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Topic : Re: How to avoid turning dialogue into Q&A session? I noticed a problem I have in my fictional writing. My dialogues quickly turn into interrogations. Here is an exaggerated example. "How did - selfpublishingguru.com

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OK. This will be like all the other things we are learning. You fill your tool box with every tool you can find, and use all of them. In this case you are collecting tools to make your dialog sound natural.

We are trying to reveal information to the reader, and you say you are using interrogation. Right, this is not natural.

Part of natural dialog is leapfrogging over an answer, so that's one tool you can add to the toolbox.

Bad dialog:

"Why are you wearing that?"

"I'm wearing it because I want to."

Well, duh.

Less bad:

"Why are you wearing that?"

"Shut up."

This can have the bonus of getting more information to the reader—because the reader fills in the blanks. In terms of a short word count, you might want to look at leapfrogging and trusting the reader.
Part of natural dialog is what is thought, instead of what is said out loud. We do a lot of thinking when we are talking.

"Why are you wearing that?" They were going to a funeral for God's sake. It shouldn't come as a surprise to her anymore; he always dressed inappropriately. Sometimes she thought he did it just to annoy her.

"Listen up. There's no dress code, and you're not my mother."

A lot of times the question and the answer do not match up directly. If the answer in your interrogations is the information your readers actually need, then you might tweak the questions so that the exchange is not too on-the-nose. Above, maybe what the reader needs to know (you know what the reader needs to know) is that there is no dress code wherever they are going. But it would be too on-the-nose to have someone say "Is there a dress code?" "No."

You can slip different, disconnected bits of information to the reader through Qs and As in this way.
Part of natural dialog is not to ask questions but to make observations.

"Spandex. Interesting choice for a funeral." It shouldn't come as a surprise to her anymore; he always dressed inappropriately. Sometimes she thought he did it just to annoy her.

He laughed.

And you can just cut the dialog altogether.

He was in spandex. Of all the things he could have chosen, he decided spandex was what he'd wear to her mother's funeral. It shouldn't come as a surprise to her anymore; he always dressed inappropriately. Sometimes she thought he did it just to annoy her.

There's lots of tricks... You can add physical gestures to your characters, and so on, nonverbal communication. Your goal is to paint a scene and deliver information leaving the reader wanting more.

Listen to dialog while you are out. Natural dialog is not a logic stream. It is conveyance of information, power struggles, rife with emotion, short phrases, sentence fragments, often selfish. Or, loving kindness, a compassionate ear, gentle. Sometimes dialog is mindless blather, which can be amusing or tiring. Sometimes it is a person sharing an anecdote with other people.

In terms of other tools to get information across, you can use a found diary or a hacked phone. You can use a drunk character who reveals far more than they should. You can create an emotional and vulnerable moment where a character shares information without being asked.

Collect your tools, go through each section of your manuscript that feels off, and find a different way to convey the information your reader needs.


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