# Dialogue-Driven Novels



## connectthedots (Sep 30, 2013)

Hi, I'm having a little bit of a problem- or at least I think I am.

My issue with writing is that I tend to write very dialogue driven scenes and novels- That is the dialogue far outweighs the action. It's not unusual for me to write a chapter with several long conversations interspersed with action and some brief descriptions of the setting or characters. 

I'm a little concerned about this because while a lot of the authors I really admire do have long conversations relatively frequently the action usually outweighs them. 

Is heavily dialogue-driven work a bad thing from your perspective?


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## helium (Oct 1, 2013)

I like dialogue driven work if the characters have interesting voices and conversations. I read a book that was mostly dialogue with only 2 characters.


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## Jeko (Oct 1, 2013)

Compartmentalizing your work into 'action' and 'dialogue' won't benefit either, IMO. Your characters will do what you want them to do. If they end up talking more than they end up doing things, that's perfectly fine.

The reader won't think 'Gee, these characters talk too much' as long as what they're talking about is worth reading.


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## Blade (Oct 1, 2013)

helium said:


> I like dialogue driven work if the characters have interesting voices and conversations.





Cadence said:


> Compartmentalizing your work into 'action' and 'dialogue' won't benefit either, IMO. Your characters will do what you want them to do. If they end up talking more than they end up doing things, that's perfectly fine.
> 
> The reader won't think 'Gee, these characters talk too much' as long as what they're talking about is worth reading.



I would agree with the above comments. You may just have a special feel for dialogue and it consequently is your way of expression.:joyous:

:welcome: Welcome to the forums, BTW.


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## Sintalion (Oct 1, 2013)

*Is heavily dialogue-driven work a bad thing from your perspective?*
No. As with almost everything in writing, it can be done poorly or really well. 

Will I ever care? No. I don't consider how much dialogue there is in a book before I buy it. I'm not one of those people who flips open the book and calculates white space. If it sounds good, I read it. I won't tell people not to write heavily dialogue-driven works, either, because I do believe they can be done well. 

That said, I'll put the book down if as I'm reading I'm paying attention to something as silly as how much dialogue there is. 9/10 that means I'm not paying attention to the story itself because something is wrong. 

When you're writing, especially on the first draft, don't hesitate to write it exactly the way you want it. When I write, everything is dialogue heavy until I edit. I'm just getting the story down; when I go back and read it after, I find spots where there needs to be something (action, tags, more dialogue, etc) and I insert them. 

For me, alarm bells would go off if either my instinct says "you're doing something wrong" or if the feedback I got from readers points to dialogue as being an issue. _Most _of the time you can't point your finger at a reader and say: you just don't like/have no experience with dialogue heavy work. They're usually on to something.


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## David Gordon Burke (Oct 1, 2013)

IMHO it is probably easier to add some more narrative compared to add more conversation (which is my case)  
Just be sure that the characters are carrying the scene along with their conversation and that it isn't an "Info dump" conversation.  
If you can do realistic dialogue, you are way ahead of the game.  

David Gordon Burke


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## connectthedots (Oct 1, 2013)

Alright, thanks for the help everyone


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