Lit Hub's The Craft of Writing: Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott on writing compelling dialogue.
The following is excerpted from Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.
In the old days, before movies, let’s say before Hemingway, the dialogue in novels was much more studied, ornate. Characters talked in ways we can’t really imagine people talking. With Hemingway, things began to terse up. Good dialogue became sharp and lean. Now, in the right hands, dialogue can move things along in a way that will leave you breathless.
There are a number of things that help when you sit down to write dialogue. First of all, sound your words — read them out loud. If you can’t bring yourself to do this, mouth your dialogue. This is something you have to practice, doing it over and over and over. Then when you’re out in the world — that is, not at your desk — and you hear people talking, you’ll find yourself editing their dialogue, playing with it, seeing in your mind’s eye what it would look like on the page. You listen to how people really talk, and then learn little by little to take someone’s five-minute speech and make it one sentence, without losing anything. If you are a writer, or want to be a writer, this is how you spend your days — listening, observing, storing things away, making your isolation pay off. You take home all you’ve taken in, all that you’ve overheard, and you turn it into gold. (Or at least you try.)
Read more on writing dialogue and creating characters:
K Chess
David Crystal
Robert McKee
Brandon Taylor
People have always tried to listen to seashells. In The Sound of the Sea, Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Start reading now.
Second, remember that you should be able to identify each character by what he or she says. Each one must sound different from the others. And they should not all sound like you; each one must have a self. If you can get their speech mannerisms right, you will know what they’re wearing and driving and maybe thinking, and how they were raised, and what they feel. You need to trust yourself to hear what they are saying over what you are saying. At least give each of them a shot at expression: sometimes what they are saying and how they are saying it will finally show you who they are and what is really happening. Whoa — they’re not going to get married after all! She’s gay! And you had no idea!
Third, you might want to try putting together two people who more than anything else in the world wish to avoid each other, people who would avoid whole cities just to make sure they won’t bump into each other. But there are people out there in the world who almost inspire me to join the government witness protection program, just so I can be sure I will never have to talk to them again. Maybe there is someone like this in your life. Take a character whom one of your main characters feels this way about and put the two of them in the same elevator. Then let the elevator get stuck. Nothing like a supercharged atmosphere to get things going. Now, they both will have a lot to say, but they will also be afraid that they won’t be able to control what they say. They will be afraid of an explosion. Maybe there will be one, maybe not. But there’s one way to find out. In any case, good dialogue gives us the sense that we are eavesdropping, that the author is not getting in the way. Thus, good dialogue encompasses both what is said and what is not said. What is not said will sit patiently outside that stuck elevator door, or it will dart around the characters’ feet inside the elevator, like rats. So let these characters hold back some thoughts, and at the same time, let them detonate little bombs.
If you are lucky, your characters may become impatient with your inability, while writing dialogue, to keep up with all they have to say. This is when you will know that you are on the right track.
From Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. Reprinted by permission of Anchor Books, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 1995 by Anne Lamott.
Anne Lamott is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Hallelujah Anyway; Help, Thanks, Wow; Small Victories; Stitches; Some Assembly Required; Grace (Eventually); Plan B; Traveling Mercies; Bird by Bird; and Operating Instructions. She is also the author of seven novels, including Imperfect Birds and Rosie. A past recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an inductee to the California Hall of Fame, she lives in Northern California.
“...hilarious, helpful, provocative...” -The New York Times
|
Older messages
Lit Hub Radio Dispatch: Talking with Quentin Tarantino, Debut Novelist
Saturday, July 10, 2021
The Best in Book World Podcasts for the Week Click here to read this email in your browser. LIT HUB RADIO Conversations · Stories · Ideas THE BEST IN BOOK WORLD PODCASTS FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 8, 2021
Lit Hub Radio Dispatch: July 1, 2021
Thursday, July 1, 2021
The Best in Book World Podcasts for the Week Click here to read this email in your browser. LIT HUB RADIO Conversations · Stories · Ideas THE BEST IN BOOK WORLD PODCASTS FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 1, 2021
Lit Hub's The Craft of Writing: Anna Solomon
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Lit Hub's The Craft of Writing: Anna Solomon Click here to read this email in your browser. Wilmington's Lie by David Zucchino THE CRAFT OF WRITING Anna Solomon on overcoming her inner editor
Lit Hub Radio Dispatch: June 24, 2021
Thursday, June 24, 2021
The Best in Book World Podcasts for the Week Click here to read this email in your browser. LIT HUB RADIO Conversations · Stories · Ideas THE BEST IN BOOK WORLD PODCASTS FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 24, 2021
Lit Hub's The Craft of Writing: Matthew Salesses
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Lit Hub's The Craft of Writing: Matthew Salesses Click here to read this email in your browser. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami THE CRAFT OF WRITING Matthew Salesses on what plot assumes about individual
You Might Also Like
may
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
on first warm days (free to read) ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Kendall Jenner Nailed *Two* Iconic Met Gala After-Party Looks
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
They deserve your attention.
Carve Your Core in Just 90 Days
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Mens Health Shop logo Sculpt epic abs in 90 days! Are you tough enough for this 90 day challenge? A seriously strong core requires getting serious about your plan of attack. A few rounds of crunches
The Best Thing: May 7, 2024
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
The Best Thing is our weekly discussion thread where we share the one thing that we read, listened to, watched, did, or otherwise enjoyed recent… ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
And The #1 Pedicure Color For Spring 2024 Is...
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Sun's out, toes out.
This Android Malware Can Take Over Legitimate Apps 🚨
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Use the 'Five-second Rule' to Declutter Faster. Microsoft has discovered a major Android vulnerability that allows bad actors to take over legitimate apps with malware. Not displaying correctly
100+ STEAM Activities For Kids
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
special offer from our friends at Popular Mechanics special offer from our friends at Popular Mechanics Encourage Them To Be a Maker and a Doer! View in Browser 100+ Steam Activities Kids Won't
Kylie Jenner Rocked A Cone Bra At The Met Gala
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Plus, your horoscope for Tuesday, May 7.
From Stanley Tucci to Dolly Parton, celeb food brand deals are getting tired
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
This pizzeria is the real winner of Drake/Kendrick beef
The Best, Worst, and Weirdest Met Gala Looks
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
What's new today on the Cut — covering style, self, culture, and power, plus interviews, profiles, columns, and commentary from our editors. Brand Logo TUESDAY, MAY 7 MET GALA 2024 The Best, Worst,