Dialogues or blocks of prose?

[BlackKnightX]

ye, but the downside is that to set up the scene I need to do some REAL heavy lifting, and most of it is in the audience's part.

it's like pushing your bike up a steep hill before descending with a fast and long WEEEEEEEEEEEEE

most people don't sit around for that

I usually go straight into the action and dialogue, and gradually sprinkle the descriptions and the scene setting along the way. I think that way it will keep things moving steadily.

That's an obvious thing. As for beer tasting like shit, I don't even like beer that much. In fact, I dislike most beer styles as they are too bitter for me.

Agreed.

 

[SakeVision]

Dialogue written like a text chat?

Maybe the problem lies in the format? like:

1) “Hey there!” A said.
“Hey, what’s up!” B replied.

2) A: Hey there!
B: Hey, what’s up!

The later is fine too, but takes some times to get used to.

Or maybe you mean like a pure dialogue with no description whatsoever?

1) “Test test.”
”what are you doing?”
”I test…”

2)
“Test test,“ he said.
”what are you doing?” she asked as she tilted her head.
”I test…”

Or maybe you meant the entire page of the characters sitting down and talking to each other without anything happening?

I meant second 1

 

[BlackKnightX]

I meant second 1

Oh yeah, I don’t like that either. When people talk, they don’t just keep a straight face and spit out lines after lines like a robot. So I know what you mean.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Some people on writing.com say I use too much dialogue while others say they envy my ability to write good dialogue. I simply write what I love to read!

 

[BlackKnightX]

Some people on writing.com say I use too much dialogue while others say they envy my ability to write good dialogue. I simply write what I love to read!

Way to go, badass writer!

 

[Cipiteca396]

deriving

Have you ever watch all those short clips of a movie’s scenes on YouTube? Scroll down to the comment section and what you’ll find will most likely be comments about the dialogues or an iconic’s line the character said

Why don't you watch a movie instead, then?

Tbf, dialogue is good. But If you aren't describing anything, it's not a book.

 

[SailusGebel]

Why don't you watch a movie instead, then?

Tbf, dialogue is good. But If you aren't describing anything, it's not a book.

I'm ill right now, so would you kindly let it go, please?

 

[EternalSunset0]

I write more prose, so personal bias has to go with it.

I just like describing how things look, how people look, their changing facial expressions, their reactions and actions, etc to make it easier to visualize things as if they were an anime, movie, etc. Kind of like a play-by-play which I do trim down to try to not bog the flow up too much.

I know there's the rule about not doing that because a webnovel is not a visual medium, but I can't help it

 

[BlackKnightX]

Why don't you watch a movie instead, then?

Tbf, dialogue is good. But If you aren't describing anything, it's not a book.

I never said don’t describe anything, did I?

I stated for a lot of times that I just want to know your preference. Mine’s dialogue but that doesn’t mean that I’m gonna write my entire story with only the dialogue and no description whatsoever. That would be more like a script rather than a novel.

You need the narrative, action, and dialogue to write a novel. The point is, I prefer dialogue in more ratio than the other two.

Why don’t I go watch movie instead, you ask? Well, I did and still do. But in the novels, especially web novels, they have unique and more fun concept compare to the movies. But it’s more like a niche things so they don’t make it into a movie.

It will be really fun to watch them in the movie form though.

 

[EternalSunset0]

On another note, I want to get a lot better at dialogue because when I read light novels, the lines feel so "alive" for lack of better term. The flow feels so good and show personality.

Whereas I feel half of my dialogue mostly exists to just move the plot forward and sound generic most of the time. I think I'll eventually get the hang of it though.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Why don’t I go watch movie instead, you ask?

It's a rhetorical question. As in, "Even if people watch a lot of movies, that doesn't mean you have to turn books into movies."

Sadly, a lot of people do ignore description and just write a ton of dialogue. And that's just not right. It's fine to start that way as a rough draft, but you need to add description to create the scene. If you don't describe it, it literally doesn't exist.

The reader can fill in the blanks, and most definitely will. But they won't create the same world you wanted them to see. And that's why dialogue usually needs to take a backseat when writing.

 

[BlackKnightX]

On another note, I want to get a lot better at dialogue because when I read light novels, the lines feel so "alive" for lack of better term. The flow feels so good and show personality.

Whereas I feel half of my dialogue mostly exists to just move the plot forward and sound generic most of the time. I think I'll eventually get the hang of it though.

I suggest watching movies or anime and observe how they talk. Light novels mostly imitate the anime’s storytelling style. So the story moves rather quickly and have more dialogues than the conventional novels.

And you can also, as opposed to the general belief, write dialogues that don’t contribute much to the plot. It can just be the character discussing about the pop cultures or just having a witty-banter with each other, which make It feels like a real life when reading such interactions.

But one thing in mind—whatever you do, it shouldn’t be boring.

