Real life vs fiction

Posted by Anne Scott, 04/23/07 06:00 AM

Fiction and real life are not quite the same. I know, it’s an obvious statement. But I do find it fascinating when I realize that what makes good fiction is not necessarily “real life”. The best and most obvious example is dialogue. If you were to transcribe real dialogue, often it would be meandering, repetitive and boring to read. With lots of repeated words, ums and allusions to things which are obvious if you’re actually there, but not obvious when being read.

Dialogue has to be crafted to give a sense of real-life dialogue, but it’s fictional. If two people are very excited, you don’t actually want to puntuate every sentence with an exclamation mark. Strong writing—and an exclamation mark here and there–will convey the appropriate intensity.

Relationships are like this, too. In real life, they can be confusing and hard to make sense of. It’s not much fun reading about a relationship that is hard to make sense of. It needs to be crafted and, sometimes, simplified. Fiction is not as complex as real life, after all. That doesn’t mean fiction can’t be fascinating, insightful and multilayered.

Historical romances can be especially tricky. They need to be accurate, yes, but most importantly they need to convince—to simulate a different time and place—without portraying said time and place in a way that is known to be wrong. (Unless, we’re dealing with alternate history.) The language can’t sound too modern and yet, it’s unlikely to be exactly how they spoke in Middle Ages and it won’t be how they spoke in Rome!

So fiction does not equal real life, but it can provide a fascinating window on it.

Category: , | 04/23/07 06:00 AM

Comments: [3]

  1. 1 Rebecca Goings

    Yes, book dialogue is very different than real life dialogue. But in real life, we have body language we can “read”. A lot of times, my friends and I don’t finish our words.

    “Did you see that movie? It was—”
    “I know! I couldn’t believe—”
    “Neither could I! And when that guy exploded—”
    “Yeah, that was awesome!”

    LOL But during this, we’re gesticulating to get our point across. In a book, you cannot bring this to light very much. You can have them pulling fingers through their hair or fidgiting or tapping their foot, etc. But it’s hard to really pin down body language.

    Another thing; in real life, we hardly ever say someone’s name in dialogue. But in a book, it’s sometimes needed to keep things straight.

    “No, John, I did not say that.”
    “Yes you did, Erin.”
    “Actually, it was me who said that.”
    “What do you know, Tony?”

    LOL

    Perhaps poor examples, but you get the idea. :)

    ~~Becka
    Sexy, Sensual, Seductive
    http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

    Comment by Rebecca Goings · Apr 23, 12:22 PM
  2. 2 Liz Kreger

    That thought has crossed my mind more than once. The part where there are alot of “ums” and “y’knows” in real conversation. You cannot put something like that in your written dialogue. Boring, boring, boring.

    Still, what is written isn’t how people actually speak, so I guess you have to find a happy medium. I find myself sprinkling words that I actually use in my dialogue. Words such as “gonna”, “ain’t”, and yes, even one or two “y’knows”. An English teacher would probably smack me, but to me it sounds more authentic.

    Comment by Liz Kreger · Apr 23, 02:05 PM
  3. 3 Anne Scott

    lol, Becka, I think those are good examples. Real-life and fictional dialogue are related, but they’re not the same. One reason, as you say, is body language.

    Liz, I think sprinkling words can be effective. Give the flavor, if you will. I didn’t even touch dialect in my post, but it can be done well, or it can be done very badly.

    Comment by Anne Scott · Apr 23, 02:17 PM

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