One of the things they always tell writers to do is show and not tell. “Don’t Tell Me the Moon Is Shining; Show Me the Glint of Light on Broken Glass” to paraphrase playwright Anton Chekov. Chekov was talking about describing the world, but here’s another way you can use that show-not-tell: to describe your characters using only their dialogue and body language.
It’s certainly one of my favourite ways of doing it. Here are some snips from my own Eight Mile Island:
Mum comes out onto the deck from the cabin behind me and weaves along it towards me. …
“Dylan?”
I ignore her for a minute, pretending not to hear my name until she says it louder. I turn from the waves and face her. “What?”
“You’ve got to come inside. You’ll be washed away.”
“So?”
“Please, Dylan. Don’t start. Not today.”
And these are the first word you hear Dylan say…half a page in, one surly question and you know you’re dealing with a boy with attitude and a mother helpless to do anything about it.
Neat, isn’t it? And it’s not magic or sleight of hand. We all make conscious and subconscious judgements about people we meet by the way they talk and the words they use. It’s the same for readers, and it’s something you can use – should use – in your dialogue and your character’s body language.
What I’m not talking about here, by the way, is stereotyping. Don’t bother with the gay character who talks in a high pitched voice and is flaming all of the time. Most of them don’t, and you shouldn’t either. Make it subtle, folks. One hand movement or high-pitched comment can be enough.
I wrote a story recently for an Australian competition and sent it off to a ‘Straylian friend for her input. She returned it with a comment about stereotyping an uneducated train driver and I cleaned up the dialogue. Here’s the first version:
He smiled, but it faltered and failed quickly, and he returned to gnawing his lip. “Thought so. That aftershave your wife buys you stinks somethin rotten.”
“Tom, I don’t think I’m the right person for you to be talking to right now. You need a doc.”
“Siddown, Bill. I gotta tell someone. Cops out there wouldn’t believe a word of it.”
I moved to the table and sat down opposite, looking towards the two-way mirror Tom couldn’t see. The man I am looked back at me, and that man looked scared out of his wits.
Tom leaned back as far as his bolted down chair would allow. “What did they tell ya?”
Now I fidgeted. “That you wouldn’t talk to anyone but me. That you, uh…you –”
“I killed em both, Bill. Merciful, it was. Best thing for em.”
“Uh, Tom…I really think you need a doc. For that lip, at least.”
His tongue tasted the blood and darted back into his mouth. “Let it bleed. Maybe it’ll be enough to end it.”
“Is that what you want?”
He leaned forward and his breath was foul, his body odour sweet and sickly and I retreated from it. “What I want…is for them to kill me.”
Here’s the modified version:
His nostrils flared. “That you Bill? I can smell that bloody aftershave your wife buys you.” Even though spasms racked his body, the voice was still solid.
“It’s me, mate.” I paused. “Tom, I don’t think I’m the right person to be talking to. You need a doctor.”
“Siddown, Bill. I gotta tell someone. Cops out there wouldn’t believe a word anyway.”
I sat opposite him and glanced at the two-way mirror. The man I am looked back at me, and that man looked scared out of his wits.
Tom leaned back in his bolted down chair. “What did they tell you?”
I fidgeted. “That you wouldn’t talk to anyone but me. That you, uh…you –”
“They think I killed them? Yeah, merciful if I did, I’d say. Best thing for them.”
“Uh, Tom…I really think you need a doctor. For that lip, at least.”
His tongue tasted the blood. “Let it bleed. Maybe it’ll be enough to end it.”
“Is that what you want?”
He leaned forward, his body odour sickly. “What I want…is for them to kill me. So I don’t have to dream about those women anymore.”
What I’ve done is make Tom and Bill’s dialogue slightly more formal throughout, but the whole is more than the sum of its parts. For instance,
“They think I killed them? Yeah, merciful if I did, I’d say. Best thing for them.”
…instead of the more direct
“I killed em both, Bill. Merciful, it was. Best thing for em.”
You can also subvert dialogue. A good example is in John Wyndham’s Day of The Triffids. A character named Coker – working class, superficially poorly educated – sometimes pops up with words and references beyond what you would expect him to know. The main character asks him about it, and discovers that Coker found out that the better educated wouldn’t listen to him unless he spoke as if he was educated; and poorly educated people wouldn’t listen to him if he did. Sometimes he drops it for a word or two, just for effect.
Give your characters different voices and you won’t many need dialogue attributes. It’s a way to show who’s speaking and not just tell again. Here’s a phone conversation from Eight Mile Island:
“Yeah?” a rough voice speaks in my ear.
“Hello, is this Mr Yates?”
“Who the hell wants to know at this goddamn hour?”
“Uh…you don’t know me, my name is…is, uh…” I look round the kitchen and a box of cereal catches my eye. “Uh, Teddy Graham. I’m trying to contact Cassie. About a reunion we’re having at the school for former pupils.”
“What the Christ you callin me at this hour for?”
“S…sorry, I forgot about the time difference. So, anyway, if I could talk to her, maybe…?”
“Well, son, if you want to talk to her, go ahead. I got no objections to it. Why not ask her yesself?”
What?
“You mean she isn’t there?”
“No, for Gods sake, you stupid or sumthin’? She’s at the school, ain’t she?”
“Uh, yeah, sure. I misheard you, sorry.”
“Yes. Cassie is happy at the school. Doesn’t ever want to leave there. Happy there. Don’t even have to call her to check she’s all right.”
I hang up as quickly as I can make up an excuse, my legs going weak.
…because we have a good idea how Mr Yates ‘sounds’, when something odd happens at the end of this conversation, it jumps right out.
So, just a final exercise: How old is this character from Fidget? How did I show you without telling you?
One morning in the big school holiday, when I got up after a long sleep, I went downstairs into the kitchen. Mummy was outside, hanging the big white bed sheets out on the clothesline, and I went outside to see her, even before I had breakfast.
I ran my hands down the sheets, pretending I was a pirate and they were sails on my ship, the wind making them blow and huff. I got to the end of the clothesline and stopped. The big red flowers were in front of me off to one side, and the big trees behind them were bending with the wind. The day was bright and blue and hot on my head.
I hope all that helps you see how you can make your characters do the work for you when it comes to show-not-tell!
Reblogged from: Musings – The Blog of Tony Talbot. http://www.tony-talbot.co.uk/wordpress/?p=547
