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Dialogue Tips for Documentation
Anna Mullis
Documentation can be one of the most difficult elements of non-fiction writing to learn, especially if you are a university student striving for that 'A' on a research paper. It's complicated because it seems like it should be so easy. All you really have to do is pile up a bunch of quotations from secondary sources and presto - your research paper is handed in without another thought, right? Unfortunately, many college students (myself included at one time) think that writing an academic essay means just that, but documentation is much more than merely picking out a related quotation from a secondary source and putting it into quotation marks. Writers of non-fiction academic essays "should always make clear to the reader the connection between [their] prose and the quotations in it (Taylor, Avery, and Strath 243). If you are a university student who is hoping to write better academic papers, you must learn to be in control of the overall tone and voice of your paper at all times without losing the 'you' that makes it your paper. But you may be asking yourself, "How can I bring in other voices without losing my own?"
Quoting and documenting other people's ideas, words, and phrases, and incorporating them into your academic paper without losing your voice is a challenge. But just keep this in mind while you are reading my paper-this paper is a demonstration of the advice I am about to share with you. I am giving suggestions about documentation and voice that I have read from other writers, and yet my own voice is not lost in this essay. I am showing you - the undergraduate -tips on how to keep your voice intact when incorporating other voices into your research paper; at the same time, I am offering up this paper to serve as a model for the advice. By the end of this chapter, I hope anyone who wants to improve this difficult aspect of academic writing will have learned by my example.
Like many of you, I am interested in all types of writing, such as narrative, persuasion, and even poetry. For school and for pleasure, I have gained writing experience just by making writing a habit. I force myself to do it, even on those days when I do not feel creative. But practice makes perfect, as they say. What I have learned is that there are many similarities between writing a non-fiction persuasive essay for that literary theory class and creating a short story for a certain creative writing class. However, most people are not aware of how the two really are alike. It is quite simple. Creating is still creating, no matter who your audience ends up being or what you end up writing.
An analogy can be made between dialogue writing in fiction and documentation in non-fiction writing. Much of what a fiction writer goes through when developing dialogue for different characters in a novel is similar to what a non-fiction writer goes through when adding and documenting other voices. The dialogue has to sound authentic or the audience will not buy into anything the author is writing, just as the quotation has to maintain the overall flow of the essay, not the flow of the author who is being quoted. Dialogue between two characters, for example, has to sound like two different characters. A novel in which the narrator's voice echoes through all the characters and the narration will not fool the reader. Dialogue writing is similar to documentation because, again, it seems like it should be easy (Brandvold 20).
The best way to learn how to quote other works in an academic paper while still maintaining the focus and flow of one's own voice is to follow the same advice given to young fiction writers when attempting to write dialogue. Although the advice given to dialogue writers may be worded somewhat differently, a writer like yourself will gain some helpful tips for your next big research paper in what follows. There is so much advice given to aspiring fiction writers regarding dialogue that I thought it best to focus on three main tips that are generally found in all the dialogue writing guides. After a brief explanation of these tips, I will explain how each dialogue hint will help you keep your voice in an academic paper while incorporating other voices.
The one big tip that writers of dialogue in fiction are often given is to "be discreet in using dialogue to convey information to the reader" (Spencer 31). Sometimes using dialogue is not the best method to reveal information. Often, there are other ways that can and should be used to get the message across. This advice comes directly out of the narrative teachings of the "show, don't tell"variety. Sometimes it is simply easier to let two characters talk away to help advance the plot, but more often than not this reveals to the reader a laziness on the part of the author. It is much better to describe the scene and show readers some action than to let the dialogue take hold of the story.
This same rule can apply to academic writers when incorporating quotations. Use only the quotations that will bring credibility to your thesis statement and your overall research paper. You do not want a paper that is overrun with quotations and other people's voices. You want to maintain your voice throughout the entire piece, and in order to do that you need to be 'discreet' in your choice of quotations. So, the next time you decide to whip out the quotation marks and quote directly from another writer's text, remember that it is better to show what you want to say rather than to tell it. When the quotations start flooding your paper, try paraphrasing an author's thoughts by putting them into your own words. Sometimes you do not need to explain a quotation because, if the quotation is strong enough, it will stand on its own (Taylor, Avery, And Strath 243). Paraphrasing instead of quoting is part of what makes documention a difficult task.
