“The vans are taking up the entire street. I’m sure the neighbors are getting frustrated.”

We have so much construction going on around us that I simply assumed this conversation related to their heavy machinery. It wasn’t until later that I heard they were filming a T.V. show in the neighborhood and suddenly the byte of information made sense in a different way.

It reminds me how context informs reaction. “Wow, you look tired,” said by your best friend means one thing while said by your boss means another. 

So imagine how complex it is to write dialogue for our characters. Unless we have meticulously planned every sentence (dialogue or otherwise) to be absolutely consistent, our character can easily say something which will be misinterpreted by the reader.

Consider this: Mr Darcy tells Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice - “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." 

We know only Elizabeth Bennet’s point of view on Mr. Darcy’s character at this point. Hurt by what she assumed were his thoughtless words about dancing with her, she has brought us to understand that he is proud and egocentric. Read in that light, his statement of love sounds harsh and thoughtless.

But when we get to know Mr. Darcy we find he is in fact very unassuming and socially inept. Like the shy, awkward hero we might root for in another story, we come to understand that those words he utters as a proposal come not out of carelessness, but out of courage. And, understanding this, we can see them in a completely different way. 
 
One of the reasons I think people consider Jane Austen to have been a great writer was that she knew her characters and used that knowledge to painstakingly develop her stories. And here I use the word painstakingly for a reason… because any author relate to the mental anguish that goes into that level of character development and writing
precision.

Usually when I write my blog I ignore the context of my overhears; just as most of our lives we pass over the bits of conversation we hear around us without becoming concerned about their background. But this is the very last thing we want our reader to do when we are telling a story. Instead, we want them to be concerned passionately with the backstory of our characters; and in fact believe in a substantial way that they are in relationship with those characters themselves.

It turned out that the filming was in fact taking place at a friend’s house. The actors were shooting their final scenes last night and had I wanted I may have been able to go meet them. But as an author I have some insight here. While I might like to meet the characters from my favorite TV shows, it wouldn’t be the same to meet the actors who  portray them… because they should be altogether different people. Well, either that or the screenwriter should get a new day job.

“He spends his summer on the river, guiding rafting tours.”

This snippet of conversation struck me as I walked by the table with the two college age girls chatting. I wasn’t sure what about it caught my attention, though, until I wrote it here for my blog. I realized the rhythm sounds like a song or a poem; it is beautifully melodic.

I wonder if the girl even knew she was speaking in verse. Do we often do this without realizing it… only stopping when the next line carries the cadence through? 

He spends his summer on the river, guiding rafting tours.
And if I go he says he’ll show me where the salmon swim.

I look at my own writing, my stories with plot and purpose and character and dialogue, and I wonder how I can add poetry to it without it sounding contrived. I know this style of writing effects pacing, so perhaps it is a matter of pinpointing those places where I specifically want the reader to slow down a little. I remember from a workshop long ago, that emotional scenes often utilize this tool to draw the reader into what the character is feeling. 
 
But then again, we’ve all read those books…. the really amazing ones that literary critics rave about but somehow we struggle to finish. Like butter, it is much easier to take verse in as an ingredient , rather than as the main course.

It’s made me want to try it with some of the work I am editing; a scene from my second book about the wedding planner (un-named because a great author wrote a really nice story using the name I had planned on:>) Here’s a  preview as it stands currently… and then with a poetic conversion. Let me know your thoughts. Which would you rather read?

Gabriella heard her front door shut and slid down the wall shaking and crying. She hid her head in her hands and let the tears fall. They trickled into her mouth, melting away the lingering taste of Ryan still on her lips. She was alone, again. Even when people loved her, she realized, she remained alone. She didn’t know what she had done to deserve it. It wasn’t fair, but it was the way her life had always been.

Revised:
Gabriella let the tears fall as her front door shut. The wall that held her shaking body could not help her heart. On her lips she tasted Ryan through the salty tears. Alone again the verse repeated, again, again, again. Even when a person loved her still she stayed alone. She did not know what she had done to cause this game of fate. But though unfair it was the way that life had always been. The echo of the empty room became a final taunt. A life alone, alone, alone.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this… if you are a writer, when do you use verse? If you are a reader, which books have done this really successfully? Leave a comment… in verse or plain language, whichever comes most naturally.