: Re: Using too much dialogue? I'm working on a novel of my own and, looking back at the bits of it I have so far brought into light, that almost everything in it is dialogue. Is this a bad

@Kaufman555

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The problem with too much dialogue, is that dialogue alone doesn’t create a picture.

A story should immerse the reader in a scene, and that immersion should be so complete that the reader forgets they are reading. To do that requires a balance of all the elements that make up a scene (setting, dialogue, interior monologue, non-verbal cues, physical action, etc. etc.).

I think the best way to grasp it is to see every individual scene as if it’s the loading program in The Matrix. If you have nothing but dialogue, Neo and Trinity are standing in the loading program having a conversation. There’s nothing else there except empty white space. If you bring in setting: a chair, wallpaper, carpet, etc. you’ve made a start on creating the room they’re standing in. But, conversely, if you go too far with setting, at the expense of other elements, you still just have a pretty room and a conversation.

You can dive into Neo’s head with interior monologue and get an idea of how he feels about the dialogue. You can have them move around, sit down, use non-verbal cues and so on. But only the things you’ve written into that loading program exist for the reader.

So, the reason dialogue alone doesn’t work is because, for the reader, it would be like watching Neo and Trinity having a conversation in the loading program for the entire movie. Imagine how boring that would be.

Another mistake that beginner writers often make is to tell their story instead of showing it. They have the same problem of a lack of balance, only now there’s too much exposition. The writer has created a character and sat them down in a room and made them tell their story. There’s no action. And it’s akin to watching Neo tell the whole Matrix story from a chair in the loading program. Again, it’s boring.

You have to create EVERYTHING from scratch for every scene. You have to balance every element so the reader can see the scene taking place in their heads.

It’s not easy! But it gets easier with practice.

Good luck!

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