I have a confession to make: I’ve been starving my heroine.
You see, I have been stuck on a dinner party scene for weeks. My poor hungry protagonist has been seated frozen in time in front of steaming tureens of hot buttered potatoes and platters of fish day after day, night after night while I um and ah over what her companions should be talking about. And how they should be talking about it.
I often struggle with writing dialogue and it was sabotaging my scene. So, in desperation I did what I should have done weeks ago: I went hunting for help amongst my bookshelves.
I needed a dinner party scene. I needed a seemingly ordinary conversation that, nonetheless, would reveal the internal life of the interlocutor. And who does this best? Crime writers! Why? Because mysteries and psychological thrillers are all about decoding ostensibly mundane details. Dialogue in a good crime novel will often appear humdrum at first while multiple tensions ripple just under the surface. And it was for this reason that, buzzed on Squishies (my late-night sweetie of choice), I reached for my stack of Agatha Christie novels.
Below are the key lessons I have purloined from Poirot Mystery The Hollow (no spoilers):
1. Comparison
Agatha Christie’s characters do not have their conversations in a vacuum. They prefer conversations with one character more than another. They notice the habits of the other players about them and make comparisons between them both via direct speech and in their internal dialogue. Through this, she not only creates a sense of verisimilitude but also creates intrigue even in would-be innocuous dialogue.
Before dinner, Henrietta takes a walk with John and she compares him with another character - Edward:
With Edward, one did seldom more than potter. Edward, she thought, was a born potterer. Walking with John, it was all she could do to keep up, and by the time they got up to Shovel Down she said breathlessly: “It’s not a marathon, John!”
2. Inference
Just like us, Christie’s characters try to decipher the changing moods and thoughts of their conversational partners. They take their cues not just from the words one another speak but from scowls, meaningful glances, and prior knowledge of one another’s habits.
At dinner, Henrietta is signalled by her hostess to soothe the unimpressed David:
At dinner that night, Henrietta was put next to David, and from the end of the table Lucy’s delicate telegraphed not a command - Lucy never commanded — but an appeal.
Later, Henrietta is playing cards with a group including John:
“Game and rubber, but I don’t think we will make much of it, Gerda”
John said, “A lucky finesse,” in a cheerful voice. Henrietta looked up sharply. She knew his tone. She met his eyes and her own dropped.
3. Introverts Vs Extroverts
It may seem obvious but it is worth checking that you have a mixture of both in larger dialogue scenes. Christie is very good at forcing her introverts to mix with her extroverts. This automatically makes the group dynamic of any scene more interesting as each of her characters strives to find a comfortable footing in any conversation. You can see this in classics like And Then There Were None too, but this pays off in a big way in The Hollow when quiet Gerda, chatty Henrietta and smoke-show Veronica are forced to interact.
Creative Writing Exercise
Pick two characters from different walks of life and force the pair of them to have a conversation. Try using one or more of Agatha Christie’s dialogue tricks to make your scene more interesting.
If you want to challenge yourself, experiment with swapping the power dynamic, for example, a higher-status character could be forced to be of service to a lower-status character or a shy character might find themselves in their comfort zone while the louder character feels out of their depth.
For instance:
The young carer to an elderly woman is injured and the elderly woman takes charge of the crisis.
A smug literature professor finds themselves out of their depth at the departmental pub quiz.
I hope you enjoyed this instalment of Nudge! Now I’ve got a very hangry main character to deal with…