Dialogue—good dialogue—is tricky. Mechanics can be learned; the rules are readily available and are hammered into us by teachers, editors, critique partners, and countless Facebook memes. The hard part of writing good dialogue is nailing the back-and-forth, the natural ebb and flow that turns … [Read more...] about Subterfuge in Dialogue
Search Results for: dialogue
9 Tension-Building Elements For Character Dialogue
By Becca Puglisi I’ve been thinking a lot about dialogue lately, because when it’s done poorly, it pulls me right out of the story. There are a lot of issues that contribute to weak dialogue: incorrect mechanics, stilted speech, characters calling each other repeatedly by name (Hi, Bob. Hey, … [Read more...] about 9 Tension-Building Elements For Character Dialogue
Writing Better Dialogue
Have you ever read a book or watched a movie where the dialogue has been so beautifully written that you are in that moment, experiencing the character’s emotions and hanging on to their every word? Or you know exactly what the character is feeling or thinking because of their lack of dialogue? … [Read more...] about Writing Better Dialogue
How to Craft Engaging Dialogue Exchanges
One of the best places to reveal your character's emotions is during dialogue. Author Peter Gelfan joins us with some great considerations on how to make these exchanges more powerful, drawing readers in. Read on! Although we like to think of ourselves as rational beings, emotions provide deeper … [Read more...] about How to Craft Engaging Dialogue Exchanges
Writing Backstory Through Dialogue
Backstory is one of the trickier elements of writing. We have to take our readers back in time to let them know some of the past, but how do we do it without interrupting the flow of the story? Jerry Jenkins is here today to discuss one of the more organic methods for including character backstory … [Read more...] about Writing Backstory Through Dialogue
Show, Don’t Tell: Revealing True Emotion In Dialogue
Very few things pull people in like conversation. After all, when someone speaks, they are making themselves vulnerable to others. How? Because words are steeped in thoughts, beliefs and emotions. They have meaning. Power. When we talk to someone, what we're really doing is sharing a piece of … [Read more...] about Show, Don’t Tell: Revealing True Emotion In Dialogue
Using Colloquial Speech To Spice Up Dialogue
Hi everyone! The rush of New Years is over, and I hope you are all well rested, sober, and ready to tackle 2014. Have you created a simple Business Plan For Writers to help you define areas of development and to keep on track when it comes to your goals? While you're mulling that over, I'm … [Read more...] about Using Colloquial Speech To Spice Up Dialogue
Talk Amongst Yourselves: Realistic Dialogue
Saturday was Date Night (woohoo!) and while we were out, I realized a few things. First, I recognized that while going out to eat pre-baby was merely fun, it's now necessary to my sanity. Secondly, as nice as it was to eat someone else's cooking, having a real conversation with another adult was … [Read more...] about Talk Amongst Yourselves: Realistic Dialogue
Write Like a Magician: Creating the Illusion of an Unseen Character
Whenever we write a protagonist who lost someone important within their backstory, we have some heavy lifting ahead of us. That “unseen” character—a character who has died or who is simply away for one reason or another—is going to need to be developed and brought to the page somehow to deepen the … [Read more...] about Write Like a Magician: Creating the Illusion of an Unseen Character
Continuing a Series: Is This Info Too Repetitive?
We’ve probably seen advice warning that any time our story revisits information, we risk the idea feeling repetitive or redundant to readers if we’re not careful. Not surprisingly, the same risk can apply even across books in a series. Yet when we write a book series, we usually need to repeat … [Read more...] about Continuing a Series: Is This Info Too Repetitive?
Breathing Life into Characters
Picture a protagonist who stumbles upon a mysterious artifact but shows no curiosity, or a group of friends who sit down separately at the summit of a hike under a breathtaking sunset, without a moment of communal awe. Keeping your characters engaged with the story keeps readers engaged with it, … [Read more...] about Breathing Life into Characters
Four Must-Haves in the First Two Paragraphs of Every Chapter or Scene
Begin Each Scene in Your Book with Grounding Have you ever been running late, and found yourself scrambling around your house, looking for your car keys? Where did you leave them – on the kitchen counter? By the front door? Oh wait, you went up to your bedroom to get something. You race up the … [Read more...] about Four Must-Haves in the First Two Paragraphs of Every Chapter or Scene