What are dialogues for?

Dialogues are a very useful tool in any storytelling. They not only give voice to the characters, they also help us on many other levels. In this post we will see what they are.

But first I want to share with you an excerpt from the dialogue The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. There are many examples of great dialogue between masters of writing, but I have opted for this one from Adams because his dialogue is dynamic, alive, and fun:

"Unfortunately, I've stayed on the ground much longer than I intended," Ford said. I went for a week and stayed fifteen years. "But how did you end up there?" "Easy, I took a heavy load." "A heavy?" -Yes. -And what is…? "A heavy?" Heavy people are usually rich kids with nothing to do. They go around, looking for planets that have not yet made interstellar contact and announce their arrival. "Do they announce your arrival?" Arthur began to suspect that Ford enjoyed making his life miserable. "Yes," said Ford, "they announce your arrival." They look for an isolated place where there are not many people, they land next to some poor innocent guy who no one will ever believe, and then they strut in front of him wearing stupid antennas on their heads and doing beep! Beep! Beep ! It really is a very childish thing. Ford lay back on the mattress with his hands behind his neck, looking annoyingly pleased with himself. "Ford," Arthur insisted, "I don't know if it sounds like a silly question to you, but what am I doing here?" "You know," said Ford. I have rescued you from Earth. "And what happened to Earth?" "Well, they have demolished it." "It has been demolished," Arthur repeated monotonously. -Yes. It has just evaporated into space. "Hey," Arthur commented, "I'm a little worried about that." Ford frowned without looking at him and seemed to think about it. "Yes, I understand," he said at last. "You understand!" Shouted Arthur. That you get it! Ford jumped to his feet. "Look at the book!" He whispered urgently. -How? - Don't panic. (For those of you who have not read it, this voice in italics is that of the book, which is known in history as the guide to the galactic hitchhiker) - I'm not scared! -If these. "Okay, I'm scared, what else can I do?" "Nothing but to come with me and have a good time." The Galaxy is a very fun place. You will need this fish in your ear.

Now, from the example, let's see some of the functions that the dialog has within a text:

Advances the story

One of the main characteristics of dialogue is that it moves the story forward more directly than a narrator.

In the case of the example, Ford and Arthur have just narrowly escaped the demolition of Earth and the dialogue puts us in a situation, pushing the plot to the next scene. In addition, the urgency of Ford, who does not look directly at Arthur, who changes his tone of voice suddenly and jumps up, makes us sense that something else is happening or is about to happen.

Makes the characters evolve

Characters can also evolve throughout a dialogue. In fact, in any good dialogue, at least one of the characters should undergo some state change.

In the example, Arthur begins intrigued, questioning Ford about his past. He then remembers what happened a few minutes before and returns to shock, moving toward panic. He becomes angry and eventually admits that he is scared. He ends the dialogue with some resignation. As you can see, they are a lot of different moods that would lose their strength if a narrator told them.

Provides rhythm, dynamism

Dialogues make the rhythm of the story flow faster, more dynamically. It will always be more dense to read a whole paragraph from the narrator explaining step by step what a dialogue can tell in a few lines.

It is clear that the text of the example would be very different if a narrator explained to us how Ford remembers the guy with whom he came to Earth fifteen years earlier and how Arthur, scared, realizes that his planet has just disappeared.

Show and bring to life

The dialogues do not tell us what is happening, but they show us, they draw the scene in a more vivid way and they fill the characters with life. A good dialogue catches us quickly because it lacks the value judgments and explanations of the narrator. Dialogue allows us to attend first hand, to be direct witnesses of what happens and thus we can draw our own conclusions.

Characterize the characters

Dialogues are one of the methods used to characterize the characters and the relationships between them. What they say, how they say it, the tone in which they speak and respond to each other, provide us with a lot of data.

In the example of Douglas Adams, thanks to the dialogue we know that Ford, in addition to not being terrestrial of origin, is a calm and optimistic type, with a character very different from that of Arthur, a neurotic human who feels lost after the disappearance of his planet. But we can also deduce, by the way they speak, that there is a certain trust between them.

Provide information

The dialogues offer information that the reader intuits, often unconsciously, such as the relationship between the characters, their personalities, their moods ... But they also provide specific data about the plot. Of course, all the information provided in the dialogue must be justified.

In the example, Ford explains to Arthur how he got to Earth and what heavyweights are after a brief questioning. It wouldn't make sense for Ford to just go into explaining it or telling him in detail things that Arthur already knew. He only insists on the theme of the demolition of the Earth because Arthur, in the state of shock he is in, needs to hear it again until he is able to assimilate it.

And so far the main functions of dialogue in a story. What do you think? Anything else you like to use them for?