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/lit/ - Literature

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13078392 No.13078392 [Reply] [Original]

Writing dialogue in a novel, how to avoid He said She said over and over?

>> No.13078394

read my diary desu and learn

>> No.13078395

>>13078392
You can have your characters ejaculate from time to time.

>> No.13078398

"hey do you want to go to a movie?"
"what time?"
"nine"
"OK, meet you there"

>> No.13078415

>>13078398
Huh thats a neat trick anon

>> No.13078492

>>13078392
write in a way that will be obvious who said what. It's actually easy after some practice.

>> No.13078564
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13078564

>>13078392
Peter went to the movies alone the second time this week, during the movie he stood up "YO, THIS NIGGA FINNA BOUTTA GET DABBED ON"
Three black men behind Peter all patted him on the back "you ait wh*te boi"
Peter felt so good about himself, finally he was accepted by the superiority of big black cock, he almost ejaculated when overhearing the girls who were with the black men (all white girls) talked among themselves. "he be kinda cute"

>> No.13078733

>>13078492
this

also don’t get tricked into using anything but he/she said (i.e. he snickered, she whimpered, they roared)

>> No.13079304

"Hey guys," Anon said, "how do I write dialogue without constantly repeating he said she said all the time?"
"It's easy," I replied. "You just write in such a way that it's clear who's talking."
"How do I do that?"
"Like this!"
Anon rubbed his chin, doing a big think. "So you mean that instead of saying he said she said all the time I can use other identifiers, like characters performing actions before their dialogue, to make it clear who's talking?"
"That's right, Anon! You can also have characters refer to other characters by their names, like I did, to help out the reader."
"Wow," Anon said. "I didn't know it was so easy."
"Still," I replied, "there's nothing wrong with he said she said anyway. They're basically literary white noise. Your reader will barely notice them."
"That makes sense," Anon said. "I see now they're also useful for pacing out the dialogue, inserting them where you want characters to pause in their dialogue."
I nodded, happy that Anon was beginning to understand. "That's right! You should use adjectives carefully," I warned, "but don't be afraid of them either. They can help to clarify a speaker's tone. If your speaker talks a lot it should be clear from the dialogue, but if they're a man of few words you might need to be a bit more descriptive because you'll have less dialogue to work with."

>> No.13079327

>>13078733
Pleb rule

>> No.13079331

>>13079304
breddi gud

>> No.13079346

Don't use dialogue

>> No.13079350

>>13079304
Kek'd heartily

>> No.13079352

>>13079346
t. plato

>> No.13079378

While we're on the topic of dialogue, how do should I differentiate the character's speaking patterns? The cheap and easy way of doing it is introducing accents (like 'yer' instead of 'you're') but it can be really annoying and there's not enough variety.
I don't know if it's just me but it feels like many of my characters simply speak like me and it feels too obvious.

>> No.13079386

pull a Gaddis and make the whole book unattributed dialogue. No need to worry about he said, she said.

>> No.13079390

>>13079378
And on another note, how long should a conversation be? I feel like it can get tiresome just reading people talk without small breaks but god damn do I run out of things to describe in between the conversation.

>> No.13079396

>>13079378
I see too many people exaggerate this as if it were some goal in itself to make use of this literary tool. Keep it simple and do not exaggerate the accents any more than you believe them to be within the plausibility of your characters.

>> No.13079442

>>13079390
>I run out of things to describe
It sounds like you are just failing to find what you need within the scene. I like to make ties in the scenery to the characters.
>(insert noun here) worn from constant use, now rusting in neglect - forgotten.
Within this simple example we can get a sense of time and age, some connection between the character and the type of object and the culture that surrounds it, and the fact that he no longer engages in an activity requiring the mentioned object - though he keeps the tool at hand, possibly because he has not realized that he has past the point of ever needing the mentioned object again.

>> No.13079455

>>13078392
Use only stream of consciousness for additional pseud points

>> No.13079466

>>13079442
Would it be a good idea of introducing small tidbits of scenery (like your example) to change up the pace of the conversation and not bore the reader to death?

>> No.13079492

>>13079466
Maybe - if the pace requires it. Keep in mind that tedium is not always bad, though few may appreciate it. If the scene itself is tedious then the conveyance of the scene may need to wear this tedium. Introducing the "tidbits" may actually drag the story and build tedium through volume - even if, perhaps, in an interesting way. Keep Aesop in mind as you write:
>http://www.read.gov/aesop/136.html
You can never please everyone.

>> No.13079695

>>13079492
I'll keep practicing then. Thanks, anon!

>> No.13079707

>>13079386
Or do that weird French thing and just have the dialogue be an unmarked, unattributed part of the text :)

>> No.13079715

>>13078392
Just put the dialogue in without he said she said. If you cant make sense of it without specifying who said it, it's dogshit gooblegok

>> No.13079738

>>13079715
what if there's like fifteen different people discussing the logistics of building a new shipyard

>> No.13079754

>>13079304
/lit/ elements of style
b-b-based