I've been thinking a lot about dialogue lately. Mostly about what separates good realistic dialogue from poorly written passages of dialogue. Forgive my brainstorming here. I sort of want to start a general discussion on the way dialogue is used in real life and in written form. A lot of these ideas will be skeletal in nature. Some of them will be more fleshed out.
I guess the basic way to break down dialogue is in two groups: Informational and Persuasive.
1. Informational Dialogue: This dialogue conveys facts and observations. The person speaking wants to make sure thier target audience understands what they are trying to convey.
2. Persuasive Dialogue: This dialogue is meant to encourage the target audience to agree with the speaker. I'm not sure if a command should fall under this catagory or be its own.
Another way to break down dialogue is into target audiences (for lack of better word). Three ways to do this: Speaking to an authority figure, Speaking with an equal, and Speaking with someone you have authority over. Languages other than English have this built into them. For example, the Spanish words for "You".
1. Speaking to an Authority Figure: From what I observed, when you speak to authority figures, you do so in a very formal tone. Most people would be more likely to take time to think before they speak. They are also less likely to curse, lose their temper or openly bad mouth others. Of course there are exceptions to this.
2. Speaking to an Equal: Freinds and co-workers fall under this catagory. I mostly hear very informal speech when people talk among themselves. Slang is more common.
3. Speaking to someone under you: I find that this is somewhat similar to speaking to an authority figure. However, there are usually more commanding in thier tone.
Education and Slang: Why did I put these two under the same topic? I feel that both have much to do with vocabulary and Grammer and less to do with tone. An highly educated person will have a larger vocabulary and better grammer than someone that barely finished grade school. Also keep in mind that just because a person KNOWS a word doesn't mean that it will be used in thier everyday speech. A person will probably be more likely to use the word punishment instead of retribution in spoken language. I also think the gap between what a person says and what a person writes widens with education, but that is just a pet theory of mine.
Slang is interesting as you can make up all kinds of neat phrases in a fantasy setting. Don't get too carried away though.
Making better Dialogue: I found that I write better dialogue when I actually interact with people face to face. For a while I got sucked into World of Warcraft. I tried to write something after that and discovered I lost the knack I had for making believable Dialogue. While you have hours to look at a line and re edit it, your character came up with it during a course of conversation. Not to say you should edit your dialogue to make it sound right, but just keep that in mind.
Feel free to add, argue, and discuss.