preparing to craft quality dialogue
and on formatting it properly
To begin, take out your notebook and jot down
anything you/your partner already know about
crafting and formatting dialogue.
o
o
o
Now, with your partner, come up with a list of rules for
formatting dialogue correctly
o Do your best to identify at least 5 rules for accurately
formatting dialogue in writing
o Be prepared to share out your findings
Okay, next, add to that list what you know about making
dialogue sound real or serve a purpose
o Be prepared to share out your findings
Now, join another partnership & share!
o If they noted items you didn’t, add them to your notes
Handouts help:
sometimes seeing
things in print makes
a big difference
Once you have your handout,
highlight/star any of the rules
you had been previously
unaware of or unsure of.
o
Complete the practice page
o
o
On your own, complete the
handout
Now, correct your efforts.
o
Are you a quotation pro?
—because sometimes
students learn better
through the use of an
audio/visual aid
Again, add to your
notes as you see fit.
Guest writer Sal Glynn writes, “Dialogue is hard to write and
don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Getting characters to have
individual voices has caused more sleepless nights than too much
coffee late in the day. Once the dialogue sounds right and reads
right on the page, there is the problem of attributives.”
An attributive, also known as identifier or signifier, is the “he
said, she said” that show the reader who is saying what. Writers who
try to get around them will find themselves more confused than their
anticipated readership.
Attributives and How to Avoid Them
Use the name of the speaker if it's not already established so the
reader can get right into the scene. Attributives can be placed in the
middle of a line of dialogue, as in:
“Nasty as the job may be,” said Henrik, “the goat needs a
good scrubbing.”
Trust your ear in deciding where to insert. Never break into the
dialogue with:
“Nasty as the job,” said Henrik, “may be, the goat needs a
good scrubbing (1).”
For a short line of dialogue, attributives usually go at the end, like so:
“Help me find my leopard skin pillbox hat,” said Daphne.
You can avoid attributives by using the name of the character being
addressed, as in:
“Daphne, your leopard skin pillbox hat is on top of the
refrigerator.”
“Go scrub a goat, Henrik.”
When two characters are speaking, attributives are only necessary for
the characters' first appearances:
“That’s an attractive hammer,” he said.
“A family heirloom,” she said.
“I never would have guessed.”
“You don’t look like the guessing type.”
The reader will keep track of “he said” and “she said” after the
preliminary exchange. Further attributives will slow down what
promises to be an interesting conversation.
Creative Attributives
Simplicity is the rule in attributives. Many writers try to think
for the reader by replacing “said” with words
like grunted, growled, demanded, bellowed, cooed, roared, squalled,
and simpered. If the tone of the dialogue is not immediately
apparent, rewrite the dialogue and not the attributive.
This goes double for adding
adverbs like belligerently, arrogantly, haughtily,angrily, coquettishly,
happily, slavishly, and jokingly. Before using any of these or others,
ask yourself how someone would sound if they spoke in that
manner. When the answer comes back, “I don’t know,” rewrite the
dialogue until you do.
Writing for Readers
Many writers rebel at the idea of “he said, she said.” They
complain of the blandness and they are right. “He said, she said,” is
transparent on purpose. The writer’s job is to put the dialogue into
the mind of the reader (2). With too much information, readers have
no room to make the story their own. As Kurt Vonnegut wrote in
comparing films to novels, “There are tens of thousands of A
Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, since each reader has to
cast, costume, direct, and design the show in his head (3).” The
simple attributive makes for a livelier scene.
Now that you understand attributives, remember the quick and dirty
rule is keep them simple and where they belong.
So, now we know
how to format and
punctuate dialogue!
Yeah. But can
we write it?
Well, maybe this
video will help.
(Remember, take notes!)
Tomorrow’s ticket in the door…
o
In your notebook, under today’s notes…
o Take the contents found on the next slide and
put them into dialogue form—be sure to:
o Format the dialogue correctly by accurately
using quotes, commas, indentations, etc.
o Keep in mind the attributive information
you just learned today by listening to
Grammar Girl
Abdi:
Cam:
Abdi:
Cam:
Abdi:
Cam:
Abdi:
Cam:
Abdi:
Cam:
Abdi:
Cam:
Abdi:
I was thinking I might ask Becky to Prom.
Really? Becky?
Yeah, why not?
Well, she’s not really your…type.
Who’s in the what now?
She’s not the kinda’ girl you normally hang with, you know—
No, I guess I don’t know. What then IS my type?
You know—you typically go for…well, nerdy girls
Becky’s smart; really smart.
Yeah, fine, but she’s also hawt.
You sayin’ I can’t get a hottie? …and a smart one at that?
I didn’t say that.
Yeah. Yeah, you did.