Playing With Dialogue

A friend asked me a few days ago about writing dialogue. “When do you start a new paragraph?” she asked.

“When the speaker changes, as a general rule,” I told her.

I thought I’d practice. Here’s a conversation in poem form between two people without names.

The Conversation

“When I was a little nobody ever said ‘I love you’.“

“Well, I love you.”

“It’s hard to hear.”

“It is?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“But, I do love you.”

“I know. You don’t have to tell me.”

“I want to.”

“It’s hard to hear.”

“Listen, then.”

“I’m trying.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I hear you. Why can’t you hear me?”

“It’s hard to hear.”

“I don’t understand why.”

“Me either.”

“You’re worthy, you know.”

“I guess.”

‘You guess? You are.”

“Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Telling me.”

“Why?
“It’s hard to hear.”

“I’ll show you then.”

“Yes. You can do that.”

“I will.”

“I accept.”

                                                            Judith DeChesere-Boyle, August 2014