How To Write Successful Dialogue (Jo A. Wilkins)

Writing dialogue is as simple as writing the way people speak, right? Actually, no. If you copied down a real conversation exactly as spoken, it would be boring, very, very boring. Fictional dialogue looks like real speech, but it isn't. Dialogue is your most effective tool for developing characterization, the advancement of plot, and many other tasks in fiction.

1. Dialogue should add new information for the reader. If there is nothing new in the words a character speaks then it shouldn't be there. However, introducing something new can relate to plot, characterization, setting, or any of the other aspects of the story.

2. Avoid meaningless or routine exchanges. How exciting is it to read: "Hi, Joe. How are you?" "Oh, I'm fine, Sam. How are you?" "Can't complain. Wife doing well is she?" and so on, every time these two characters meet? Not exciting at all, is it? Whether or not real people speak that way is irrelevant. Fiction is an art form that represents life.

3. Avoid conversational repetition. We all stick in endless "Umm's and "Er's when we talk, and we often repeat all or part of what was just said to us as we consider what we'll say in replay "How's your job going?" "My job? Oh, it's going just fine." Like routine exchanges, repetition is boring to read, no matter how true-to-life it may be.

4. Use dialogue to suggest how the speaker feels about others and themselves. What a person says can show how they feel and what they think of the other person. You can also add description about the character's tone of voice to the surrounding text, but don't overdo it. You might want to use action tags (Gestures) instead of the usual he said/she said. But remember, the dialogue itself and the reader's knowledge of the character often supply this information more effectively.

5. Use the speech patterns and vocabulary of the speaker. Everyone talks a little differently from everyone else. When they are really being themselves, you should be able to tell them apart by their words alone, even if you couldn't hear voices. For examples of speech patterns that bring your character’s personality to life, listen to the people around you and use from true life examples.

6. Make use of region, class, group, or profession-specific language. If your character is a computer nerd, think about what kind of terminology they might use that a character unfamiliar with computers wouldn't. There are terminologies and jargons specific to all kinds of different groups - professional, social, regional and more.

7. Avoid phonetic spelling when using dialect, non-standard grammar or individual pronunciation. Phonetic spelling is difficult to read, and becomes annoying. Besides, every reader will interpret your phonetics a little differently. The rhythms of language and word choice are a much more effective way of conveying dialect and other speech differences.

8. Use caution with slang, not because slang is offensive, but because it can change very quickly. If you want to set your work in the 1980s, then you can use 1980s slang to help. On the other hand, if you write using contemporary slang, you may be restricting your work to a contemporary audience. Also remember that the things kids say now will be the things old people say 40 years from now.

9. Use character dialogue to set the pace of the scene. Short, quick dialogue moves the story to a faster pace. Longer, dialogue that is more expressive creates a slower, more relaxed pace. To create higher tension use fast, curt dialogue. But, unless you are reiterating something that happened earlier in the story, avoid telling info dumps.

10. We are always admonished to write in active voice and show our story with the reader. What better way to accomplish this than to let our character’s speak using active verbs (verbs that show action) to convey information. This can also show the emotional makeup of the character, or the face they are showing at that point in the story.

11. Dialogue can also show the subtext, the real or underlying meaning of what one character says to another through their inflections, (and in the case of your point of view character) through his deep and internal dialogue.

      Tips:

Dialogue is not conversation. Real conversation is boring to read. With dialogue you need to create the illusion of real conversation but pare the interaction down to as few lines as possible to convey the necessary information (plot development, characterization, etc).

Intersperse descriptive narration with your dialogue to give it detail and context and to add more information: "I'm not sure." She pushed a hand through her hair. She shifted her weight to the other foot and back again. "If you think I should, though, I will."

Don't overuse "he said" and "she said." Do realize, however that these particular dialogue tags are nearly invisible to the reader (in other words, they won't notice how many you have until you do overuse them), and should be used as necessary to clarify who is speaking.

Don't overuse colorful alternatives to he said/she said. Something like "he shrieked" can be useful, but make sure that the word you choose is accurate (did he really shriek?). Also make sure any tag you use can actually replace "said." You can't say, for example: "Go over there," he gesticulated. Gesticulation is not a kind of speech. You could say: "Go over there," he said, gesticulating.

