Not enough dialogue?

[fantom]

The novel I'm writing, so far, is more narration than dialogue (and it's funny I'm bringing this up now, because I'm coming to a place where there'll be plenty of dialogue), which isn't what's "recommended." I could tell to you just what a lot of authors recommend: Go for a lot of white space.

Why is there a lack of dialogue? It's not appropriate for the situation--main character has no one to talk to, flashbacks are unimportant. The closest thing to dialogue is a line or two directed to one's self and inner dialogue, which is what I've done so far.

I read this and think: "Well, you better make the novel pretty damn good."

What do you think--comments, suggestions, general shit like that?

[Carraka]

Aaaaie! You're sick!

Erm, if the main character doesn't have anyone to talk to, I guess he could start talking to himself --

Or not. Well, if there's really no reason to give him someone to talk to, I suppose you shouldn't force it. You'll just really want to get into the character's mind and thought processes. Can you tell us exactly how much is just narration (pages, word count, etc.)?

[fantom]

Understood, but I guess I feel I should discuss it with someone, anything to note about it.

The page count is 41.

[Shaun]

Is it set in 1st person or 3rd?
If it is set in 1st you can expect to have considerably less dialogue. You should still have some, but it's not out of the ordinary to have a limited amount.
If you're using 3rd you need a good reason to have a lack of dialogue. Is the character around other characters? If not, why? If not, have your character think things. It's close to dialogue. Those are some things you can think about...

[Zuzy]

Dialogue is.. needed. I forget what the ratio of dialogue to prose is. XD i found some percentage of what is a good ratio somewhere... Ech. Let me go look in my books.

*runs off to book shelf* Er, no, I cannot find it in my books.

I would say that dialogue is important because it can do a lot for your characters. It's an amazing way for character development and conflict to happen. People fight a lot, and people say a lot of stupid things when they're fighting that can cause a lot of good conflict. Perhaps your novel just isn't written for dialogue, but you may want to think over it a bit. What is your character doing that allows him not to talk to someone? Not talking means not interacting, and if your character is wandering around doing something, people aren't going to say, "Wow, this guy hasn't talked to someone in forty pages!" They're going to say, "This book is boring." We want to see your character interact with other characters, even if it is just a wee bit, you know?


Eh. I hope that helped. :D

[Eve]

The dialogue you'll write is extraordinarily important. Much of the substance of a romance novel involves two people getting to know each other, and they do most of that by talking about themselves and their problems, which leads them to eventually talking about their feelings for each other.

If your readers are listening in to the exact words of your characters, hearing their emotions, and drawing their own conclusions, they're much more caught up in the story and the characters.

But not every event in your story, or every word your characters utter, are important enough to be included verbatim on the page. Dialogue is most effective when the characters are talking about stuff that's important to them and to the reader (not just "Can I take your coat?")


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