It's a rhetorical question. As in, "Even if people watch a lot of movies, that doesn't mean you have to turn books into movies."

Sadly, a lot of people do ignore description and just write a ton of dialogue. And that's just not right. It's fine to start that way as a rough draft, but you need to add description to create the scene. If you don't describe it, it literally doesn't exist.

The reader can fill in the blanks, and most definitely will. But they won't create the same world you wanted them to see. And that's why dialogue usually needs to take a backseat when writing.

The best way to describe the scene for me is not by adding lots and lots of details, but rather, be precise about the details you want the reader to know, and leave the basic things to the readers’ imagination.

Like a character’s description as an example. Instead of telling the readers about their hair and eyes color, it’s better to tell the readers the character’s unique aspects and the impression they give off.

Another example, let’s say for the setting. A castle for an example, you can just tell the reader, it’s the castle, and they’ll instantly having the image of a castle in their mind.

But as you said, this way, the readers won’t have the image the writer want them to have, so instead of that, I’ll just be more specific.

“It’s a castle made entirely of ice and has the shape of a dragon.“

See what I mean? I can just add a few more simple but beautiful lines to create the atmosphere and then move on to the story.

The point is, I don’t want to stop for long to read the beautiful descriptions of the castle when a few simple words will do.

Though, in the revising process, when I reread my story, I usually add more details afterward if things start to feel rush. But the description is still just a few simple words for me.

I write more prose, so personal bias has to go with it.

I just like describing how things look, how people look, their changing facial expressions, their reactions and actions, etc to make it easier to visualize things as if they were an anime, movie, etc. Kind of like a play-by-play which I do trim down to try to not bog the flow up too much.

I know there's the rule about not doing that because a webnovel is not a visual medium, but I can't help it

Not only are we the same kind of reader, it seems like we’re also the same kind of writer, huh?

 

[Cipiteca396]

The best way to describe the scene for me is not by adding lots and lots of details, but rather, be precise about the details you want the reader to know, and leave the basic things to the readers’ imagination.

This is perfect.

Like a character’s description as an example. Instead of telling the readers about their hair and eyes color, it’s better to tell the readers the character’s unique aspects and the impression they give off.

Hair and eyes are unique aspects of a character, but I'll just chalk that up to a bad example.

Another example, let’s say for the setting. A castle for an example, you can just tell the reader, it’s the castle, and they’ll instantly having the image of a castle in their mind.

But as you said, this way, the readers won’t have the image the writer want them to have, so instead of that, I’ll just be more specific.

“It’s a castle made entirely of ice and has the shape of a dragon.“

See what I mean? I can just add a few more simple but beautiful lines to create the atmosphere and then move on to the story.

Honestly, that description just makes me ask more questions. What type/color of ice is it? What type of dragon? Is it stylized or literally dragon shaped? How big is it? Wings? Where's the entrance? Is there a secret rear entrance?

The point is, I don’t want to stop for long to read the beautiful descriptions of the castle when a few simple words will do.

Though, in the revising process, when I reread my story, I usually add more details afterward if things start to feel rush. But the description is still just a few simple words for me.

It's fine if the place is just scenery that you'll never look at again. But if the place is actually important, like a base for the MC, or the Villain's hideaway, you better damn well describe every point of entry, obstacle, and advantage the terrain can give.

The thing is, the world and setting are characters in your story. Characters that will never ever get to participate in dialogue. If you never take time to describe them, they'll feel abandoned and hollow, just like the MC's third harem member.

Some stories can work fine with a hollow setting. If you could swap the setting with a generic high school or office and still have a working story, then it really would be a waste of time to describe anything. Not my cup of tea, but I'll acknowledge it, lol.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Hair and eyes are unique aspects of a character, but I'll just chalk that up to a bad example.

The point is the unique aspects of the character. If the the hair’s and eyes’ color is their unique aspects then go ahead.

The reason I used hair’s and eyes’s color as an example is because, it’s always not that important. Like in Stephen King’s novel. He usually don’t describe how the character looks, rather, he describes the impression they give off. He is school bully, she’s a nerd with thick glasses, etc.

Honestly, that description just makes me ask more questions. What type/color of ice is it? What type of dragon? Is it stylized or literally dragon shaped? How big is it? Wings? Where's the entrance? Is there a secret rear entrance?

It’s okay, you can ask questions. Thing is, you can answers all those questions on your own, since I already conveyed the important aspects of the castle I want to convey. Any other fine little details, you can add it at your own free will.
(Though, the writer have to keep the consistency and don’t end up adding more detail afterward. That would ruin the image the readers already create from the beginning.)

**One more thing, making the readers have questions in their heads is not a bad things, rather it‘s a good way to make them want to keep on reading and find out the answers.**

It's fine if the place is just scenery that you'll never look at again. But if the place is actually important, like a base for the MC, or the Villain's hideaway, you better damn well describe every point of entry, obstacle, and advantage the terrain can give.

