The original → Part 4~ I've got something to say, and I will force you to listen

I’m rereading a bit of my rant from four years ago about this and it makes me both cringe and clap my hands. Oh how my ranting style has changed. And I really, really, really, really want to make a chapter about settings, but I keep telling myself that I want it to be a proper chapter where I do research and . And this is so easy. It’s just ranting.

As I was going through some random fics using the random fics button, I noted down things that I think each story could improve upon. The things I noted upon the most were the fourth wall breaking introductions and the underdevelopment of the plot. What occurred to me was that these things were annoying to read because of the way dialogue was used. The plot was not developed enough because of the useless teenage babble going on and on, as well as the dialogue inside the MC’s narrative.

It was only because I was reading random stories about high school and idols that I remembered, oh yeah, some people at writing dialogue. I’ve been sticking to serious stories with heavy plots and light dialogue lately, so I wasn’t even bothered. But not everyone has my tastes and some people have to suffer.

Because the things people say can cause heavy imagery, it brings the story to es and emphasizes points that further the story along. Dialogue is great for actions stories and thrillers and comedies, but for the same reasons, dialogue kills romances, drama, and horror. For those types of genres to thrive, the story needs to be heavy with description. For almost every genre, I personally would prefer more description over dialogue.

Description builds up a story. You use this to describe the character, their thoughts, the settings (even though I have yet to talk properly about settings), and important plot points. You add layers of complexity to the story. And what does that make your story? More realistic. And how do I feel about that? The more realistic a story is, the better it is. This content is so very, very important.

A lot of us when we write, we picture the story in our heads. “I see it like a movie and I try to write it down.” That’s great for getting an idea for your story and fleshing out details, but remember, what you see and try to convey to us will not actually the same thing. It’s like how I talked about in an earlier chapter, there are different mediums for expressing things, and novels and movies are very different in how things are portrayed. When you see that movie in your head and hear the conversation between two people, it is very entertaining and sounds great. When reading all that conversation, it’s actually quite boring.

My sixth grade English teacher always used to say, “I think dialogue is really boring and I’ll just skip it, so don’t write it in your essays.” I realize now that was just her way of forcing us to stop telling stories on real papers, but it stuck with me. There are times when I am reading, both novels and fanfics, when I completely skip dialogue.

So, let’s turn those short and insignificant sentences like, "Leave me alone," into something else. ↓

Dongwook stopped mid step, nostrils flaring. Her hand was on his shoulder again, short fingers clutching his short like a like a life line. He jerked his head around and growled into her face before ripping her hand off without holding back any strength. She had no right to touch him, no right to be near him. He didn't want to see her; he didn't want to hear her. The only thing he wanted from that was for her to keep the out of his business.

I’m trying to think of the different ways to use dialogue, and the first thing I need to do is lay some ground rules.

1. Dialogue needs to go in quotation marks (“___”)
2. Quotes inside of dialogue need to go in apostrophes (“Words and words ‘quotes’ and words.”)
3. Script writing is not allowed
4. No more than one person can speak per paragraph hit that goddamn enter key and move on

Comedies, or romantic comedies, are where people mess up. People try to embellish on dialogue because they hear witty banter inside their heads. Banter is fine; I write it in my fics, and I don’t mind reading it. Two people having a conversation back and forth, perfectly okay. As long as it doesn’t tell the story.

Banter is funny because the conversations seems nonsensical, then there is a hook or punchline. I think this type of comedic dialogue can help with the transition of scenes or move the story along. Nothing else matters in these moments except what the people are saying. Description would actually hinder the comedy of these scenes.

The other type of comedic dialogue involves building up the punchline. These are those one-liners that pop out in the middle of action scenes or dramatic moments. This comedic dialogue is so much better with description around it.

There are some things that will be told through conversations like when two people meet and tell about their pasts, but these things can totally just not happen. It is so easy to put the background information in a description elsewhere and have “and they told their darkest secrets to each other. Their fingers were intertwined, and when a particularly painful memory came up, their grips were stronger and steadier.”

That is not always the best way to go though. Some people have reader’s ADD and cannot focus on the beautiful poetry that is the story. They need those eye catching quotation marks to draw their eyes in and ground them in the story again. It’s a little sad, but some readers are not mature enough to handle long descriptions without those breaks.

Because yes, dialogue is like a break in the story.

Of course, saying it is the matureness of the reader is a little harsh. There are times when I am tired or just not into a story too much (not the right fandom/otp for example) and I need dialogue as a checkpoint for me to keep going. I sometimes get lost in stories and I need a little help staying on track.

But for the most part, as a very young adult, I don’t like to read straight up dialogue. Every single random story I clicked on had way too much dialogue going on. So much so that entire stories were being told by two or more people talking.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

“Me? Oh, I’m Lee Minho. I just transferred here from America.”

“Wow, I’m Lee Chaerin. I can speak English.”

“Really? You’ll definitely be someone I can seek help from.”

“Sure. No problem. Over there is my girl Minji, and also Sandara. That Unnie is Park Bom. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask them either.”

“Awesome. Hey, who is that guy with the baseball by the window?”

“Oh him? That’s Youngbae, you don’t want to mess with him. He’s got a bad attitude and hates foreigners.”

“What a .”

And what’s terrible, that is not nearly as stupid as some of the things I read. It is very difficult for me to write very badly. But it seems to be that people who wrote these stories thought all teenagers were bimbos, idiots, mindless chatter boxes.

I graduated from high school in June. Yes, teenagers have a lot of conversations, but if I were to write an autobiography, those conversations would have been so meaningless that most of them would not come close to even being paraphrased into the rough draft. That is how it should be in these high school/teenager stories. All the nonsense coming out of your stupid mouths does not matter so don’t put it.

You think it is character building or plot development, but it is not. All that stuff is insignificant.

I also want to add that at around fifteen or sixteen, you grow up enough so that everything you say is not pure bull. You mature enough to just stop talking. And this is also the time in teenagers’ lives when they are trying to discover themselves and understand who they are as a person. These aren’t really things that they just announce to the world freely. They are broody people who keep their emotions and thoughts inside. So unless the character is not yet at high school age, I shouldn’t want to strangle the person for the words they speak.

The age of the characters, the level of their speech, and the audience it is all intended for does matter. Remember that chapter about the age of your reader? This ties back to it. It gets harder to accept some of the drama characters talk about when you realize the characters are just brats.

You grow up, you want more emotion, you want things to be deeper, more complex. You stop giving a about people’s petty problems! I hope this sounds a little intense, because I keep going to random stories and looking at the dialogue and thinking “I don’t give a .” I just want to put my finger on the characters’ lips and say “shh, honey, don’t speak.” (Why don't you take that random fic button for a spin? From my experience, every 1 in 5 or 10 will be pretty good).

Dialogue is okay. Surrounded by description and balanced out with background info, thoughts, settings, and leading actions, great, give me that banter. “Oppa, ottoke, gwenchana? Baby, I miss you!” Not okay.

Across all genres, dialogue kills the mood. Shut those characters up and just describe the scene instead.

And you readers need to put some pressure on the writers. If you’re getting bored with a story because of the dialogue, or it’s making you want to kill a character, tell the author. Don’t be mean about it, but give him or her a nudge in the right direction. “I like the way the story is going, but I think the conversations are dragging a bit. I want to know more about what’s going on around them.” Please do everyone a favor. Steer them in the right direction but encourage them enough so they continue writing. 

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