Sliding doors or alternate universe.....diaglogue v narration

[Gaile Hughes]

After observing and taking on board the various blogs on CrimeSpace, I realised that I needed more dialogue in my book/chapters.  So I dutifully rewrote a chapter that I and my small band of readers/critics were quite happy with. The chapter was purely a narration of the police interview establishing one of my characters alibi. The scene was played out in my character's corporate legal offices.  The dialogue does exactly the same and I like both chapters.  What do you think a reader would prefer?  Or, do you keep both and submit them later as an alternate chapter for review.  How important is it to have a little dialogue in all chapters.  All input gratefully received..

 

[I. J. Parker]

Readers prefer dialogue. They're used to it from film and TV. Narrative is more economical. You'll have to decide when you need what. Certainly a matter of confronting a possible suspect and getting his alibi strikes me as sufficiently dramatic to require dialogue.

[I. J. Parker]

Surely the suspect's behavior during the interview can offer clues to his veracity and to suppression of certain facts.

And I, for one, hate Robert B. Parker's dialogue.

[Dana King]

Dialog provides more white space , which allows the reader's eye to move more quickly down the page, providing the sensation of reading faster, even if the information may be transmitted more slowly. Plus, as indicated elsewhere, there are a ton of ways you can characterize through dialog more effectively and efficiently than through narration, unless you go into close third person, where you're actually reading the character's thoughts. Elmore Leonard is a master at this. And at dialog. Actually, there aren't a whole lot of things McBain isn't good at.

Ed McBain used to sometimes display police interrogations like their transcripts. Example:
Q. Where were you Friday night?
A. Home. Alone.
Q. I'll give you one more chance to back away from that while we're still friends.
A. Prove I wasn't.

And so on. It can be very effective when used well.

[J. E. Seymour]

Dialog is preferable to narration. Hands down. Read the masters - Elmore Leonard, Lawrence Block, Ed McBain. Notice the amount of white space on the page. That's what keeps the story moving. Any time you can put something in dialog instead of narration, do it.