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Experienced writer, not native in English

Hello all, I am Leonardo and just joined. I have published two book in my mother tongue. Dutch. Hope to find here information and sensible discussions to hone my craft. Likewise, I hope to contribute with what I know to help others. Dialog writing has my special interest. I have published a book on the subject (in Dutch), and many concepts therein are transferable to English as well.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
Welcome to the Scribes! Have a good long look around the forums; there are many threads specifically on dialog.

I'd be curious to know if you can identify any specific ways in with "good" dialog might be different between Dutch and English. I'm perennially fascinated by differences in language and culture.
 
@Skip - I don't believe there is much difference in dialog in English and Dutch, apart from the cultural difference and the language (idiom) obviously. I will try to give an example, but the risk is that subtleties are lost in translation. I rather discuss concepts, as this is educational.. One of them is what I call "leapfrogging" (maybe you know a better term?) The concept is about character A that raises a question but character B doesn't answer it directly, but indirectly you know exactly what's going on. Here is a simple example of what I mean.

"I thought you were married, Jack?" Helen asked.
"Thank God I don't have children with that slut."

I will look into threads and would be happy to comment.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
Leapfrogging is as good a term as any. It's actually recommended as a technique in some writing classes, so I'd say it crosses cultures there. There doesn't *have* to be differences; I just am fascinated, probably because I simply don't know.

My first intimation came from place names. The English Channel isn't the English Channel to the French. It's the Sleeve. The North Sea is the German Sea to some. usw. From there I went to terms and then to dialogue. Perhaps not too much between English and Dutch because the two languages are so similar, despite the Dutch not knowing how to spell. <wink> I'm struck by differences in facial expressions while speaking between, say, Japan and America. These things interest me on a practical level because they can offer possibilities in how one handles elves or dwarves or ogres.
 
O, surely cultural differences are exciting. Bulgarians move their heads up and down with a brief jerk when they agree, and swaying their heads when they agree! There are many books on cultural differences. I never thought about using these differences in my fiction writing. Nice tip, thanks!

Come to think of it, for naming common "things", food, etc I borrow from the Sumerian Dictionary (e.g., https://www.bulgari-istoria-2010.com/Rechnici/Sumerian_Dictionary.pdf). For names is of course Sumerian name generator wellknown to any fantasy writer.
 

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
perhaps not too much between English and Dutch because the two languages are so similar, despite the Dutch not knowing how to spell. <wink>
Not knowing how to spell meaning we have actual consistency in our spelling? ;)
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
>Bulgarians move their heads up and down with a brief jerk when they agree, and swaying their heads when they agree!
I think the Greeks do this as well.
 
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