The thing is, the world and setting are characters in your story. Characters that will never ever get to participate in dialogue. If you never take time to describe them, they'll feel abandoned and hollow, just like the MC's third harem member.

Some stories can work fine with a hollow setting. If you could swap the setting with a generic high school or office and still have a working story, then it really would be a waste of time to describe anything. Not my cup of tea, but I'll acknowledge it, lol.

Just like I said, you only need to describe all the unique or important aspects to the reader and leave everything else to the reader’s imagination. Not just describe something for the beauty of it.

Though, not that there’s anything wrong with that, and it’s okay if you do it to set the mood, but it’s just not my thing. I’m more of a “Get to the point!” kind of writer.

The problem I have with most very descriptive writers is that they’re take too long to describe the settings. They go on and on about how things look like, when it’s not that important to the story.

Like I said, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s just not my things. Though, it will be fine if you set up all those setting before the story starts rolling. But after the story roll, I want it continue moving like a rocket!

 

[Vicky]

Dialogue is good, but this:



Way better.

Trash

 

[Deleted member 45782]

I like dialogue better, as long as its not an overkill of strictly justly dialogue going to infinity.

 

[BlackKnightX]

I like dialogue better, as long as its not an overkill of strictly justly dialogue going to infinity.

That will make it feel weird~

When people talk, there are pauses, tonality, body language, facial expressions that they use. So if it purely a dialogue, it will feel weird.

Though I can still imagine things by the context of what they’re saying, but it just feels empty to me, like something is missing.

 

[Muddy]

But as you said, this way, the readers won’t have the image the writer want them to have, so instead of that, I’ll just be more specific.

“It’s a castle made entirely of ice and has the shape of a dragon.“

Was just going to vote, but this example made me comment. Apologies in advance for making a mockery of this example you posted. I'm not trying to ridicule, just genuinely adding an extra aspect to the discussing

There's a bit of a false dichotomy in the question of the poll, and thus in the discussion going on around it. It's not just about dialogue vs prose. Dialogue can do some things better than description, and vice versa. What matters much more though, and what is often a key point when someone mentions that a certain piece of writing needs more/less dialogue/prose, is that it's about evocative vs descriptive.

Good writing will make you feel a certain way, will you make you feel emotion, instead of just being words on a page. In that regard, "a caste made of ice in the shape of a dragon" is a terrible description. It is big and looming? Is it cold and terrifying? Is it gaudy and tasteless? Is it cute and fairytale-esque? Is the wind howling through its icy spires, or is the sun refracting rainbows of its crystalline arches? Could be any of those. Could even be a tiny little ice sculpture. I do not know, and thus I do not know what to imagine from the description.

Evocative writing is what sets the mood, what makes people imagine a scene in their head like it was a movie. This can be done both in prose and in dialogue. Me personally, I find it easier to do evocative in descriptions, so that's what I voted for.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Was just going to vote, but this example made me comment. Apologies in advance for making a mockery of this example you posted. I'm not trying to ridicule, just genuinely adding an extra aspect to the discussing

There's a bit of a false dichotomy in the question of the poll, and thus in the discussion going on around it. It's not just about dialogue vs prose. Dialogue can do some things better than description, and vice versa. What matters much more though, and what is often a key point when someone mentions that a certain piece of writing needs more/less dialogue/prose, is that it's about evocative vs descriptive.

Good writing will make you feel a certain way, will you make you feel emotion, instead of just being words on a page. In that regard, "a caste made of ice in the shape of a dragon" is a terrible description. It is big and looming? Is it cold and terrifying? Is it gaudy and tasteless? Is it cute and fairytale-esque? Is the wind howling through its icy spires, or is the sun refracting rainbows of its crystalline arches? Could be any of those. Could even be a tiny little ice sculpture. I do not know, and thus I do not know what to imagine from the description.

Evocative writing is what sets the mood, what makes people imagine a scene in their head like it was a movie. This can be done both in prose and in dialogue. Me personally, I find it easier to do evocative in descriptions, so that's what I voted for.

I understand what you mean. I wrote "It’s a caste made of ice in the shape of a dragon" as an example to illustrate my point that you don’t need a flowery language to describe something. You can just use simple words to just describe the unique aspects of things.

But when it comes to the actual writing, I would slowly describe it piece by piece to set the mood (If the castle scene is important in that moment of the story. Like, if it makes the characters feel awe then, I need to describe it in details to set the mood up). But even then, I still won’t indulge myself into writing too much descriptions.

Less is more is what I’m tryna say.

Though, at the end of the day, it’s all about flow. If I feel like describing something in great details, I will do it with simple words. If the story need to move fast then, the descriptions of the setting take the backseat.

What I don’t like is that some writers indulge in the descriptions too much when the story has already set in motion. It then suddenly stop moving just for the reader to appreciate the setting.

When this happens, I’ll usually just skim through until I find the next action line or the quotation mark.