Dialogue
Dialogue gives your characters a voice and brings them to life on the page.
One sentence can be spoken a million ways.
Most of the time it is what is left unsaid that speaks volumes.
A voice of their own
Dialects, accents speech, disfluency, articulation.
Connell
Normal People — Sally RooneyHe often says less than he means. Awkwardness, hesitation and what he cannot quite bring himself to say do much of the work.
Stevens
The Remains of the Day — Kazuo IshiguroFormal, controlled and restrained, his manner of speaking reveals almost as much through what he avoids as through what he says.
Olive Kitteridge
Olive Kitteridge — Elizabeth StroutBlunt, prickly and capable of saying the uncomfortable thing everyone else is trying very hard not to say.
The same language but very different interpretations.
What they don't say
Sometimes the conversation is really happening in the silences.
Hills Like White Elephants
Ernest HemingwayA couple circle around the real subject of their conversation, struggling to discuss something they barely name directly.
Conversations with Friends
Sally RooneyCasual conversation and messages carry feelings, uncertainty and intentions that the characters do not always state outright.
The Rachel Incident
Caroline O'DonoghueHumour and deflection allow friendship, attraction and embarrassment to live alongside what the characters actually say.
Speech is as unique as a fingerprint.
Sarah stepped off the train. “Perfect.”
The rain drummed on the glass roof.
Where is she?