I've hit a really bad stumbling block when it comes to my writing. It goes something like...3/4's of my writing is dialog. No exceptions.
I believe that the dialog itself is good, but when I read the stories themselves they seem very quick. It's a very odd feeling, and it definitely feels like it because of the excessive dialog/description ratio.
So, if you guys have any suggestions, any books with great description or written by authors known for it would be much appreciated.
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Anonymous2009-01-23 19:37
>>1
You're saying that your writing reads like a Gilmore Girls episode? That's bad, man.
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Anonymous2009-01-23 20:09
Wouldn't know. Though, if a GG episode feels like a rush, then it's possible.
And if it's bad, all the more reason to learn. Dialog comes easy enough, but description? Not so much.
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Anonymous2009-01-23 21:22
Make some more of that dialogue internal is all I could think to do. Like a first person perspective where you break down pieces of dialogue with your main protagonist's inner response, and provide insight to why he/she feels that way with instances from the character's own past. Get off topic every once in a while while not getting too excessive.
A book I recently read, Netherland is a good example of this.
Or go read The Great Gatsby. There's no better teacher than a good novel.
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Anonymous2009-01-24 0:28
>>3 Though, if a GG episode feels like a rush, then it's possible.
Yes. It's mostly dialog, invariably delivered at the highest speed possible.
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Anonymous2009-01-24 0:42
You can write well with a great amount of dialog. But the characters cannot talk like normal people. The Dune series is an example, people talk in long sentences and long paragraphs without interruption.
Also, reading what you wrote will seem faster than reading what others wrote. Same thing goes for rereading books: you remember vaguely parts of the writing.
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Anonymous2009-01-24 3:09
Just make sure your character's vary and aren't just artificial.
Atlas Shrugged is a prime example of what to avoid
/in before Galt's Law
>>7 But the characters cannot talk like normal people
Actually, I think you'll find that normal people don't talk in huge paragraphs, it's more quick snippets from one person to the other. You want to write dialogue the way people actually talk, that is your goal.
I don't want to write/read a book about normal people. I want extra ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Something like Bioshock. Dare I say nothing of it's breadth has ever been written before or to this day.
I agree with both of you, even if >>14 is a troll.
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Anonymous2009-02-23 19:01
You know, you don't necessarily have to have more narrative or description. Cormac McCarthy, for instance, is pretty sparse in his description and pretty heavy on his dialogue, but it works out really well.
If you want to see how you can follow your style more effectively (which I would probably suggest, rather than trying to change your style overly much. Some writes are just narrative minimalists), I'd read some McCarthy.
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Anonymous2009-02-23 19:04
You could try working with a writing partner.
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Anonymous2009-02-24 19:50
It feels fast to you because of two reasons:
1) Dialogue is fast. This is because our minds usually omit the "said" part of the line, and, hopefully, your sentences are fluid and to the point, hence, shorter.
2) It is your writing. At a subconscious level, and even on a conscious one, you've memorized your words. You know what the character is going to say even before you reach that line of text.
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Anonymous2009-02-24 19:55
Asimov wrote the same way.
I prefer a simple, direct prose style to over-descriptive wankery any day.