How To Weave Dialogue, Character, And Setting

Three major components of a scene are setting character and dialogue. You need to know what time and place your story is taking place which beans are present and where they are and they need to be communicating with each other and the reader. However, it's not enough simply to have one block of each of these components, so today I want to talk about how to weave dialogue, character and setting you need to weave these things together, to keep your story moving and to keep your reader invested. These three components should be influencing and affecting each other. They shouldn't just be like separate stones in a building. This is ignited ink writing a channel dedicated to helping authors. Like you transform your writing, so it lingers with your readers because writing that lingers gets remembered and recommended to others, I'm Caitlin barfi, editor and writer. Let'S start with make your characters interact with each other and the environment. One of the quickest ways to weave these components together is to have your character, be doing sampling while they are having a conversation. This gives them the opportunity to interact with the environment or the setting, maybe even comment on it. While they are interacting with the other character and in every character, interaction, you deepen those characters themselves. So, for example, while your characters are having a conversation, they could be washing dishes the way that they are approaching. The task they are performing can say a lot about how they're feeling in that moment. So if a couple is arguing and the woman is scrubbing the dishes as hard as you can, that says something about her emotional state in that moment what she thinks about the argument. It also gives you the author, the opportunity to remind your reader, that they're in a kitchen and that there are dirty dishes to clean. If they are having a pleasant conversation, they might be lazily wiping a rag over a dirty pan, while they're talking to their roommate. That conveys a different emotional state and it's still weaving setting and character and dialogue together. So here's an example of two characters, interacting with their environment, from Scarlett by Stephenie Meyer. Where are we thorn, whispered underground loading dock, where they bring in food and supplies as gracefully as she sender? Could she climbed over the grate and maneuvered back around, so that she and thorn could both peer through the grid? We need to get down there to that storm drain, thorn frowned and pointed isn't that the exit ramp over there she nodded without looking. Why aren't we trying to get there? She peered up at him the great casting peculiar shadows across his face and just walk to your spaceship in bright white prison uniforms. He frowned, but any response was silenced by the sound of voices they ducked, thorn and cinder are having a conversation in the scene. There'S dialogue, they are also interacting with and commenting on their environment, so all of these components are woven together in this one scene. The characters aren't pausing their action to have a conversation. People can walk and talk for the most part. At the same time. That'S what these characters are doing, they're exploring they are escaping and they are talking and communicating. Your characters can do the same thing. They should be having a conversation. While they are interacting with their environment, they should be commenting on their setting when there is something to comment on, and they should be communicating with each other and revealing a bit about who they are when you're, weaving setting and dialogue together. One trick you can use is to occasionally replace he-said she-said with the character movement that somehow interacts with the setting. So in this example, we have a lot of characters pointing at things which is calling out a part of the setting and replacing he said, or she said, they're also commenting on the setting itself, but sometimes it's body language instead of actual dialogue. That'S a good trick to avoid what we call floating heads floating heads are when you have two characters having a conversation, but you haven't had any sort of character, movement or setting or description for a while. So, in a reader's mind, they just become two heads floating in space talking at each other, instead of an actual physical scene in a story, so you want to avoid floating heads by weaving setting description and character together. Next, I want to talk about how you can show your characters, thoughts about the setting and conversation. Another way you can weave setting character and dialogue together is to show your characters, thoughts and opinions about their situation about the setting each other. That sort of a thing, so what do your characters notice about your setting? Are they particularly sensitive to smells, so that is something they notice every time they walk into a room? What do they want out of the conversation they're having with each other? How badly do they want that outcome? How do they feel about the other people in the room and the environment they find themselves in? These are things that you can convey through thoughts through emotions but, most importantly through character, movement and reactions. So here's an example of how you can use character thought to help you weave dialogue, character and setting together. This is from hounded by Kevin Hearne dude that chick is naked. Meatloaf exclaimed whoa, said iron maiden, who pushed his sunglasses down his nose to get a better look and she's hot too hey baby meatloaf said taking a couple of steps toward her. If you need some clothes I'll be glad to take my pants off for you, he and his friend began to laugh as if this was incredibly funny spitting out hahahaha like automatic weapons fire. They sounded like goats, only less intelligent, the Morgans eyes, flashed red and I held up my hands Morgan. No, please not in my shop cleaning up afterward would cause me tremendous hardship. They must die for their impertinence. She said, and those hair raising minor harmonics were back in her voice. Anyone with a cursory knowledge of mythology knows that it is suicide to sexually harass a goddess. Look at what Artemis did to that guy who stumbled across her