Dialogue modes?

nastyjman · May 17, 2018

Hi AWers, I've been thinking about dialogue, and how to identify their modes or type.

Currently, I have three in mind:

Conveys information
Conveys emotion
Commands action

Conveys information

"Andrew is coming around five-thirty," said Beatrice. (The dialogue here conveys information)

Conveys emotion

"You have a five-thirty appointment with that witch in the Upper West Side," said Candice. (Same. Conveys information and also conveys emotion of disgust or hatred "the witch...")

Commands action

"Get moving," said Candice. (Candice commanding Andrew to leave)

or--

"You're going to be late! And you know how Beatrice is with tardiness," said Candice. (Candice indirectly commanding Andrew to leave)

Basically, 3 C-s of Dialogue. I may be missing something, so I want fresh eyes on this. Are there other dialogue modes I'm missing?

Bufty · May 17, 2018

I'm not at all sure what you're trying to achieve here.

Doesn't matter how many 'modes' you're aware of, surely the type of dialogue is dictated by the circumstances in which the dialogue is required.

Are you suggesting dialogue is easier to write if you know which mode to switch into?

I've never even considered 'modes' of dialogue.

nastyjman · May 17, 2018

Hi Bufty, I'm not suggesting that knowing the modes will make dialogue easier to write. I want to know if there are other modes beyond the three I had mentioned. It's for study and analysis on other works.

Here are examples of what those three modes are (updated OP to clarify):

Conveys information

"Andrew is coming around five-thirty," said Beatrice. (The dialogue here conveys information)

Conveys emotion

"You have a five-thirty appointment with that witch in the Upper West Side," said Candice. (Same. Conveys information and also conveys emotion of disgust or hatred "the witch...")

Commands action

"Get moving," said Candice. (Candice commanding Andrew to leave)

or--

"You're going to be late! And you know how Beatrice is with tardiness," said Candice. (Candice indirectly commanding Andrew to leave)

Bufty · May 17, 2018

May I ask what the purpose is of pigeonholing dialogue into modes?

It seems strange to analyse dialogue in isolated snippets.

nastyjman · May 17, 2018

It's for my copywork analysis. Here's a link to it: http://jonmayo.blogspot.com/2018/01/copywork-exercise-for-writers.html

Currently, I don't highlight dialogue. Now, I'm thinking of identifying them with my future copywork analysis.

Bufty · May 17, 2018

So you would end up with copy extracts from novels, covered in coloured highlights - yes?

nastyjman · May 17, 2018

Nope. I only do the highlighting on other works. Here's the first shared analysis I did for Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson: http://jonmayo.blogspot.com/2018/05/scene-analysis-1-oathbringer-by-brandon.html

I have other analysis in some of my notebooks. I just want to hone my skills, hoping that it will help my craft as well. My intent is studying other authors' works. When a scene draws me in completely, I make note of it and then study it (after I finish the novel at least).

Bufty · May 17, 2018

Glad it works for you. Good luck.

Ari Meermans · May 17, 2018

nastyjman said:
<snip>

I have other analysis in some of my notebooks. I just want to hone my skills, hoping that it will help my craft as well. My intent is studying other authors' works. When a scene draws me in completely, I make note of it and then study it (after I finish the novel at least).

Ah, okay. Like Bufty, I had a bit of confusion over what you were trying to accomplish. I think I have it now, and "mode" is as good a word as any for defining how an author achieved one or more of the purposes of dialogue as a literary device.

A couple of the instances you seem to be calling "modes" are the actual purposes of dialogue as used to drive your narrative, though:

Dialogue creates conflict and tension.
Dialogue conveys character (and emotion).
Dialogue provides information and backstory needed by another character and your reader (Just avoid "As you know, Bob . . .")
Dialogue advances the plot.

Once that is understood, learning how to accomplish one or more of those purposes in a piece of dialogue by analyzing existing works can be quite useful, as you appear to be doing.

TinaG · May 17, 2018

I really wanted to jump in here thinking I could learn something but now I’m more confused. What exactly are we doing or what are we supposed to do. I did go to college (mention because I’m questioning my education at the moment). Really I’m totally lost what’s the question?

Bufty · May 17, 2018

TinaG said:
I really wanted to jump in here thinking I could learn something but now I’m more confused. What exactly are we doing or what are we supposed to do. I did go to college (mention because I’m questioning my education at the moment). Really I’m totally lost what’s the question?

The question is meaningless if you don't break your dialogue into 'modes' or effective units or whatever. I don't.

In essence, if you read a novel and realise a particular effect was achieved through a particular sequence of dialogue, then you have learned something.

Whether highlighting that particular piece in coloured highlighter and entering it, perhaps plus a note as to where it came from and what you have learned from it, in a notebook - as the OP apparently does - , is necessary or desirable, or helpful, is entirely up to the individual.

That's how I see it at the moment.

Any clearer?

blacbird · May 17, 2018

I'm with Bufty on this one. It all seems like an exercise in useless analytics. Thinking in this "mode" would not aid my writing process, but probably would hamstring it.

caw

TinaG · May 17, 2018

I see yes I think so but where we to give some examples of this highlighting and what not here?

Bufty · May 17, 2018

TinaG said:
I see yes I think so but where we to give some examples of this highlighting and what not here?

