So Tell Me More

So I had Apprentice reviewed again recently, and I got a lot of helpful suggestions which I am going to try and implement as soon as I can finish The Sweet Girl. (That is very close, by the way. Two chapters to go.) One of the things I was called on about was my dialogue. Too much of it.

This is not the first time I have heard this complaint about my writing. Generally, my characters receive and disburse information via dialogue and not action. I guess I see action as the point where information is used, not transmitted. When information needs to be moved from here to there I tend to use dialogue.

But this isn't apparently what people want to read. People want to read about people doing things, not talking about them. But what about when people aren't doing anything? I'm at a place in The Sweet Girl where everyone is sitting around a table engaged in a meeting. Not exactly a place for a lot of action.

My problem is I see characters interacting through dialogue more than action. Maybe that's because most of the time I'm interacting with people via the internet now. That's dialogue. But even face-to-face, I'm either talking with people or I'm not interacting with them.

So I have to admit I don't understand why dialogue doesn't work. But I've been told more than once it isn't working. I'm accused of telling and not showing. I guess my weaknesses as a writer are paramount, because I honestly do not understand.