: Re: Is dialogue in a novel necessary, or just padding? I can usually tell the story I want to in less than 10,000 words. I'd really like to accomplish writing a novel and I have a complex idea

@Phylliss352

The real difference about whether or not you use dialog is based in two terms:

Narrative
Exposition

Which one you choose and to what extent will completely alter your story.
Here are a couple of drastic examples:

Narrative

John Robinsky felt very angry and decided to obtain revenge upon his
company for the way they had abused him.

Exposition

John Robinsky slammed his fist down on his desk. "Blast! You can't
do this to me again." He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them
again and smiled. "No. You won't ever be able to do this to me or
anyone again," John whispered. "I'll make sure."

The difference is whether you have a (more) distant narrative voice telling the reader how John felt or you show actions and words spoken to indicate to the reader what John is feeling.

Exposition is often more difficult to write, but it is generally far more interesting to read. As a writer you have to see the action taking place in the mind's eye and then transcribe it.

Also, note that exposition employs the reader far more and engages her much more as she has to figure out what is being communicated by the actions and dialog she sees in the story. For this reason it is generally far more immersive than narrative voice.

This is also why a larger percentage of readers like stories with dialog.

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: How Much $ For Advances? My friend and I are writing a fly fishing book about the renowned and unknown rivers in Oregon. There is a decent audience from this book and we have had two publishers

: Re: Is dialogue in a novel necessary, or just padding? I can usually tell the story I want to in less than 10,000 words. I'd really like to accomplish writing a novel and I have a complex idea

More posts by @Phylliss352

: Criteria used by acquisition editors (for Fiction or Non-Fiction) What are the criteria an acquisitions editor uses to judge whether or not s/he accepts a manuscript for publication?

: Differences Narration often employs first person point of view, using words like "I" and "me," while other modes including description do not. The biggest difference between the two is that a

: Why are the paragraphs of a document often indented and not vertically separated? A quick side by side comparison of two layout styles: Left: no indent and with white space; right: indented,

: How Much $ For Advances? My friend and I are writing a fly fishing book about the renowned and unknown rivers in Oregon. There is a decent audience from this book and we have had two publishers

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