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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Dialogues in fiction

Hi Friends,

I am writing a story to improve my skills. People say dialogues should be informal and contractions help in that respect. I have a question. I find that sometimes avoiding them provides emphasis. For example: what's the deal with this man?

Instead, if we write each word separately (what is the deal with this man?) it gives a certain emphasis. Am I right?

It's 1833. It is 1833.
Who's that? It's Mark. Who is that? It is Mark.
etc.

So I am wondering if we can keep contradictions for emphasis. But if you do that, will the sentence become stilted?

thanks,
Lin
  

Top answer

Yes, you can add emphasis by not using a contraction. But if you do it a lot, the effect will be lost. In addition, in a real spoken dialogue that is face to face, emphasis is mainly a function of tone of voice, body language and facial expression.

— Clive

  • Yes, you can add emphasis by not using a contraction.
  • But if you do it a lot, the effect will be lost.
  • In addition, in a real spoken dialogue that is face to face, emphasis is mainly a function of tone of voice, body language and facial expression.
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2 Answers
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Yes, you can add emphasis by not using a contraction. But if you do it a lot, the effect will be lost.
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In addition, in a real spoken dialogue that is face to face, emphasis is mainly a function of tone of voice, body language and facial expression.
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Thanks, Clive. That makes a lot of sense.
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