Don't overuse direct address. Sam does not have to say "Joe"" every time he talks to Joe. It becomes annoying fast. "Say, Joe, what is that you're doing?" "Well, Sam, I'm fixing my car." And so on. 

Don’t Lose Your Passion (Denice Whitmore)

I love to write! I love the feeling of having an idea, sitting at my computer, typing and watching it blossom on the page. Sometimes I don’t even end up where I planned. But there are times when I find myself caught up in the mechanics of writing. Is my grammar perfect? Is this paragraph passive or tell? Should I write this in deep point of view? Are my attributions bad? Do I have too many adverbs?

When I first started out, I was a rigid outliner. I would outline the chapter, even whole conversations. The outline was the law. I had to stick to it. Well, there was a certain chapter—I  wasn’t sure how to get to from point a to point b. I knew how it started and where it had to end but the details in the middle were a bit fuzzy. I decided to just sit down and start with what I had.

A wonderful thing happened. I wrote! I just let the words flow onto the page. It turned out to be some of my best writing. I didn’t worry about the rules that I had been obsessing over since I started my novel. I wasn’t held back by the details in my outline. I entered the story, letting the characters and events unfold on the page.

I had such a rush at the end. It was the same rush I wanted my readers to experience. I poured my passion onto the page and it showed in the writing. I learned that I was not an outliner or a free writer but a mixture of both. It was the balance I needed to free up my creativity and passion. I still outline, but loosely. Beginning, end and how it furthers the plot are about it. I might jot down a few details or ideas so I don’t lose them but nothing like before. I then sit and let things happen as a free writer. I call it free writing with direction.

Here’s my advice to new writers. Learn the rules. They will make you a better writer and in time will develop into good habits. There is a reason we have them (we all want to be published, don’t we?). But during your first draft don’t hold so tightly to them. Get your ideas on paper. Make mistakes. Try new things. Some will work and some won’t. The important thing is to have fun in the process. The business and mechanics of the manuscript come later. That’s what editing and re-drafting are for.

We all started writing because we enjoy it. It’s fun to take the people and places in our imaginations and commit them to paper for the world to see. Remember how you felt about writing when you didn’t know what show don’t tell meant? Let your creativity flow on the page and forget the rules for a moment.

When you write with freedom, you write with passion—that passion is appreciated by those who read your work. And passion can’t be taught.   

I tell my four boys all the time, “Get your work done first and you will have more time for fun.” When it comes to writing I truly believe it is the other way around. Revel in the creation process and make amazing characters with incredible lives. Put them in unbelievable situations. Put them through heart wrenching tragedies and up against impossible odds. Laugh with them, cry with them, mourn with them, scream with them. When you have done all that, then you can set to work applying the rules through your editing process.

Keep your passion and love for writing so it doesn’t become just another job. Your readers will love you for it!

~Keep writing~

Publishing Hypocrisy (Richard R Draude)

Attending the Las Vegas Writer’s Conference this past April made the hypocrisy of the modern publishing industry. Right now you’re scratching your head, wondering, What’s he talking about?

I’ll explain after I say this. Yes I am a writer and the first version of my novel was, at best, horrible and was rejected. My current publisher required a complete rewrite and my editor beat me over the head with the rules you’ll find in the next few paragraphs. I will be expected to adhere to these standards in every book I write, going forward. No, this is not a ‘hit piece’ in retaliation for past rejections. We all get them, it’s part of the process. This blog comes in response to what is presented as the Publishing Standard versus what we see in print from established authors.

Throughout time writing styles and requirements have changed. How an author presents a story to his or her readers is determined by the publishing industry and varies from publishing house to publishing house. In the late seventies publishers required their authors to stop Telling their story, and let the reader live it through the characters’ eyes. Show, Don’t Tell,  is what all authors are expected to adhere to today.

At every writer’s conference you’ll attend, the people presenting the classes are, for

the most part, agents, editors, or an acquisitions editor. They present material to will stand in front of a group of eager writers searching for the road to publication.