Give them here, I guess. :Hug2:

Ari Meermans · May 17, 2018

There are almost as many tools for learning as there are individuals interested in learning. Some of those tools may be helpful to more than one writer. Or, not. What is important is that we share our tools and allow others to determine usefulness for themselves.

What I would appreciate is that we either use established terminology or descriptive terminology that everyone can understand. Other than that, Roundtable is all about sharing and learning from each other as we hone our craft.

~Yer friendly neighborhood modly person

Harlequin · May 17, 2018

Dialogue should almost always convey emotion and ALWAYS convey character. But, most dialogue will have mixed aims. If a dialogue is only doing one thing at a time, I would wonder if it's being used to full potential.

nastyjman · May 17, 2018

Ari Meermans said:
There are almost as many tools for learning as there are individuals interested in learning. Some of those tools may be helpful to more than one writer. Or, not. What is important is that we share our tools and allow others to determine usefulness for themselves.

What I would appreciate is that we either use established terminology or descriptive terminology that everyone can understand. Other than that, Roundtable is all about sharing and learning from each other as we hone our craft.

~Yer friendly neighborhood modly person

Yep. I wanted to share how I study a body of work. Some writers do active reading, some memorize or some just absorb them without effort. For me, I like to dig in and copy the body of work, then do some highlighting and what not. I'm not sure if it's effective, but it has helped me understand different modes in a body of work. Also, it's fun seeing the rhythm of a scene/chapter.

nastyjman · May 17, 2018

TinaG said:
I see yes I think so but where we to give some examples of this highlighting and what not here?

Here's a link to my first shared analysis: http://jonmayo.blogspot.com/2018/05/scene-analysis-1-oathbringer-by-brandon.html

But I haven't done any highlighting with regards to dialogue. Right now, I don't highlight them with my analysis. I brought this thread up to see if there are other "modes" or "types" of dialogue out there, other than the three I had mentioned (Convey emotion, convey information, command action).

Ari did point out some "modes:"

Dialogue creates conflict and tension.

Dialogue conveys character (and emotion).

Dialogue provides information and backstory needed by another character and your reader (Just avoid "As you know, Bob . . .")

Dialogue advances the plot.

I feel conflict and tension are "Commands action" that are in conflict. For example:

"Open the door right now, Andrew!" said Beatrice. (Commands Andrew to open the door)

"If I open that door, we're both dead, you hear?" said Andrew. (Commands Beatrice to rethink her command by telling her the consequence)

I think same goes for advancing the plot, but instead of conflicting "Commands action," the other complies to a command.

It's still a work in progress.

nastyjman · May 17, 2018

blacbird said:
I'm with Bufty on this one. It all seems like an exercise in useless analytics. Thinking in this "mode" would not aid my writing process, but probably would hamstring it.

caw

Agree. It's the centipede's dilemma (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede's_Dilemma), which is why I don't think of them when I'm in the act of writing (I turn off my editor/analytical mind when I'm writing). I only do this on other authors works, hoping to hone my skills unconsciously.

Bufty · May 17, 2018

nastyjman said:
Agree. It's the centipede's dilemma (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede's_Dilemma), which is why I don't think of them when I'm in the act of writing (I turn off my editor/analytical mind when I'm writing). I only do this on other authors works, hoping to hone my skills unconsciously.

You expect to hone your skills while unconscious?

Wow!

That's a neat trick, nastyjman. :Hug2:

nastyjman · May 17, 2018

Heck yeah.

Ari Meermans · May 17, 2018

nastyjman said:
Here's a link to my first shared analysis: http://jonmayo.blogspot.com/2018/05/scene-analysis-1-oathbringer-by-brandon.html

But I haven't done any highlighting with regards to dialogue. Right now, I don't highlight them with my analysis. I brought this thread up to see if there are other "modes" or "types" of dialogue out there, other than the three I had mentioned (Convey emotion, convey information, command action).

Ari did point out some "modes:"

I feel conflict and tension are "Commands action" that are in conflict. For example:

"Open the door right now, Andrew!" said Beatrice. (Commands Andrew to open the door)

"If I open that door, we're both dead, you hear?" said Andrew. (Commands Beatrice to rethink her command by telling her the consequence)

I think same goes for advancing the plot, but instead of conflicting "Commands action," the other complies to a command.

It's still a work in progress.

If you persist in calling the purposes for employing the literary device dialogue as "modes", I'ma thump ya, I swear I will. :roll:

Now, if you want to call the HOW-TO for effectively accomplishing those purposes "modes", then fine. Or, as the Oxford Dictionaries defines mode:

mode (n.) A way or manner in which something occurs or is experienced, expressed, or done.

nastyjman · May 17, 2018

Hehe, yeah, my definitions are still spotty. I'm piggy-backing on a how-to book that identified 11 "modes." After some research and copying, I compressed it to 7. For dialogue, I think purpose is appropriate.

I'll continue some copywork exercises. Hopefully I come across a dialogue purpose other than "convey info," "convey emotion" and "command action."

AW Admin · May 17, 2018

I think you would do better to read more widely. I'd suggest reading fiction, including classic novels, and some literary criticism, and a handful of books about writing.

You're circling around rhetorical theory, but you're starting very far from the center.

nastyjman · May 17, 2018

Yep. My next analysis will be Lolita by Nabokov and Bell Jar by Plath. I'm also thinking of doing The Trial by Kafka.

Dialogue modes?

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