The other day, I stumbled across writing advice that was only half-true. The advice said to never use yes or no questions in dialogue. The writer made a valid point that yes/no questions stop the action. True. But that’s only half right.
If the MC asks a yes/no question, the action doesn’t need to stop if it’s in the right context, with body language that screams the opposite, or includes hints the character might be lying. We can also use “Yes/No, but” to maintain pace and the trajectory of the story and to create more conflict.
Let’s look at a few examples. I wrote these quick so no judgments. 😉
“Junior, did you steal another cookie from the jar?”
The little boy dragged the back of his wrist across chocolate-covered lips. “No, Mama.”
The story continues because the kid’s body language tells us he’s lying.
Big Dan stroked his daughter’s back. “Are you excited to marry Tommy?”
“Yes, but not today.”
“We’re in the church!”
The wedding song blared from the speakers.
“Tell me what you want to do, honey.”
“Hide?”
There’s more to that story, right?
“Why didn’t you come home last night, sis?”
“I stayed at a hotel.”
“Which one?”
“Why? What’s it matter?”
“Jason didn’t come home, either.”
“You think I slept with your husband?”
“Did you?”
“Are you seriously asking me if I’m having an affair with Jason?”
Notice how she responds with another question? Sounds a lot like guilt. Or maybe it’s anger. We’ll keep reading to find out.
“Is that blood?”
Silent, he wiped his cheek.
“You promised me.”
He strode into the kitchen, with the nag on his heels. “I did not kill our babysitter.”
“Then where is she? I won’t go through it again. The cops, the jury, the reporters.” A continual tap of her foot clenched his jaw. “If you’re innocent, give me the basement key.”
“No.” He sniggered. “But it’s about time I gave you a private tour.”
Will he kill her, or is he innocent? We’ll keep reading to find out.
This last example I borrowed from one of my novels. The “no, but” construction is in bold. For clarity, Poe is a crow.
“You bought Poe a necklace,” he said as a statement, not a question. “After eleven p.m.”
“Yep.”
“And you paid for the necklace?”
“Cost me three hundred bucks.”
“If you bought the jewelry, you could produce a receipt. Correct?”
Crap. “Not exactly.”
“Be honest with me. Did you steal the necklace?”
“No, sir. I swear I didn’t. Ask Poe if you don’t believe me.”
“Perhaps I should rephrase.” Praying hands tapped his lips. “Was the store open when you allegedly paid for the jewelry?”
I picked at my cuticles. “No, but I swear I didn’t steal it.”
“And the reason you couldn’t wait for the store to reopen is…?”
“Because Pissy Pants over there”—I jutted a thumb at the little diva—“wouldn’t even gimme twenty-four hours. If anyone should be in trouble, it’s him. Unless you condone blackmail?”
He rocked back on his heels. “Blackmail?”
So, can we use a yes/no question in dialogue? Absolutely… if it leads to more conflict. Otherwise, we’ve wasted precious real estate.
Thoughts? There is a ton of terrible or incomplete writing advice online. Have any new ones to share? Please explain why the advice doesn’t make sense.
I’ve written many courtroom scenes, and as all good trial lawyers know, on cross-examination you almost exclusively ask yes/no questions. And there’s conflict aplenty in such scenes.
In regular dialogue, as you indicate, there is so much you can do with the response that generates conflict.
I immediately thought of legal thrillers when I read the stupid advice. Thanks for adding your expertise, Jim!
After reading this post I was thinking about it and actually, while writers can’t help but analyze what they read whether good or bad, I can’t bring to mind an instance where a writer’s usage of short yes/no answers occurred and stopped the action. So this is not a piece of advice I’d even spend time worrying about. I’ll be curious to see if anybody else has found this to be a common occurrence.
If the action stops with a yes/no question, the writer has effectively written themselves into a corner.
Effective dialogue should not really ape actual speech but bend it to the dramatic purpose. Good dialogue writing is really sleight of hand (ear?). We have to create conversations that FEEL authentic but at same time tweak them enough so they always move the story forward. You provide yes or no situations but show how they can be expanded. Good examples!
Thanks, Kris! Well said. 100% agree. New writers don’t grasp the finer details of dialogue. Might be a great topic for you to cover in a future post. 🤗
Sounds like another useless “rule” to me. Maybe if you have an entire page of questions that the character is giving monosyllabic responses to. Dialogue doesn’t exist in a vacuum, as your examples clearly show.
Precisely my thoughts, Terry. Strangely, the advice was on a screenwriting site, dedicated to teaching craft for novel writing.
I agree, terrible and incomplete writing advice. I don’t have any new ones to share.
Your explanation and examples are great! Thanks.
Have a great day!
Thanks, Steve! Agreed. Terrible advice to avoid all yes/no questions.
Have an amazing day! 🤗
I think a better case could be made for controlling the tempo and JSB and BK demonstrated. Court rooms, law enforcement investigations, for that matter, interrogations by the bad actors all can heighten the tension or cool the room with the right yes/no short answer questions.
Agreed regarding interrogations, Alan. I kept my advice genre neutral to help more than mystery/thriller/suspense writers.
Absolutes in writing “rules” give me pause these days, and this post shows why.
To paraphrase the old beer ad, I don’t normally use yes or no questions, but when I do, I make them count. I don’t have an examples at hand so I’ll make one up.
“Did we collar Bollinger at the plaza?” the Boss asked.
“No,” I said. “We also lost contact with his shadow.” Morales was a pro, which was why the boss had assigned her to shadow Bollinger. Something must have gone wrong.
“No” in dialogue can lead to all sorts of things, especially the implied “furthermore” as in my example above. The same for “Yes,” especially if it’s followed by a stated or implied “but.”
Telling a writer to never use “simple” yes or no questions in dialogue is terrible advice IMHO, because that “rule” is limiting.
Thought-provoking post! Thank you! My Monday is off to a good start. Now I need to get back to my final editing of “Book Drop Dead.” Hope you have a wonderful week!
Exactly, Dale. Any writing advice that says “never” do this or that is just plain wrong. There are exceptions to every “rule.” Love the so-called rule to remove every single “was” from the WIP. It’s ludicrous.
Happy week, my friend! 🤗
Did you, Sue Coletta, enlighten TKZ readers today?
Yes.
No buts about it!
Hahaha. Thanks, Debbie!
🙂
Well played ma’am. Well played.
Good topic and info, Sue.
I can’t think of any examples off the top of my head this morning, but I agree that such an unbendable-sounding rule is dumb. Much of the time in *real life*, we answer with just a plain yes or no. But as you so clearly stated, in our stories the yes or no should be written so as to move the action forward. Great examples!
I really like this from Kris this morning: Effective dialogue should not really ape actual speech but bend it to the dramatic purpose. Good dialogue writing is really sleight of hand (ear?). For me, that clarifies the topic just a bit more.
Thanks for the learnin’!
Agreed, Deb. Kris has the magic touch, Deb. She nailed it.
The post and the following comments are why I refer so many writers to this blog. Love all the examples! The only ‘never’ rule I follow is to never believe writing advice that says to never do something.
Me too, Patricia. Thank you for sharing TKZ! Much appreciated. 🙂
Late to the party today, but I love the post and the examples, Sue.
Glad you enjoyed it, Kay. 😀