Dialogue: A Socratic Dialogue on the Art of Writing Dialogue in Fiction (Elements of Fiction Writing) PDF
Preview Dialogue: A Socratic Dialogue on the Art of Writing Dialogue in Fiction (Elements of Fiction Writing)
_WRITING Dialogue LEWIS TURCO. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lewis Turco, Professor of English Emeritus ofthe State University taf New York at Oswego, sas tae founcing director of both the Cleveland State University Poetry Center and the Program in Writ ing Ans at Oyncgo. His many publications include The Book of Perms: A Hendbook of Posies (1968); The New Book of Forms (1985) Visions sna Masions of America Party, winner ofthe Poety Society of America's 1955 Melville Cane Award for literary evitiisms Be Shing Web: New anc Selosiad Pues {1089}, The Public Pot: ve Lectures om the Art and Craft of Paty 1891); and Fiily Dirbincon: Woman of Lets, Poems and Cantes from Lines in Easy Dickies Letters (1998), He was dhe 1997 winnes, with his wanslator Joseph ‘Alessia, ofthe fies! annual Bordighera Bilingual Poetry Prize for his A Book of Four (WOR); his book a memoirs, Shaking che Family Tres, was published in the same year. Mr. Turco has collaborated with many artists aver the yeu, "While the Spr Slepr,” a hallet based npom his pocmn “Novern ber 2, 1985." choreographed by lirian Macdonald with musie by Maurice Karkott his been performed by the Rail Swedish Ballet land the Royal Winmpeg Ballet, With the Duteh composer Walter Hekster he lus risen sid publisied « clsuuber opera, Te Fog 987 PromPrints, with printmaker Geotge ©°Connell, ws pushed during debut exhibition from April 11 to May 12, 1996, a The Rathbone Gallery of Sage junior College in Alan, New Yaris In 1009 Lesse Turco received the Join Cardi Award for life. time achievemene in paeary. In che same year Le publisaed The Bock of sary Terms: th Goer of and is Boi mn. Drama, Nonfetiom, Go elom and Schalavship which, woth its companion volume The Book of Boras, Pur Eitin 10), covers allof Lnghih letersi writin DIALOGUE A Socratic Dialogue on the Art of Writing Dialogue in Fiction BY LEWIS TURCO (WITH “PRED FOYLE”) CINGINNATLOBIO Dilge. Cpyight © 980 y Lens Tuco Pre ond CsH7 it eo, Ma papctack econ serine Writes get Bock ae aa fo you ea itary of Const Ma cnagd td copy ea at [SAN BADR pap PERMISSIONS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ‘Scoton the Rocks" originally appeared in Te Miscellany (subse quently The Davidson Miscellany), Vol. IV, No, 1, January 1969, and is reprinted here by permission of the author, copyright ® 1969 and 1989 by Lewis Turco, all rights reserved “The Yeoman's Story” appeared as part ofa wilogy, “Ship- mates,” in The Colorado Nowth Review, Vol. XV, No. 3, Spring 1978, and is reprinted here by permission of the author, copy: right © 1978 and 1989 by Lewis Turco, all rights reserved. “Savants" originally appeared in The Sucarnociee Review, Vol. VI, 1988, and is reprinted here by permission of theauthor, copyright © 1988 by Lewis Turco, all rights reserved. “Pocoangelini 7” is from Pacoangelin: A Fantography, Despa Press, copyright © 1971 by Lewis Turco and reprinted by per- mmission of the author. he excerpt from Murgatroyd and Mabel is from the chil. dren's book of the same name published by Mathom Publishing, Company, copyright © 1978 by Wesli Court aud reprinted by permission of the author: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 CONTENT INTRODUCTION DEFINITIONS SPEECH IN NARRATION DICTION TYPES OF SPEECH GENRE DIALOGUE INDEX INTRODUCTIO Several months clapsed between my being commissioned 1 ‘write this hook on the art of writing dialogue in fiction and my acusaly siting down to begin work un the typescript, That's wot to say nothing was happening. Td written the oulline of the book, so I knew generally what it was I bad to say—amy first problem had to do with hea to say i. That's always a major problem with writing anything, How to say something is more than half the battle, It takes some thought to decide on ap- proach and tactics, So I was doing lot of hinking: Atlast 1 had abrainstorm— i was simplicity itscl. 