Striking the Balance: Handling Excessive Dialogue in Your Novel

As indie authors, we're always striving to improve our storytelling skills. One common challenge we encounter in our writing journey is striking the right balance between dialogue and narrative description. While dialogue is essential for character development and plot progression, an overabundance of it can overwhelm readers. In this blog post, we'll explore some strategies to tackle excessive dialogue and create a more engaging reading experience for your audience.

1. Show, Don't Tell: One golden rule in writing is to "show, don't tell." Instead of relying solely on dialogue to convey emotions or information, use descriptive narrative to paint a vivid picture. Show your characters' feelings through their actions, body language, and surroundings. This technique adds depth to your storytelling and reduces the need for explicit dialogue.

Example:

• Instead of saying, "I'm so angry," describe clenched fists, a flushed face, and the character's teeth grinding.

1. Incorporate Inner Monologue: Allow readers to delve into your character's thoughts and feelings by incorporating inner monologue or stream-of-consciousness narration. This provides valuable insight into your character's psyche and minimizes the need for lengthy dialogues.

2. Leverage Action and Description: Don't overlook the power of action and description to move your story forward. Instead of having characters discuss an event, bring that event to life through action and description. Use gestures, body language, and sensory details to engage your readers.

3. Utilize Narrative Summary: When dealing with background information or less crucial details, employ narrative summary. Rather than having characters explain their entire backstory through dialogue, weave it into the narrative at appropriate moments.

4. Cut Redundant Dialogue: Review your dialogues for redundancy. If a conversation repeats the same information or emotions excessively, trim it down to the essential points. Concise dialogues can be just as impactful as lengthy ones.

5. Implement Subtext: Add depth and intrigue to your dialogues by incorporating subtext. Characters can imply or hint at their feelings or intentions without explicitly stating them. This invites readers to read between the lines and become more engaged in your story.

6. Vary Dialogue Tags: Diversify your dialogue tags to keep your writing fresh. Instead of using "he said" or "she said" repeatedly, mix in action beats or descriptive phrases to add variety to your dialogues.

7. Balance with Setting: Integrate setting descriptions into your dialogue scenes. This not only helps readers visualize the environment but also shows how the setting influences the characters and their interactions. It's a win-win for immersion and balance.

8. Expand Scenes: If you find your story becoming too dialogue-heavy, consider expanding scenes with more narrative description and action. Add details about the setting, character movements, or sensory experiences to break up the dialogue.

9. Edit for Relevance: Every dialogue exchange should serve a clear purpose in character development, plot progression, or theme exploration. Remove any conversations that don't contribute to these essential aspects of your story.

10. Consider Pacing: Keep pacing in mind. While dialogue can be a valuable tool for quick pacing, a series of dialogue-heavy scenes can feel overwhelming. Balance dialogue-driven scenes with those that allow for reflection, description, and action.

As indie authors, mastering the art of balancing dialogue and narrative description is crucial to creating captivating stories. By implementing these strategies, you can strike the right balance and provide your readers with a more engaging and immersive reading experience. Remember that finding the perfect equilibrium is an evolving process, so keep refining your skills and crafting compelling narratives. Your readers will thank you for it!