CHAPTER ONE
Definitions
Dialogue
Just exactly what is dialogue?
Youāre writing this book. Why donāt you tell me?
I beg your pardon?
Why, what did you do?
Who are you?āif you donāt mind my asking.
Well, since youāre the author of this book, I guess I must be a character youāve invented. Either that, or Iām a would-be writer whoās been hanging around waiting for you to say something interesting.
Whatās your name?
I must have amnesia, because I donāt think I have one. Why donāt you give me one?
Iāll think about it.
While youāre doing that, can I ask you a question?
Sure. Go ahead.
Okayāwhatās dialogue?
Dialogue is a conversation.
Like what weāre having right now?
Exactly.
If you already knew, why did you ask me?
I didnāt ask you. I was just talking out loud. I didnāt know you were there.
Oh, sure! sure! You expect me to believe that?
Well, I didnāt know you were there yet.
You thought you were talking to yourself?
Youāve got it! Iām still not sure Iām not talking to myself.
Forms of Dialogue 1: Monologue and Soliloquy
What do you call talking to yourself? Can you have a conversation with yourself?
Of course. Itās called a soliloquy. That is, itās called a soliloquy if youāre not expecting any answerāin other words, if youāre just expressing your thoughts aloud.
Give me an example.
Okay, if youāll leave the room.
Leave the room? How can you give me an example if Iām not around?
How can I give you an example if you are?
This is a real baffler.
Just leave the room. You can read the soliloquy afterward.
All right, all right. Give me a second . . .
Format and Punctuation 1
Are you gone? Is he gone? I heard the door close, so I guess he must be out of the room. Now, where was I? Oh, rightāI was going to think out loud. Letās see. Who is this person Iām talking to? It appears heās a character Iāve invented for the purposes of this book. He needs a name, it seems to me, and Iād best begin using quotation marks for our speeches so that people can keep track of whoās speaking.
āWell, people know who I am because my nameās on the title page of the book, but they have no idea who my partner is. In fact, heās a āfoil,ā a person who is used to further the purposes of another person, in this case, the Author. Iād best start another paragraph at this point because Iām going to change my focus. I wonāt close my quotes at the end of this paragraph, though, because Iām going to continue to speak.
āI will, however, start the paragraph with quotes so that when my foil gets back heāll know Iām still talking. What the hell, I think Iāll just call him Fred. Thatās as good a name as any. Iāll call him back now, and then Iāll close the quotes on this soliloquy made of two paragraphsāhey, Fred! Come on back!ā
Fred opens the door and sticks his head into the room. āAre you talking to me?ā he asks.
āYes.ā
He enters and closes the door behind him. āSince when is my name Fred?ā
āSince two minutes ago.ā
āOh. Well, itās not much of a name, but itās an improvement over nothing. Letās see what youāve written. I need to check out what a soliloquy looks like.ā Fred bends over the Authorās shoulder and squints at the video monitor of the computer. āOkay, pal, scroll it back so I can see the soliloquy.ā
Types of Fictional Characters: Personae
The author scrolls back along the file to the point in question, and Fred reads for a moment, then stiffens. āA foil? Iām a foil? How come Iām not a protagonist, or at least an antagonist, like you said in the introduction? Why do I have to be a foil instead of a character? That makes me a āsecond banana,ā right?ā
The Author sighsāhe can already see where this line of questioning is leading. Fred is beginning to be something of a pain, and it can only get worse. The Author needs to regain control of his book. āYouāre a foil because I need one. I donāt need a protagonist or an antagonist because this isnāt going to be a story, itās a Socratic dialogue.ā
āI get the picture about the soliloquy, and I understand that a dialogue is a conversation, such as the one weāre having at the moment, but whatās a āSocraticā dialogue?ā Fred looks quizzically at the Author.
Uses of Italics
The Author sighs again. Brother, he thinks, this is going to get complicated. All Fred knows how to do is ask questions. Aloud, he says, āI thought you said youād read the introduction. Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher who taught his pupils by means of conversationāquestions and answers. Since this is a book on how to write dialogue, I figured the most appropriate way to proceed was by means of the Socratic dialogue. Go back and take another look at that introduction. You missed a few things. Any more questions?ā
āLots.ā Fred gives the Author a big grin. His rather narrow features fold themselves into a lot of small wrinkles. His pale skin seems to be paper thin and very pliable. He has blue eyes, the Author notices for the first time, and rather sparse, almost colorless blonde hair. āI see youāre using quotation marks now to help keep things tidy.ā
āAnd to allow me to put in descriptions and actions and things like that, so that the speeches can be immediately recognized as speeches.ā
āI like the way you used italics, too,ā Fred says, āto show unspoken thoughts, not a soliloquy. They donāt do it that way in dramas, do they?ā
Scripts
Author: No. Scripts look like this.
Fred: Yes, I see. And in between the speeches the playwright can insert stage directions and descriptions of setting and things like that, right?
(Fred moves across the set, stage right, sits down on a chair and crosses his legs.)
Author: Exactly. Plays arenāt meant to be read except by the people staging them, so the script is laid out in this way for the benefit of the actors and the other personnel of the drama. The audience can see the actions, the scenes, and so forth. They can see whoās speaking, so thereās no need for quotation marks or descriptions of places, situations, people, and actions, as there is in fiction.
(Fred uncrosses his legs and gets up again.)
āYou know,ā he says, āthis is kind of interesting.ā
āHow do you do that?ā the Author asks.
āDo what?ā
āKnit your brows.ā
āDonāt ask me.ā Fred shrugs. āYouāre the author around here. I donāt even know what āknitā means.ā
Author: (aside) If you did, youād be a knit-wit.
Fred: What did you say? I couldnāt hear.
Author: You werenāt supposed to. It was an aside.
Fred: What . . .
Author: (before Fred can continue) Donāt ask. An aside is a remark made by a character intended to be heard only by the audience of a play, not the other characters onstage.
Fred: I see. Can you have an aside in fiction, too?
Forms of Dialogue 2: Asides
The Author sighs deeply. āCan you have an aside in fiction, too?ā he asks. Brother, this Fred character knows nothing at all!
āWhat are you mumbling?ā Fred scowls.
āSure, you can have an aside in fiction. Usually it will be printed in italics and not put into quotation marks so that the reader can distinguish it from a monologue. But to answer your other question, āknitā means scowling, I think, but never mind.ā
Fred makes an effort to stop scowling. āWhatās the biggest difference between a fiction writer and a playwright?ā he asks.
Narration 1: Exposition
āThe fiction writer isnāt limited to one or two writing techniques; rather, he may choose from a wide range of narrative devices. The playwright, however, is limited to the writing techniques of dialogue, monologue, soliloquy, or aside, though on occasion a play (such as Our Town by Thornton Wilder) may have a narrator on the stage filling in the ...