: Re: How do I create dialog when the story is told in letters by the protagonist? I am writing a historical novel, and the gist of it that these will be letters found by ancestors in the 21st

@Megan928

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This is a nice question. While I think it'd harm the authenticity of the format to have full-scale conversational dialogue in a story framed as a series of letters, especially if it's multiple characters writing letters to each other, Arcanist Lupus brings up a good point that ultimately, conventions of reality can be broken if it makes a work more compelling.

However, one must remember the purpose of dialogue; to move the plot forward or reveal something about a character. I personally believe this can be done without conversational dialogue if you have a series of letters between characters.

After all, how the characters vary in writing style, what subjects they deem important enough to include in the final letter, and what they deem to be polite enough to make into a formal letter all sheds some kind of light on a character. In that case, one could argue that there's no need for dialogue in such a format.

I'm not writing a whole book this way, but I have a character which is almost exclusively remembered in narration or in the form of the letters he's left behind detailing his journeys in a technologically advanced (to him) nation.

Hence he usually writes about:

Technology's wondrous aspects
Amusement at culture shock, while maintaining an openness to new experiences.
Whatever pressing topic was at hand at the time of writing, and how it affects his feelings on the former two subjects.

After three or so of these letters, completely free of dialogue, one has a clear grasp of who he is... now imagine the potential your novel has! It's nothing but letters! Essentially, you have on your hands an unorthodox opportunity to write a set of interesting character studies while not strictly needing dialogue.

Best of luck in your endeavours.

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