvena veština broj dva: počnite da se pravite da su oni stvarni. Kakvi su oni? Odakle su? Kakvu muziku slušaju? Provedite malo vremena s njima. Ako ste u autobusu, razmišljajte šta bi oni radili da su tu sa vama. Da li bi pričali telefonom, slušali muziku, crtali, spavali? Šta govorimo zavisi od toga ko smo. Starija osoba će možda govoriti drugačije nego mlada. Neko sa juga će pričati drugačije od nekog sa severa. Kada upoznate svoje likove, znaćete kako oni govore. U ovoj fazi, pomaže pribegavanje antidruštvenoj veštini broj tri: mrmljanje sebi u bradu. Kada izgovarate reči svojih likova, možete čuti da li one zvuče prirodno, i možete da ih popravite ako treba. Ne zaboravite, većina ljudi obično priča neformalnim govorom. Koriste jednostavan jezik i skraćuju rečenice. Na primer: “Ne usuđuj se pokušati da me lažeš” zvuči bolje zamenjeno sa: ”Nemoj da me lažeš.” Osim toga, skratite priču. Ljudi obično pričaju u kratkim replikama, a ne dugim besedama. I pustite da dijalog odradi svoje. Zapitajte se: da li mi stvarno treba taj prilog? Na primer: “‘Pare ili život’, rekla je, preteći.” Ovde je “preteći” suvišno, tako da možete da ga izbacite. Ali, ako reči ne prate dela, prilog može biti od koristi. “‘Pare ili život’, rekla je, s ljubavlju.” Dakle, da ponovimo: Prvo, prisluškujte. Sledeće, pravite se da su izmišljeni likovi stvarni. Na kraju, mrmljajte za sebe. I zapišite sve. Već imate sve što vam je potrebno. Ovo je zamišljeni dijalog ili: “Kako da čujete glasove u svojoj glavi.”