Dialogue or Narration?

[Chris Tusa]

So, which do you prefer? Do you tend to like books with lots of dialogue? Or do you gravitate toward books with lots of narration? Which do you think is more effective, if you had to choose?

[Melanie]

I think there needs to be a balance. I can live with a book without dialogue, but I can't live with a book with too much dialogue.

[Christina Marsh]

Funny you should ask this question...I just finished reading a book that I felt had way too much dialogue. I won't name the book but I've never ended a book with that thought...until now. To answer your question, I'd rather read a book with narration as too much dialogue can be boring.

[Book Calendar]

Narration is much easier to write than dialogue. Books tend to be easier to read if there is not a huge amount of dialogue.

[ilana diamant]

definitely narration for me. Especially internal monologue-style narration.That's why I love DeLillo. I can't stand dialogue. If I'm interested in dialogue I read plays, I love Sam Shepard's plays. I agree with the earlier comment that narration is easier to write - dialogue is easy to do badly. That's just my view though, I'm not a creative writer.

[Chris Tusa]

Is it the the fact that, fundamentally, dialogue slows you down as a reader? Is that what you don't like? What if the dialogue develops the character and is consistently interesting?

[Lale G]

I definitely prefer dialogue- huge blocks of text scare me. :P