I haven’t been on the blog for a while. I received an e-mail from a reader who is having trouble with dialogue, and so I decided to crank out a little tip list for them. With NaNoWriMo coming soon, keeping these five tips in mind when writing dialogue should help any writer craft meaningful andContinue reading “5 Tips for Creating Dialogue That Flows”
Tag Archives: Dialogue
Writing Progress: Getting Bogged Down
Word count: 6350 Today was hard. Really hard. I fought to get the words on the page. It was a struggle much like wrestling an opponent much larger and more confident than myself. I started by writing up the bio on another hero I intended to use later, and then I erased the start ofContinue reading “Writing Progress: Getting Bogged Down”
5 Ways to Reveal Backstory When Writing A Novel
For my latest WIP I spent nearly six months designing a rich backstory complete with six habitable planets, four alien races, culture, pre-history, flora, fauna, and loads of other details that may never make it onto the page in any of the several novels I will write in this series. However, now that I’ve finishedContinue reading “5 Ways to Reveal Backstory When Writing A Novel”
The Do’s and Don’ts of Dialogue
It seems that the more current fiction I read these days the more dialogue I am seeing in the text. As a matter of fact, most novels written today are heavy on the dialogue and lighter on the long paragraphs of detailed description. Dialogue is a tool used to further the action, to give usContinue reading “The Do’s and Don’ts of Dialogue”
Dialogue and Description: The Delicate Balance
One of the biggest problems I encounter when giving advice to other writers is the problem of how much dialogue is too much without ample description to back up the verbiage. The truth is that many amateur writers either lay on the description until they become like Charles Dickens or they write page after pageContinue reading “Dialogue and Description: The Delicate Balance”
New Podcast Up: Writing Dialogue and Wearing Costumes
In this episode, Ryan and I discuss the ins and outs of dialogue and how to make your characters dialogue seem more realistic. What is it that makes great dialogue work and what are some pitfalls that all writers face? They also discuss their years of costuming and the funniest moments while wearing these elaborateContinue reading “New Podcast Up: Writing Dialogue and Wearing Costumes”
The Necessity of Kinesics
K is for kinesics, which in the study of linguistics means the analysis of how body movements can communicate meaning. As a writer this is something that we must learn how to use as well as we use dialogue to communicate characterization, mood and tone. I have read plenty of writing where the writer has graspedContinue reading “The Necessity of Kinesics”
Emotive Dialogue
Yesterday I recorded our latest podcast for Fanboys on Fiction, and during the conversation, Ryan McKinley brought up the devilish problem of using “he said/she said” in dialogue passages. This made me think of a good way that we could remove these redundant story killers from our dialogue and in the process make that dialogue moreContinue reading “Emotive Dialogue”
Writing Believable Dialogue
One of the most important keys to writing an engaging novel is dialogue. However, some writers are able to write it well, and some writers have trouble. Today I thought I would discuss four pitfalls that writers often find themselves and some ways to combat this nasty issue. Problem #1: Stilted Dialogue Stilted dialogue isContinue reading “Writing Believable Dialogue”
Writing Is Hard Work 