Is there such a thing as too much dialogue?

Question

I'm writing a story and I tend to write a lot dialogue with minimal exposition. The dialogue does move the story forward and serves a purpose, but i'm just wondering how much dialogue before it starts to read like a script.

Answer 1

There is no such thing as too much or too little dialogue. You use what you need to use to tell your story. Much of it depends on the point of view you are using (first person narratives often tend to use more dialogue than third person), and the nature of the story.

Be careful, however, that you are not using the dialogue as a short-cut to storytelling. Sometimes writers try to get around the "show, don't tell" rules by having characters say things that would be better illustrated by description. For example, look at these two excerpts and decide which is better.

Claudia walked in the room wearing a blue spandex dress.
"God she looks fat," said Clarice.
"Yeah, she does," said Jaime.

or

Clarice noted that the deep blue spandex dress made Claudia look like some sort of hybrid whale/human creature. She turned to Jaime, who had tilted her head inquisitively as if to discern what law of physics Claudia broke to even fit into the dress.

So make sure the dialogue is really needed, or would it be better to the story to use exposition.

Answer 2

Yes there is such as thing as too much dialogue, I know i like you tend to write the first draft with more dialogue and not much description. When i rewrite i always take out some dialogue to replace with description, i sometimes need to do 3 or 4 rewrites just to have a good mix of action and dialogue.

Answer 3

There is VERY much so such a thing as too much dialogue. If you want to base a story around dialogue, write a screenplay. If you want to write a story, stop making them talk about whats going on, and start making them think about it. Novels focus much more on emotion than dialogue. When you do have to use dialogue, you should keep it short and focus only on saying what needs to be said, and say it realisticly. Write dialogue in the way that people talk.
If you focus on this, you'll realize that most people don't engage in long, drawn out dialogues that explain everything, and will be forced to cut some of it.
Hope this helps, good luck

Answer 4

Yes, you need to make your writing three dimensional. Narration, action, and dialogue. Too much of any one of them can be boring to the reader unless you are a world class writer which none of us are.

Move some of the dialogue into narration if it is less important. Change some of the dialogue into action to liven things up. That is:

change
"I hate what you just said, you moron!"

to
She jumped up and slapped him full on the face.


and
"Sorry I was so late to work this morning," she said.
"Oh, no problem, I'm not taking notes," he said.

to
Betty arrived late but no one minded.

As you can see action can spice up a long dialogue while narration can pick up the pace.
.

Answer 5

This is a topic of frequent discussion in a couple of my Writer's Groups. As long as the dialog moves the story, gives us character insight, and comes across as "real" I say the more the better. Of course you need some description and action to keep the story from being just a couple of talking heads. Watch people talking at the mall or in a restaurant. They move, they scratch, they wave their arms, they take a sip of coffee, they shift in their seats. Make sure your story offers more than dialog and tag lines.

Answer 6

Dialogue is great but you should have certain things in between people talking. Like describing facial expression and such.

Answer 7

You should read some Hemingway and see how that is done. That was his style to a T. Yes, it can work and he invented it. Pax - C

Answer 8

yes. unless its a play