Google Project Entry 2

What is Dialogue?

Dialogue by definition is a "conversation between two or more people as a feature of a story." (dictionary) There are many questions one can ask about dialogue, is a conversation in a book just like a conversation between two friends? The answer is no, dialogue has several specific jobs in literature; "Dialogue must do one of the following:

• Establish the tone or mood
• Provide exposition or back story
• Reveal character and motivation
• Create immediacy and intimacy (build reader empathy)
• Move the plot forward and/or increase its pace
• Create or add to existing conflict
• Remind the reader of things they may have forgotten
• Foreshadow"

A good rule to live by is "The richer the Dialogue's meaning,the richer the story."

Dialogue is "a condensed, distilled version of real talk, thick on meaning, thin on chatter."

Be sure to "Use language particular to a character and organically reflective of their background and personality."