Dialogue Should Be Brief

1. Dialogue should be brief.

2. It should add to the reader’s present knowledge.

3. It should eliminate the routine exchanges of ordinary conversation.

4. It should convey a sense of spontaneity but eliminate the repetitiveness of real talk.

5. It should keep the story moving forward.

6. It should be revelatory of the speaker’s character, both directly and indirectly.

7. It should show the relationships among people.

ELIZABETH BOWEN

Comments

[C. Michael McGannon]

I need to print this out and hang it on my forehead. All of your quotes are great, but this is one of those quotes you want to copy and paste into your mind.

[Benjamin Green]

this is brilliant advice, especially in the guise of the screenplay. however, I would like a mechanism by which I could, "eliminate the routine exchanges of ordinary conversation" in real life. especially on the municipal lines of San Francisco. I moved here thinking I'd meet the ghost of Ginsberg spitting bits of port wine all over the inattentive ear of Bukowski's doppelganger. what I found was a verbal duplication of the entire "Valley Girl" series the young ladies of my fourth grade class would carry through the echoing halls of a Midwestern elementary school. thus, my own reason to write was born. in the form of dialog, I write what I *wish* people would say in "ordinary conversation."

thanks for this post. I promise to keep my dialog leaner than this comment.

[U.L. Harper]

I love dialogue. In no way do I think it should be brief. As you can tell, I live me a little Mccarthy here and there.