How to Write Dialogue Teach Yourself Guide

by Irving Weinman

Commissioning editors say good dialogue is one of the first things that make a book stand out from the crowd - and similarly, that clunky direct speech is one of the first things that will send a book straight from the slushpile to the rejections bin

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

207 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Clover · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

Keep in mind that he's British, as American/Canadian authors will not write dialogue as instructed by him as we use double quotation marks, not single.

Still, a wonderful book packed full of information. It has focus points, key ideas,and writing exercises denoted by icons. It's great for all levels of writers, there's something inside that you'll learn or want to try out.

I only wish it was a bit larger in size. The majority of the pages are text walls or simply lack comfortable white space. It really does look jammed with information.

I enjoyed it. I would happily have this on my own shelves. Thankful for my local library for having this resource!

[J.D. Oswald · Rating 3 out of 5]

[First reviewed for 'The New Writer' magazine issue 114 http://www.thenewwriter.com/]
This book, one of the Teach Yourself Creative Writing series, is aimed at writers of all levels. It includes chapters on building character using dialogue, direct and indirect speech and interrupted/multiple speech. Each chapter follows a similar format: fairly short and snappy sections answering a particular question (for example What does dialogue do?), Key idea boxes summarising each topic, Try it now writing exercises, and case studies showing how particular writing techniques have been put into practice.
The subject of this book appealed to me. Writing convincing speech is always a challenge; it’s inevitably artificial, but still has to come across as natural. I find myself spending a lot of time thinking about how to achieve the right balance between dialogue and narrative.
For me, the book’s earlier chapters (Character in dialogue and Narrative in dialogue) were the most helpful. These include some thought-provoking advice, for instance on how a small variation in speech can distinguish between character voices.
I found the later chapters of less interest, particularly the section on journals, letters and diaries. In addition, some of the extracts used as case studies are rather too lengthy and are not always clearly distinguished from the related commentary, thus becoming rather confusing at times.
The Try it now exercises are perhaps most suited to those writers seeking a structured set of exercises to work through on a regular basis, rather than those looking for a more informal approach. (I have to admit to skipping the exercise that involved editing an extract from Washington Square into contemporary language!) This book would certainly stimulate discussion within a writing group however, and some of the exercises could easily be translated into group activities or homework.

[Lubov Leonova · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I just started my writing path (and did not take it seriously), this book helped me to figure out how to show my characters.
I think this book will be useful for everyone who writes fiction, it has useful examples and exercises.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a self-instruction manual on how to write dialogue. It use examples from published works as case studies. The purpose and types of dialogue are discussed.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The whole tone of this feels a little condescending, literally starting with a lengthy retelling of how the author shows people at the beginning of his lectures how important it is to practice writing instead of just thinking about writing. Duh.

'Duh' is something I thought a lot when reading the first chapter, followed by 'This dialogue example is objectively bad' (when it was offered as a good example).
Moreover, the information is presented in a clunky manner, with a steady flow of questions that are raised, then answered in bullet points, short paragraphs, and various text boxes, before moving on to the next question. There was no flow to the text, no connection established between author and reader.

I'm sure there are a few useful tidbits in here, but the structural presentation, prose, and poor examples did not build my confidence in this author.

[Raine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a few cool things I didn't really think about before, but other then that, not necessary to read

[Timothy Kandra]

Bought to help with screenwriting. I got some helpful tips here and there, but it's primarily designed to help literary writers more.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a writing guide designed to teach you how to write dialogue – it’s not as simple as merely mimicking the way people speak, and it’s a very tricky area of writing. I think Weinman does a good job of explaining the variety of different dialogue you can encounter in fiction and how to use different techniques to bring dialogue to life, but I would largely suggest this mainly for people at the start of their writing journeys.

There is some use to be gained from it if you’re ‘down the line’ a bit, but a lot of what Weinman explores will come naturally to a writer who pays attention when reading, and has been through the cycles of writing-feedback-editing. However, it might be handy for those experiencing writer’s block too, as he gives some good prompts (under ‘Try it now’) linked to the area of dialogue being explored, and often these can serve as good ways to ‘get to know’ the characters you’re writing.

The extracts used as examples do a good job of illustrating the different techniques. There’s some good, fresh ways of looking at dialogue and the various ways it can be used, but as mentioned above, this is more useful for people who are looking to improve early on. I’d suggest that if you are struggling with dialogue, this might help unblock something. Other than that, it’s a decent book for beginners.

[Emi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dry as cereal without milk. There's a lot of waffling, and so many "focus points" the whole thing may as well be a focus point. Hard DNF