bathing. I understand that this insult must be redressed, I said, but if you could do it elsewhere, so that my life is not further complicated. I would appreciate the courtesy very much very well she muttered to me. I just ate in any case, and then she turned toward the stoners and gave them the full frontal view. They were overjoyed at first. They were looking down and so did not see that her eyes were glowing red. But when she spoke her unearthly voice, rattled the windows and their eyes snapped up to her face and they realized they were not dealing with the average girl, gone wild', put your affairs and order mortals. She boomed as a gust of wind. Yes, wind inside my shop blew her hair back. I will feast on your hearts tonight, for the offence you gave me so swear is the Morgan. I thought it was a bit melodramatic, but one does not criticize a death goddess on her oratory delivery notice. How this first person narrator comments on the situation he's sharing his thoughts about all of the dialogue and body language and things that are going on. He even calls out that the wind is in fact unnatural in his shop. That'S one way that you can weave in his character when he's not fully participating in the conversation you can show what he's thinking. We also learn from his thoughts. That Atticus is smart, he's a little bit witty and he knows what's good for him. He is holding back some of these thoughts because he doesn't want to get in trouble with the death goddess and have her do something awful to him as well. So what that means, as readers are gaining insight into Atticus as a character as this dialogue is happening because he's providing his internal thoughts now, we also know a little bit of what meatloaf and Iron Maiden are thinking because of their body language and what they actually Say these characters are kind of saying. What'S on their mind, we also know what the Morrigan the death goddess is thinking, because of how she reacts to the situation. In this case, there's only a couple mentions of the setting: that's the wind in the shop and the windows rattling. It'S still present Hearn has sprinkled in just enough setting to remind the reader where they are, but the setting is not what's important right in this moment. So he doesn't need a whole bunch of it. When you are looking at weaving description, dialogue and setting together, they don't always have to be an equal amount. They just all need to be present, so your reader is grounded when you provide a bit of your characters. Thoughts about the situation, the setting the dialogue, the other characters, you show things about those characters so, when you're weaving these components together, make sure your characters, thoughts, desires and motivations and the stakes are clear and present that will help keep your pace up. Keep your reader interested and let you know wind weave in what component next I want to share why an editor recommends, weaving dialogue, character and setting again you don't need equal components of each of these pieces in every scene or you don't need them to be. Equally dispersed sometimes the best way to start a scene might be with a couple paragraphs describing the setting. That'S okay, you can do that other times. You might have a rapid-fire dialogue happening and you don't want to interrupt it too much. That'S! Okay! Just make sure that you are weaving too some degree, so your character always knows where they are they're always reminded of the setting. They always know who is present and they're, always aware of what the characters are wanting out of this scene. When you strike the right balance of these things and you weave them together in the right way, you're going to reveal more about your characters in each scene, well, at the same time, reinforcing characteristics you might have already revealed you're going to show what they feel, how They'Re reacting to what's going on how their desires and motivations might be changing as they grow. You'Re also going to give your reader the best sensory experience, because you're constantly letting them into your world and you're, seeing through the setting when these components are out of balance. Your story can feel slow, it can feel formulaic and stilted. It can be confusing or difficult to follow. It'S very rigid when you say: okay, setting character, dialogue, setting character dialogue, readers might not be able to articulate why that bothers them and why it doesn't flow well, but they will recognize that problem and it's not going to give them the best reader experience when you Weave these components together, you're going to speed up your pace, it's going to feel more natural and your readers are going to have a better time. Reading your story to find the right balance. Ask yourself: what does my reader need to get out of this scene? Those are the components you want to highlight then ask yourself: what do I need to make this scene vivid and fully fleshed out it's going to give you a little bit more information on how to weave these things together and then also ask yourself: am i doing These and too big of chunks - or am i weaving them together? Okay, sometimes when you go back and weave these things, it's going to be in revision. It'S not going to be something you're good at drafting out. To begin with, it takes practice to learn where to put setting in the middle of a conversation or where to add little lines of dialogue. When you are trying to describe the setting or the characters themselves, what are some tricks you use to make sure you have woven dialogue, character and setting together effectively share them in the comments below and for more videos on structuring your scenes and other aspects of writing Subscribe to ignite it Inc writing a channel dedicated to helping authors. Like you transform your writing, so it lingers with your readers because writing that lingers gets remembered and recommended to others. I'M Caitlin burfi, editor and writer to find out more about me. Go to WWE United in writing. Comm there. You will also find a free guide to building strong settings which will help you develop that component of your scenes, and now it's your turn to weave your setting characters and dialogue together to keep your story moving, to keep your readers grounded and interested and to ignite Your ink