Balancing Dialog and Description

AKA the 10,000 ft View test

When editing your work, take a break from the details of the words to look at the flow of the page. How well have you balanced your dialog and description?

body & soul

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the banter between your leading guy and gal, or finding just the right words to describe the way the Big Bad decorated his lair. At some point, when you want a break from wordsmithing, back up from your writing*.

Literally … and electronically.

Whatever word processing program you’re using, it has a zoom or view feature. Find it, and set it to 50%. Now scroll through your work.

If you see huge, solid blocks for several pages, you’re description heavy. Surely someone has something to say in there somewhere.

If you see single line after single line for several pages, that’s a lot of dialog without a lot of movement. Check it out to make sure you still know who’s talking and see if they need to be that still for the whole conversation.

* Thanks to Jana Oliver for showing me this technique

Susan: Forty-nine thousand acres of nothing but scenery and statues. I’m lonesome.
- Citizen Kane

Sep 15, 2009

Tags: description  |  dialog

Categories: writing