"Fight
me," Shahadoth insisted. He towered over me with at least six inches in
height and an immensely bulkier physique. He also had eight people huddled around him
while I only had three of my closest friends by my side. It was obvious to me
that Shahadoth was at an advantage.
"No,"
I asserted and glared menacingly into his eyes. "If you really want to
fight, hit me now. I'm right here." I took a step towards him so that our
shirts nearly touched. Then, I jutted out my chin, shifted my head to the
right, and pointed one index finger at my left jaw.
"No, wait. We're on school property. You plan on getting me in trouble," Shahadoth stuttered. He chose to decline my invitation because he believed that I actually had such a scheme to entrap him. His paranoia had kicked in; just as I planned.
This memory of my confrontation with Shahadoth always reminds me of how powerful dialogue can be. With one simple word, "No," I was able to protect my friends and I from getting beaten up. By adding in, "Hit me now," I confused him into believing that I wanted him to punch me, when in reality, I did not and so if he did I would have simply ended up in a hospital that day. Everything I said, along with my tone of voice, was used as a weapon to defend myself. The arsenal of words I chose to employ allowed me to walk out of the confrontation unscathed.
Reflecting on this experience has given me valuable insight on to how to write effective dialogue. It is clearer to me now that I must state the manner of speech that my characters convey in their words; there is a significant difference between saying, asserting, and stuttering. For example, if my acting had been less than up to par such that I stuttered "No" rather than asserting it, the outcome of the story might have changed drastically. By using descriptive words to replace the bland "he said" and "she said" after dialogues, I can paint a more vivid, mental image that more closely depicts social interactions.
"No, wait. We're on school property. You plan on getting me in trouble," Shahadoth stuttered. He chose to decline my invitation because he believed that I actually had such a scheme to entrap him. His paranoia had kicked in; just as I planned.
This memory of my confrontation with Shahadoth always reminds me of how powerful dialogue can be. With one simple word, "No," I was able to protect my friends and I from getting beaten up. By adding in, "Hit me now," I confused him into believing that I wanted him to punch me, when in reality, I did not and so if he did I would have simply ended up in a hospital that day. Everything I said, along with my tone of voice, was used as a weapon to defend myself. The arsenal of words I chose to employ allowed me to walk out of the confrontation unscathed.
Reflecting on this experience has given me valuable insight on to how to write effective dialogue. It is clearer to me now that I must state the manner of speech that my characters convey in their words; there is a significant difference between saying, asserting, and stuttering. For example, if my acting had been less than up to par such that I stuttered "No" rather than asserting it, the outcome of the story might have changed drastically. By using descriptive words to replace the bland "he said" and "she said" after dialogues, I can paint a more vivid, mental image that more closely depicts social interactions.
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