1. Using Dialogue in Magazine Writing Writing for Magazine

2. How to Structure a Profile Your Choices: Verbatim, word-for-word interview (Q & A style) Narrative description (from third-person perspective) Combination of the two (direct quotes and narrative)

3. Using the “Combination” approach is often best Allows you – as the writer – more input into the profile Allows your reader to “hear” the actual voice of your subject Provides a more interesting mix of narrative and dialogue Dialogue “breaks up” dense text and is thus easier on your reader’s eyes

4. A few tips for the “Combo” approach: Try to achieve a balance between the subject’s words and your words Be careful where you “break” your quotes Don’t strain to find synonyms for “he said” Don’t bury your quotes Avoid dull quotes (paraphrase instead)

5. Breaking quotes Original: “At the beginning,” Carl says, “I just felt good, I got high. But later, I was addicted and drank all day until I blacked out.” Improved: “At the beginning, I just felt good, I got high,” Carl says. “But later, I was addicted and drank all day until I blacked out.”

6. Burying quotes Original: Mr. Smith said that he liked to “go downtown once a week and have lunch with some of my own friends.” Improved: “I usually like to go downtown once a week,” Mr. Smith said, “and have lunch with some of my own friends.”

7. Using Attribution Don’t use attribution if it’s clear who is speaking No need to attribute factual, verifiable material. Don’t get too fancy: “she said” is fine.

8. Describing the speaker... “Those men were looking at you instead of me!” she said, her voice catching in her throat. “No, not you – the cute one!” he blurted out. “Yes, but she looks fifteen,” he mumbled before fleeing into the night. (from Leslie Bennetts’ “Passing the torch”)

9. Direct vs. Indirect Dialogue Direct Dialogue Verbatim speech in quotes “No,” she said. “She’s gone.” Seems near Seems loud Seems slow Seems significant Indirect Dialogue Reported speech; filtered through narrator No, she had left, she said. Seems distant Seems soft Seems rapid Seems less significant

10. Combining direct & indirect discourse (from Kira Salak’s “The Vision Seekers”, published in The Sophisticated Traveler) Kevin and I decide to attend Hamilton’s energetic healing class, Hamilton taking us on a guided visualization. The idea, he explains, is to feel connected to the earth’s center and the universe. “See yourself heading to the stars,” he says. “Tell me when you see the planet Mercury.”

11. Some final dos and don’t Allow interview subjects to tell their own story by using lots of dialogue Narrate the interview by providing a context and dramatizing what is important Realistic dialogue shouldn’t spell things out too much –Real speech is elliptical –People convey by suggestion

12. Continued... Good dialogue resonates with implication – let it be a bit ambiguous at times Go easy on dialect and profanity: a little goes a long way Modulate between direct and indirect dialogue