Two years ago, I started a job at a medical facility in appointing. I'd lived my entire professional career in customer service, so I figured it'd be nothing new. However, I was now not only dealing with ornery doctors and overworked nursing staff, but angry, upset, and sick patients. I knew to expect that people would be short-tempered (we all are when we feel crappy, am I right?) but I didn't know just how volatile people could get. If I didn't diffuse their anger at having to wait 45 minutes to get through to me on the phone, or their frustration that they didn't get a refill of pain pills, or their downright pessimism onto how likely it would be for them to get to a doctor's appointment prior to two in the afternoon, then I was often called terrible names or even found myself dodging pens and other throwable objects.
I joked with my coworkers then that I needed a course in hostage negotiation to get through my day.
It seems that when it comes to writing, the same course would be very beneficial.
And I'm not just writing this post to those who write thrillers or detective novels. I'm talking to all you picture book authors, sci-fi scribes, and inspirational writers, too.
All of us need to better hone our negotiation skills to write one of the most important aspects of a story or novel: Dialogue.
Think about why dialogue exists in fiction. Yes, it's to spice it up so we're not only reading narration. Yes, it exists so readers better understand your protagonist's (and antagonist's) voice and inner thoughts. But what is common in the most effective dialogue? Answer: it allows characters to negotiate.
A child will talk to their mother in order to obtain the cookie they so desperately want.
A terrorist will talk to his victim in order to explain his side of the story.
A new love interest will talk to the shy girl in class in order to better understand her.
And why do the other characters respond?
The mother will want the child to do a chore to help her workload before the cookie is eaten.
The victim will try to talk the terrorist out of killing him so he can go home and see his family.
The shy girl will talk because she likes the attention she's getting from another human being and doesn't want it to end.
All of these stories, and all of these characters produce dialogue so that they can negotiate something. Characters want the outcome they've been hoping for. They want to convince everyone else that their way of viewing the world is the way that makes the most sense. It's the same motivation behind why we talk to our family members or roommates.
I remind my roommate before she leaves to get the cruelty-free dish detergent because it is the one that I want. She tells me to get it myself because she doesn't want to go out of her way just for that item. I offer in a free home-cooked meal in return. She reluctantly accepts.
It's negotiation through and through.
And it never fails. We communicate to negotiate our way. Your characters should be doing the same.
Homework: Go through your work-in-progress and reread your dialogue. Ask yourself what is being negotiated in each scene. Cut any dialogue that doesn't further each side's case towards that end negotiation.
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