Of the many tips offered these stood out to me: 1.Write in Active Voice   2. Have a Fixed POV (Point Of View)    3. No Author Intrusion   4. Show, Don’t Tell   5. Limited Use of Adverbs. (Limited to use in dialogue not in exposition.)

Some of these concepts are foreign to new writers. They take copious notes, read

anything they can find on the subjects. At home they are determined to write their story or rewrite their existing novel to the accepted standards.

Later, after a lot of hard work, a writer will submit their work to a publishers. Five or six months later they receive a curt rejection note with no explanation.  They then start over submitting their novel to another publisher or agent, only to wait another five or six months to get rejected.

An added note, many of the manuscripts submitted in any given year are terrible at best

and warrant a rejection. But some are never really given a fair shake. Legally Blonde is a good example. Turned down by most publishers as too frivolous, it became a self-published novel. The author, through perseverance,  brought it to the attention of Hollywood.

So where does publishers hypocrisy come in? Go to any book store and pick up a book

written by an established author with a following, written after 2001 up to the present. Once you understand the concept of Write in Active Voice, Have a Fixed POV, No Author Intrusion, Show, Don’t Tell, and Limited Use of Adverbs, you will see how the rules fall away for the publishers’ money makers. 

Take for example the novel Frozen Heat, by Richard Castle, ghost written by an unknown author. I offered this review on Good Reads.

I too am a huge Castle TV show fan, but I have to disagree with many of the

reviewers. I looked forward to reading any of the Niki Heat novels. I picked up Frozen

Heat, read the first chapter and a half, and close the book. Whoever the writer is, may

be sticking to the show’s formula, but the complete overuse of adverbs kept throwing

me out of the story. 

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” Stephen King.

While I can read and enjoy novels written before publishers made a big DEAL of

"Show, Don't Tell." standard, and limited use of adverbs, this book falls way short of

either of those standards. Publishers reject a new writer's manuscript if it contains lot

of tell and uses too many adverbs, yet in the first 13 pages the 15 adverbs used, are

unnecessary. (I'm not counting the ones used in dialogue. Those are fine.)

For example, on page 4 line 8, the ride in the elevator. "-his back against the wall then

SUDDENLY hers.” The use of the word 'suddenly' is ambiguous.

Anton Chekhov said, “Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

How did Niki's back wind up against the elevator wall? Did she pulled Rook in front of her, or did Rook twist her into that position for more control? Those actions would have painted a much better picture of the scene. On the same page, line 16. "He appeared at the door COMPLETLY naked." Use of the word 'completely' is redundant. If you're naked, you're without any cloths. Your nakedness is complete. This continues throughout the book. For me what was an anticipated read turned into a big disappointment.

One more comment. On page 12, 2nd paragraph 5th line. "SLOWLY, METHODICALLY she ran the beam of her flashlight from right to left along the bottom edge of the case." Starting a sentence with an adverb is bad enough. Two in a row, please! Whoever the writer is, go take a creative writing class and reread the quotes above by Stephen King and Anton Chekhov, 

This is what Twain had to say about adverbs. 

“I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me. To misplace an adverb is a thing which I am able to do with frozen indifference; it can never give me a pang. ... There are subtleties which I cannot master at all--they confuse me, they mean absolutely nothing to me--and this adverb plague is one of them. ... Yes, there are things which we cannot learn, and there is no use in fretting about it. I cannot learn adverbs; and what is more I won't.”

I gave this book one star because I had to give it something.

Pick up any established writer, say Patterson for example, and you will find violation of

many, if not all, of the above standards. Why? Once an author is established, he or she

becomes lazy. Their publishers require them to crank out a number of novels per year. Publishers want to get another book out for cash flow and profits, so the editors let a lot go, if they edit at all. Because the author has an audience, their fans are going to buy and read a new book simply because it’s their favorite author.

When a book falls short of a publishers own self-proclaimed standards, fans and the so-called major reviewers should complain.  By offering bad reviews, we tell publishers  their established authors should have to conform to the same rules publishers expect new writes to follow.

We of the reading public would be treated to stories with more depth and impact, instead of publishers’ hypocrisy along with author and editor laziness. If publishers will live up to their own standards, the bottom line will follow. 

