celia batau

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on 27 August, 2002 "Jeff Zephyr" <jeffzeph@hotmail.com> wrote:

Do I confuse the reader too much if I leave out the shared background in my dialog? People talking in RL conversations aren't usually trying to speak to an outside audience. So if you stick in too much explanation or background into the dialog, it sounds unreal.

But real conversation often sounds odd when written down. Transcriptions are often funny to read. Writing dialog requires some tradeoffs.

but remember that every word in a short story is important. it needs to move the story forward. so dialogue isn't transcription. it's a rarified condensed form of expression. it can relate mood and desire and intimacy or anger or anything. narritive moves in for emphasis, not for explanation. we like dialogue a lot. it can be so beautiful. :)

- cb