Friday, June 10, 2016

Welcoming Beem Weeks


Today, it is my pleasure to welcome to the blog Beem Weeks, a fellow member of Rave Reviews Book Club. Be sure to check out his novel, Jazz Baby, a well-reviewed piece of historical fiction set in the American South of the 1920s.






Who Said That? - My Take on Writing Dialogue


Here are a few thoughts on writing dialogue. This is NOT meant as a teaching lesson. These are simply my opinions.

Dialogue. It can make or break a story. Dialogue is the lines your characters speak aloud in a written story. They differ from the narrative voice in that even the peripheral characters are given a voice through dialogue.

Writing lines for your characters is not always an easy task—though it doesn't have to be difficult, either. In real life, people speak in ways that may seem impossible to capture on paper. Consider the varying dialects within the same languages. British English has its own patterns and words that differ from American English or the Aussie brand of the language. (And that's not even counting the varying dialects within the same country.) A skillful writer should be able to illustrate that, of the three characters conversing in the opening scene of chapter seven, two are from England while the third is from Australia—without mentioning this every time they speak.

If the writer can hear those voices in his/her head, they should be able to drop in little vocal hints within the written dialogue that give life to the characters and to the stories they tell. But it's not always easy.

When writing my novel Jazz Baby, I had to research the era (1920s) and the region (Deep South, USA) in order to capture the voice of not just my narrator but of each and every character that utters a line in the story. Some were Louisiana Cajun. They spoke with a twang, had a particular way of saying things, which is not always easy to put onto paper.

What about Neesie, the young laundry girl, who befriends the main character? These two girls are the same age, but they come from vastly different backgrounds. Though both were poor, one came from Mississippi and the other from Alabama; Emily is white and Neesie black. They would have had differing speech patterns—as would the better-educated adults who crossed paths with my young narrator. These differences have to come through in the dialogue. There's a rich stew of slang going on in these characters' words. Slang is part of language—no matter where you come from. This is where good research pays off. It takes time, searching for words and idioms used in certain regions and eras, but that extra effort is worth it in the end.

Dialogue is probably my favorite part of writing fiction. These are words and accents that give personality to characters that did not exist until I put pen to paper (or tapped those computer keys) and gave them meaning, reason, and life.

So here's my advice to any writer who might be struggling with dialogue issues: Just write what you hear. Listen to voices on the street or those being spoken inside your head; read works by other authors; study classic films. That little extra effort will usually show up in the finished product. The great thing about language is: it's all around us in so many differing forms.



You can purchase Jazz Baby on Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Follow Beem Weeks:

Twitter: @BeemWeeks

Website: https://beemweeks.wordpress.com/




30 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for hosting me, A. M. I appreciate your time and effort in showing your support. Best wishes to you.

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  2. Great advice, Beem! Thank you for hosting, A. M.

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  3. I find that with dialogue, many authors tend to write too much. Although in reality people often repeat themselves, in novels, what they say has to be more concise, but still sound realistic.

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    1. Great points, Rebecca. Writing dialogue takes a good ear.

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  4. Great tips, Beem! Thank you.
    Thanks for the warm welcome, Anne Margaret. :)

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  5. Very interesting. I can see writing dialogue in a historical novel would have its challenges. In the past few years, I've read a few novels written in the '20s, and I find the '20s slang sprinkled in the dialogue so interesting.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by, Susan. I appreciate your comment and support.

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    2. Thanks so much for dropping in. Different eras are so fascinating.

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  6. An interesting article, Beem! Great tips. Hope your time in the Spotlight is FAB :)
    Anne Margaret, thanks so much for hosting Beem on his tour :)

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    1. Thanks, Harmz. The time in the Spotlight has been so wonderful. I am grateful for the opportunity.

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  7. This was a great read, Beem. I loved your final paragraph; it is all around us, we simply need to listen. Thank you Anne for hosting.

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    1. It is so important to listen. You're so right. Thanks for dropping in!

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    2. Thanks, Gwen. I'm glad you stopped by.

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  8. Sure Beem, dialogue writing is an art by itself. Putting the wrong words in the mouth of the wrote person can also mean, not being in touch with the character's reality. Thank you A.M. for hosting him.

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    1. Excellent point, Joy. Thank you for stopping by and sharing!

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    2. My pleasure, Joy. Thanks for stopping by!

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  9. Dialogue can be tricky at first - I used to hate writing it. But, like you say, Beem, once you can 'hear' the characters it does get easier and that's when it starts getting interesting and much more rewarding as the voices come to life.
    Loved this tour Beem! :-D
    Thanks for having us all over today Anne Margaret :-)

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    1. Thanks, Jan. I love writing dialogue. It's probably my favorite part of writing. Glad you stopped by.

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    2. My pleasure, Jan. Dialogue is my favorite part to write. :-)

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  10. Thank you Beem for enlightening us on dialogue. What an interesting point of view on the subject. A.M. I love the headline of your blog. The blog itself is a little hard to read but nice to look at. Congrats Beem Spotlight Author!

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    1. Thank you, Shirley. It is always a treat to find a comment from you.

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  11. Great post, Beem!!! Enjoying catching up on your tour! :) A.M., thank you so much for hosting Beem!! And thanks to everyone for showing him the awesome support RRBC is known for!! ~Mar

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