Second, many fiction writers are told to pay more attention to their dialogue (Brandvold 20). As I said earlier, dialogue writing is one of the most difficult elements of fiction writing to learn, but many young writers are not aware of this fact. Writers often do not "give [dialogue] the attention it requires" (Brandvold 20). Instead, writers are too wrapped up in saving the princess from the dragon than worried about a little thing like dialogue. But dialogue is important because it has to advance the plot, reveal character, create drama, and set the tone of the overall story (Harleman 17). If one does not have good dialogue, then one does not have a good story. Just as dialogue is important to the overall narrative, so is using the right quote in your research paper.
When documenting in an academic paper, writers often do not use the right quote or the quote is put in the wrong spot. An essential element of academic writing is organizing your thoughts and placing them in the right order (Kent-Paxton 165). However, student writers often do not pay attention to the elements of good academic writing because they are too busy counting how many words they have so far and calculating how many more they need to reach the required goal. But remember how effective a well chosen and carefully placed quotation can be to advamce your argument. Also, be aware of who you are quoting and "make sure the original author has not been misrepresented" (Berry 47). Have you quoted the passage accurately and provided sufficient context? Equally important, is the author supplying you with reliable information? Is the author a professional in the field? A little attention paid to the person who is providing the quotations, and the same attention paid to your choice of quotation and where you place it makes for a better research paper.
The third major piece of advice that young fiction writers often receive when it comes to writing dialogue is to keep it as condensed as possible (Whitcomb 31). Dialogue should sound smooth if you read it out loud. A great writer of dialogue can get to the heart of the situation in the "fewest possible words" (Whitcomb 31). Dialogue in fiction writing is not like the dialogue of everyday life, "but the trick is to make it appear" like it is (Levitin). The advice given is to avoid words like just, really, and even yes and no when writing dialogue (Whitcomb 31). Also, another tip given to keep the dialogue condensed is to avoid using dialogue tags and adverbs (Levitin). Dialogue tags are the words or phrases that usually appear after a character has spoken. For example, "he snorted loudly" is a dialogue tag with an adverb. Many of the experts believe that writing dialogue will be improved by avoiding these small words and phrases.
Keeping the quotations condensed in your academic paper will improve the overall quality of your research paper, too. Also, by keeping the quotations short and to the point, there is a greater chance that your voice will not become lost among the other competing voices. Attempt to keep the quotations down to just the main point. Avoid writing more than three sentences of a direct quotation if you can. When writing your academic paper, your ideas need to be organized (Sunega 254), and the best way to keep all those thoughts together is to tighten up your writing.
Documentation is an essential component of any academic research paper, but so is tone and voice. Perhaps many undergraduate students, maybe even you, have never even considered how easy it is to get carried away with other people's voices when quoting from different works, and how easy it is to lose your own voice in the process. I hope that you have been inspired to consider documentation and dialogue a little more closely for your next research paper or narrative assignment.
Bibliography
Berry, Ralph. The Research Paper: How to Write It. 4th ed. London: Routledge, 2000.
Brandvold, Peter. "Six Tips for Writing Better Dialogue." The Writer October 2000: 20- 22.
Conrad, Barnaby. "You Can Do it With Dialogue." Writer October 1999: 7-11.
Curran, David. "Step up to Stronger Dialogue." Writer's Digest February 2000: 40-42.
Harleman, A. "Dialogue That Works." Writer February 1992: 17-20.
Kempton, Gloria. "Not Just Talk." Writer's Digest December 1998: 37-39.
Kent-Paxon, Dr. Laura. Writing Power: Elements of Effective Writing. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.
Levitin, Sonia. "Let Dialogue Drive Your Story." Writer July 1995: 9-12. Online. Academic Search Elite. 14 November 2002.
Lovesey, P. "Dialogue-The Fizz in Fiction." Writer December 1990: 11-14. Online. Academic Search Elite. 12 November 2002.
Spencer, Brent. "10 Dialogue Dos and Don'ts." Writer's Digest February 1998: 31-33.
Sunega, Thom. Know More English: From Sentences to Paragraphs. 3rd ed. Scarborough: Prentice Hall and Bacon Canada, 1998.
Taylor, Karen, Heather Avery, Lucille Strath. Clear, Correct, Creative: A Handbook for Writers of Academic Prose. Peterborough: Academic Skills Centre, 1991.
Whitcomb, Cynthia. "Can We Talk." Writer's Digest August 1999: 31-32.
© Anna Mullis 2002
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