1 would verte a book about dialogue in the form ofa dialogue. TThete's nathing new about the method of what's called the “Socratic dialogue.” It has been around for twenty-four bun. dred years, and it's a sound teaching technique. Ir was invented by Plato. Many people who read Plato's dialogues helicve that they are a sort of verbatim transeript of what Socrates said as he walked about the grounds of his “Academy,” the Athenian agora, around 400 B,G., as though Plato were a kind of human tape recorder who listened carefully ta the great philasopher- ‘eacher and took excellent nates that he passed on to posterity, buc that is far from the ease. In fact, the Zhalogues were works of fiction. “'For Plato has a numerous repertory of dramatis ferme says the classic eleventh edition of The Fneselopaedia Rritanoica (in Vol. 21, p. 811), "who stand in various relations to his chief 2 DIALOGUE character—" that is, Socrates—including “the impetuous ‘crephon, Apollodoras the inseparable weak brother, old Grito the true-hearted, Phaedo the beloved disciple. Simnias and Cebes," and so on and so forth, “Parmenides with his mag- nifcent depth is made ta converse with the imaginary Socrates, who is still quite young. “Maile to converse with the inaginary Socrates." Clearly Plato's Dialogues are works of fiction at the same time that they are works of nonfiction, They ate philosophical textbooks that tell a story, but their chief purpose is ro discuss the manure of truth asit applies 1 various disciplines: ethics, politics, aw, logic, science, religion. Thus, there is a paradox built into the system of the dialogues: Plato wrote lies in order totell the trath. That's exactly whata fiction writer does and has always done, Plato was he was an early fiction writer as wel ‘Where, we may wonder, did Plato (c, 427-347 B.C) get the idea for his dialogues? If we look at Greek classical literature wwe find two types of narrative that are older than or roughly contemporary with Plato's Dialogues—the epics of Homer (¢ ante-700 B.C.) and the plays of che classical dramatists such as Aeschylus (¢. 595-486 B.C.) Aristophanes (. 448-388 B.C.), and Euripides (c, 480-406 B.C.) The epic was the first novel, the most obvious difference between the to heing the mode of writ- an early and great philosopher of the Western world, ing; thats to say, the clasical epic was written in verse, andl the ‘modern novel is writzen in prose. There are other differences, ‘ofcourse, but they don't concern us here. However, rama does concern is as the source of dialogue, sa we will spend a little time in the course of future pages talking about the differences eden dialogue as i appears in fiction and in drama ‘What is my contribution to the development of Plat's in vention? Simply this: that my subject in this book is dialogue itself 1 will use the technique of the Socratic dialogue in the teaching of dialogue writing. | will make up my own version of 8 Platonic fictional character in order to discuss the writing of dialogue in fiction while writing a piece of nonfiction fiction in the process! Are there any advantages to this method? Iarouction © 3 Yes, thereare. For one hing, Ican st up a tension between the “author” (whois himself, iferuth were known, a fictiveinven: tion) and an “antagonist,” just asa fiction writer does in writing, short story ora navel when he or she pits pratagonist against an antagonist. Another thing I can do is to illustrate as we go along, in the text itself, the methods, techniques, and conven- tions of dialogue writing. Is there anything else that can be done? Most certainly. Lean develop the personality of my fetive foil, show how dialogue is a builder of character in a narrative, Acthe beginning of the book this unnamed dramatic “persona,” to use the term of the Britannica, is nothing more than a disem- bodied voice. Within afew pages if| do my job right, my charac- ter will begin to be a person, a stand-in for the reader who is ost probably a novice writer; a stand-in for an aspect of the ‘author, that facet which isa student rather than a veacher. Iwill be talking to myselC and to Uie reader simultaneously, and it's possible that during the course of the book we may both learn something about the art of writing dialogue in fiction. CHAPTER 1 DEFINITIONS Dialogue Just exactly what és dialogue? You're writing this book. Why don't you tell me? beg your pardon! Why, what did you do? Who are you? -if you don’t mind my asking Well, since you're the author of this book, I guess I must be a character you've invented. Kither that, ar I'm a would be writer who's been hanging around waiting for you to say something interesting What's your name? masthave amnesia, because I don’tthink I have one, Why on’e you give me one? Fllabink about it ‘While you're doing that, can Task you a question? Sure. Go ahead. Okay—what's dialogue? Dialogue isa conversation Like what we're having right now Exactly Ifyou already knew, why did you ask me? For one thing, I didn ‘Ob, sure! sare! You expect me to believe that? Well, I didn't know you were there yt You thought you were talking to yoursel® know you were there,
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