Part 9-- The Importance of Characters and their Dialogue

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CherryBlossomSky: Hey guys! I know I have not been updating on my neato-rific tricks but I found inspiration at last! What I will be speaking of is what I think will be beneficial for writers like you and me.

"More knowledge may be gained of a man's real character, by a short conversation with one of his servants, than from a formal and studied narrative, begun with his pedigree, and ended with his funeral.." ~The Art of Biography by Samuel Johnson. 

What our good friend Samuel Johnson had pointed out was the vital lesson. When you decided to write your story do not describe the qualities of a character. For an example:

"Mary was one of those know-it-alls. She never can keep her mouth closed for a second. Someone a mile away could ask a question and she would run right over, appearing out of no where, to answer the question."

Now I am not saying that you cannot let your 'point of view (pov)' character or your own 'pov' say this about another. I am just demonstrating that the connection between getting to know the character  and the reader is a very important one. Everyone could look at someone and judge by the rumors or the shown qualities that a person is giving off could be completely different from the real them.

1. Dialogue is the best way for a character to speak for his or her self!

Dialogue gives the answers to the readers on why the characters are such a way and why Mary happens to be a know-it-all and how/why they are involved with the story. If you think about it, you only really learn about someone is what they say and how they say it. That is one golden way to figure out who they are as a person and their personalty type.

If you find yourself always explaining how every action appeals to their image then the readers will never truly get the very personal level of the character. As a reader I personally like to have a emotional understanding of a character. To get me really indulged with the story, I need to feel like I have an level of a grasp of who they are and why they become the person that they are in the story.

It is the same like how we learn about why Snape was so rude and unfriendly with Harry Potter.

You learn gradually and through Harry's relentless attempts to learn about his own importance, his family, strange and unfortunate occurrences that nearly kill him every single time, and the duties inflicted upon him by Dumbledore.

A great book has the magic that enables you to hear the tones in their voices as they speak.

Dialogue has power.

It has the ability to drive one to tears, to laugh, to smile, to fawn over a handsome guy/girl (guilty as charged), to want to shred the book to pieces, to want to destroy the antagonist, and so much more.

2. The reader can learn about the setting of the story through dialogue.

This entails the time period, the location, the conflict(s) that are create the plot can all be revealed and explained through the utterances of the characters. 

You as a writer have the power with dialogue!

Wouldn't it be boring as hell if a video game, movie, or book plainly just reveals all the little petty past happenings to explain why we are playing, watching or reading it in the first place? Um... YES!

Mystery is the key to entice the readers to read the book.

Make them think!

Make them wonder!

Make them guess!

Make them second-guess!

Make them imagine!

3. A character's dialogue can be used to hint at a foreshadowing of a coming event. 

I use this technique a lot (*wink wink* to those who read my story). I do it because I wonder if anyone would catch it.

I am a very observant person and I sometimes miss those hints in the dialogue unless they are just so obvious. But when the event does happen, I instantly remember the conversation and I tend to faceplam. That moment of 'damn I should have picked that up! I need to pay more attention then!'. As a reader you will grow as you learn to pick out those details whether or not they actually happen which in turn will make you a better writer.

(End of Part 9--The Importance of Characters and their Dialogue)