The dialogue always comes early.
For me, that is.
I always hear the conversations my characters have in my head first and foremost. Writing the in-between--what's happening outside the conversation--has always been a bit harder.
So if you're anything like me and aren't always sure what to include between the conversations in your fiction, here are a few options:
What the character is doing.
Conversations rarely exist in a vacuum. We're most likely conversing while performing other tasks (washing the dishes, walking to work, re-stocking that shelf, etc.), so consider where your characters are and the activity they're engaged in while talking. Give us hints at how the activity is progressing.
What the character is thinking/feeling.
We rarely say what we mean. What does your character think about what's being relayed? This is a great place to add some conflict. For instance, maybe your main character agrees to meet with someone at another time, pretending she's okay with this, when she's actually suppressing her disappointment. Give us those inner thoughts. Show us the contrast between her expectations versus reality, or what she's predicting will happen.
What people are doing around them.
What does your character notice about the activities taking place around them? What (or who) is grabbing at their attention? Don't toss random associations into your descriptions--if a character sees something worth mentioning, it should mean something. Still, this is a great way to fill the space between your spoken words.
Backstory.
Is there an important piece of backstory that can be imparted during this conversation? Is there something about the past the character remembers, or a revelation she's having? Since backstory shouldn't be info-dumped into a single location, use conversations as a natural way to intersperse past (relevant) events into the present story.
Location.
Similar to noting what the character sees happening around her, what does the space look like? Are they in a garden or walking along a city street? Working in a kitchen at the back of a restaurant? What are the sights, sounds, and smells associated with this place? Toss in a few specific details to ground your reader within the setting as you move the conversation along.
Again, it's worth noting that every description included in a passage should be pertinent or important in some way.
Also, keep in mind that balance is needed when interspersing these details, especially when they occur in the middle of a conversation. The reader needs enough information to gain a solid image of the time and place, but not so much that it takes over what's being said by the characters.
The perfect melding of description and dialogue, of course, will come with time and practice, so Get Writing. :D
And always. . . .
Be Brilliant!
~Katie~
