Anybody else have way too much dialog? http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155 Kate Whitely I know it's a mystery and there are several interviews but, still, I have way too much dialog. Like about 90% of my novel. I'm going to have a lot to do to straighten it out in the next draft. I'm beginning to think writing a novel in 30 days was the easy part. Tue, 29 Nov 2011 07:02:53 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_885970 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_885970 EFBQ There's nothing wrong with a dialogue driven novel, as long as the conversations are engaging. Remember in Alice in Wonderland where Alice's sister reads boring books without dialogue or illustrations? Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:31:22 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_886503 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_886503 paperback_writer4 I also have a lot of dialog, but I think it moves the story along. I did tell myself to add in more descriptions and some background, but in the end, I like writing dialog; I hearing what each character has to say, and some case how mean and nasty they can be. Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:55:46 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_891398 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_891398 AKimlin My first drafts are always dialogue heavy - adding in description and deeper POV happens later. Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:50:47 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_892097 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_892097 Dr. Tom Today's readers expect a good amount of dialog. Gone are the days when readers would sit back and take in three-page descriptions of someone's suit. Dialog helps move the story along. I don't think there's a perfect ratio or anything, but a lot of the mysteries I've read are 50% dialog, sometimes more. Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:39:14 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_892663 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_892663 CAByrnes I, too, have a huge amount of dialogue in my novel. There are places where I know I want less talking and more doing. Still, I'm not too worried about it. I've got to put in more action in order to straighten out some timeline difficulties. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:12:18 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_896788 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_896788 beautifulidiotmusic This is my first time trying to write a novel, so I just wrote whatever came to mind. Turned out to be a lot philosophical dialogue, a lot of which will probably need to be cut. But just letting it out was interesting. I don't know. I'm gonna leave it alone for a while, maybe a month, and see what happens next. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:05:07 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_898416 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_898416 snappyssidekick Me too. And sometimes I feel just like you, but then I remember that the reason I put so much dialogue in the thing is that I have a good ear for it. It's not my style to spend three pages describing someone's suit, and I've got to stay true to my style. I agree with everyone who said that dialogue keeps things moving along. Also, Beautifulidiot, I'm planning on putting a philosophical conversation in my novel. It's in the outline. Thanks for bringing this up, so we know we're all in the dialogue-heavy novel club together. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:44:08 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_899776 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_899776 writerwoman I'm in the club, too! Especially with my mysteries, I tend to work in great gobs of dialog and have to both cut and layer in the narrative in revisions. Dialog's my strong point, too. I love it when a character says something unexpected and a whole new idea opens up. I just sit there at my keyboard and say to that character, "I didn't know that! Cool." Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:12:22 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_903330 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_903330 Cathe I listen to almost all of my books on audio, and that gives me a tendency to do more dialog, too. I "hear" what I am writing, and long descriptive passages sound a little bulky. Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:22:37 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_916253 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/mystery-thriller-suspense/threads/45155?page=1#forum_thread_comment_916253