So you want to write a crime novel: Part 10 - Dialogue

 

Dialogue is one of the trickiest aspects of writing a novel. The plain truth is that the dialogue we read in books is nothing like the dialogue we use when we actually speak and interact with other people. When we are face to face with someone, we use their facial expressions to interpret what they are saying. That feeds how we then respond. 

That cannot happen in a book unless you actively make one character—your POV character use others’ facial expressions as part of your deductive plan.

 If for example you have a group of characters who are all familiar with each other, their habits, and anything that the group uses will be familiar to all. Let’s say we have a group of security consultants in a thriller—if one character then says, for example, “We can ask our IT guy, Michael.”, this becomes unbelievably clunky dialogue. The group knows their IT guy is called Michael. The person saying the sentence knows the IT guy is called Michael as does the person listening to the sentence. “Give it to Mike, he’ll sort it,” would be far more realistic while still conveying information.

 The secret to successful dialogue is making it sound effortless and realistic. Widespread reading in your particular genre will soon aid you in identifying who writes excellent dialogue and who does not. Knowing the difference is key. One thing I would highly recommend is that you go to YouTube and watch small scenes from films to get an idea of how written dialogue can sound real. Look up Oscar winners for screenplays and go find their work.

As a writer, you should always be aware of people around you in public situations. Listen to their speech patterns. Listen to what I call the music of their sentences. You will find that someone who speaks in a Yorkshire accent will not speak the same song as someone from Norfolk, for example. Eavesdropping is an essential part of learning how to write effective dialogue.

 Dialogue is not just communication between characters. It gives information to the reader. If you are writing a crime novel written in the first person, one of your biggest problems is that whatever that person witnesses is all that person knows. So if for example Georgia Pattison, needs to know that X has happened, she needs somebody else to tell her it has happened because she was not there to witness it herself. Phone conversations and eavesdropping are useful for this. If the book is written in the third person, this issue becomes less of a problem.

 One of the most common problems writers encounter in writing effective dialogue is that because they are creating the speeches from within their own brain, it is very easy to fall into the trap of all the characters’ dialogue sounding the same. The same speech patterns, the same rhythm. But, not only will the words each character uses be different, their phrasing will be different: the emphasis will be different. 

The successful writer must pick this up and encompass it. One way to do this and I think it is especially important in the crime novel, is to know your characters inside out - and this includes their speech patterns and the vocabulary they use. For example, your villain, Hugo, because of his background/upbringing/goals, will have different patterns and vocabulary from Inspector Daniels with his upbringing etc.

What does Hugo’s voice sound like? Is it a snide voice? How does his view of the world and his place in it affect his speech patterns?

Your dialogue should reveal something about the character who is speaking. If it is a stand-off between your protagonist and your antagonist, they may have different but related goals. Hugo will want to avoid arrest. Daniels will work towards solving the crime and arresting Hugo. That will affect how they interact with each other.

 As an exercise, let us pretend that Hugo has slipped away from his office, come home, murdered his wife, and slipped back to his office. Inspector Daniels is the Senior Investigating Officer. Hugo, being the husband, is his prime suspect. Now, you must decide how clever or how sloppy Hugo has been in the execution of this crime. That will affect how Inspector Daniels interviews Hugo and how Hugo's ego believes he can pull the wool over the inspector’s eyes.

Now write the scene. It doesn't have to be long. Remember to make your dialogue individual to each man so that the reader does not need to read many “he said/she said”. The aim of this exercise is for you to make it clear to the reader who is speaking.

If the dialogue is a long one, you can have one character say the other character’s name. For example Daniels could say: 

' Hugo, we checked with your office. Your car was not in its parking space for 45 minutes at the time your wife was murdered.'

'Oh, for heaven's sake, this is stupid. I've just lost my wife and you're wittering on about where I parked my car. I don't suppose you have a specific time of death yet. You see, I do know about how tricky TOD is for pathologists. I'm not the moron you seem to think I am.'

'We have witnesses who are adamant your car was not in its space. Why?'

'If you must know, inspector, I parked at the other end of the car park this morning under a tree out of the sun. If you had a Merc., you'd do the same.'

'Then where were you? Your secretary couldn't find you.'

Daniels is keeping his sentences short and succinct while baiting them to make Hugo lose his cool. Hugo's sentences are longer with what he thinks are appropriately condescending comments, trying to undermine Daniels, make him believe Hugo is superior, and must be treated with more respect. It isn't working. Or, if it does work, you have to find a way to make Daniels realise he has been manipulated and formulate a plan for the next time he interviews Hugo.

Over to you. You aren't trying to write a crime novel here, just a short scene, so there is absolutely no pressure, but a lot of fun to be had.