How to Write Flash Fiction Full of Dialogue
Dialogue is the most powerful tool a writer has for projecting character.
When The Sun Also Rises was published by Hemingway in 1926, many critics took the young author to task for using dialogue so freely in the novel. The novel made Hemingway an international literary sensation. The criticism had vanished by the time his second novel, A Farewell to Arms, came out in 1929. The critics realized Hemingway knew exactly what he was doing.
And what was he doing by using so much dialogue? He was characterizing his characters. He was providing the reader with necessary information. He was moving the narrative forward; and he was keeping different levels of tension in the narrative.
All of these things made the story enjoyable for the reader and kept the reader reading. Papa knew exactly what he was doing.
This is what you want to do in your novel, play, short story and flash fiction. Writing a narrative is about all these things.
Luckily for the flash fiction writer, this only has to be done for a few hundred words. So, yes, a flash fiction story can be nearly all dialogue if you keep in mind what Hemingway did with his dialogue.
Cover of A Farewell To Arms
Just let me give you a useful writing tip. Make it easy on yourself and use the first few words of your flash fiction story to let the reader know the locale. If you do that, you can pretty much work everything else the reader needs to know into the dialogue.
Don’t have your characters give speeches for the benefit of the reader. Have them talk to each other. And remember, since they know about one another and about what is going on, they are not going to say everything that’s on their minds.
That’s where you come in. What they say and what they do not say has to imply what they mean.
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January 4th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
Good advice and allusion to Hemingway worked.
January 4th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
By the way, you can contribute a lot to the Encyclopedia of Online Writing by clicking this link and creating an account: http://encyclopedia.digitalbookpublishers.net/
January 4th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
Another great little lesson about a huge issue from you Guy. I love books with lots of dialogue, but only when it’s done well. Too many writers seem like they’ve never listened to another person talk in their lives!
Other writers haven’t ever learned to trust their reader to do some work. These types of writers lose me quickly – I shut the book and step away!
January 5th, 2011 at 1:32 am
Dialogue is my downfall. Not enough practice in writing it I guess.
January 5th, 2011 at 5:11 am
I think it comes down to a matter of style. The balance between having essentials in the diaglogue or in the internal thoughts of the main character(s) or in action comes down to the preference of the writer and the reader.
January 5th, 2011 at 7:11 am
Thanks for this great advice Guy. I enjoy dialogue in books. I agree it brings the characters to life. I must take a trip to the library it seems. I can’t remember reading A Farewell to Arms (shame on me), although I am familiar with it. And by the way – you contribute a great deal to Triond and the www with your articles etc. Thank you!
January 5th, 2011 at 7:21 am
Nice Share.
January 5th, 2011 at 9:49 am
As usual Guy, I am taking notes. Like Val, I truly have a difficult time writing honest dialogue. I keep stepping in the way of the characters. Great work.
January 5th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
good post