Two Bits Worth 25 Writing Tips from Fiction Authors (Richard Draude)

 Writing success boils down to hard work, imagination and passion—and then some more hard work. Here are 20 writing tips from 12 best selling fiction authors.

Print a copy to put on your desk, home office, refrigerator door, or somewhere else noticeable so you can be constantly reminded not to let your story ideas wither away by putting off your writing.

Tip1: TH White, author of The Sword in the Stone and other Arthurian fantasies says,  “Read. Read everything you can lay hands on. I always advise people who want to write a fantasy or science fiction or romance to stop reading everything in those genres and start reading everything else from Bunyan to Byatt.”

Tip 2: "Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you." — Zadie Smith

Tip 3: "Introduce your main characters and themes in the first third of your novel. If you are writing a plot-driven genre novel make sure all your major themes/plot elements are introduced in the first third, which you can call the introduction. Develop your themes and characters in your second third, the development. Resolve your themes, mysteries and so on in the final third, the resolution." — Michael Moorcock

Tip 4: "In the planning stage of a book, don't plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it." — Rose Tremain

Tip 5: "Always carry a note-book. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever." — Will Self

Tip 6: "It's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction." — Jonathan Franzen

"Work on a computer that is disconnected from the internet." — Zadie Smith

Tip 7: “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: Memoir of the Craft

Tip 8: "Read it aloud to yourself because that's the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK (prose rhythms are too complex and subtle to be thought out—they can be got right only by ear)." — Diana Athill

Tip 9: "Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." – Anton Chekhov

Tip 10: "Listen to the criticisms and preferences of your trusted 'first readers.'" — Rose Tremain

Tip 11: "Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money." — Jonathan Franzen

Tip 12: "Don't panic. Midway through writing a novel, I have regularly experienced moments of bowel-curdling terror, as I contemplate the drivel on the screen before me and see beyond it, in quick succession, the derisive reviews, the friends' embarrassment, the failing career, the dwindling income, the repossessed house, the divorce . . . Working doggedly on through crises like these, however, has always got me there in the end. Leaving the desk for a while can help. Talking the problem through can help me recall what I was trying to achieve before I got stuck. Going for a long walk almost always gets me thinking about my manuscript in a slightly new way. And if all else fails, there's prayer. St Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers, has often helped me out in a crisis. If you want to spread your net more widely, you could try appealing to Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, too." — Sarah Waters

Tip 13: "The writing life is essentially one of solitary confinement – if you can't deal with this you needn't apply." — Will Self

Tip 14: "Be your own editor/critic. Sympathetic but merciless!" — Joyce Carol Oates

Tip 15: "The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator." — Jonathan Franzen

Tip 16: "Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful." — Elmore Leonard

Tip 17: "Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong." — Neil Gaiman

Tip 18: "You know that sickening feeling of inadequacy and over-exposure you feel when you look upon your own empurpled prose? Relax into the awareness that this ghastly sensation will never, ever leave you, no matter how successful and publicly lauded you become. It is intrinsic to the real business of writing and should be cherished." — Will Self

Tip 19: "The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you're allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it's definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter." — Neil Gaiman

Tip 20: "The nearest I have to a rule is a Post-it on the wall in front of my desk saying ‘Faire et se taire’ (Flaubert), which I translate for myself as ‘Shut up and get on with it.’" — Helen Simpson

Tip 21: Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it.” ― Lloyd Alexander

Tip 22: “Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.” ― Stephen King

Tip 23: “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Tip 24“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”  – Mark Twain

Tip 25: “There is such a place as fairyland - but only children can find the way to it. And they do not know that it is fairyland until they have grown so old that they forget the way.

One bitter day, when they seek it and cannot find it, they realize what they have lost; and that is the tragedy of life. On that day the gates of Eden are shut behind them and the age of gold is over. Henceforth they must dwell in the common light of common day.

Only a few, who remain children at heart, can ever find that fair, lost path again; and blessed are they above mortals. They, and only they, can bring us tidings from that dear country where we once sojourned and from which we must evermore be exiles.

The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and story-tellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland.” ― L.M. Montgomery, The Story Girl.