A blogger gets to do all sorts of silly stuff. So, I hereby proclaim this week: Dialogue Week. In my classes we’ll talk, walk and slosh around in dialogue writing tips. We’ll look at proper form for notating dialogue. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of no-quotation mark dialogue. If I could only tell you one thing to remember about dialogue, it would be: Dialogue sounds like real speech, but it isn’t. That means the words you put in your characters’ mouths need to sound natural (like everyday speech) but need to Advance the Story.
Writing Tip for Today: Take a look at some dialogue you’ve written, or find a book you love and investigate the dialogue. How many are in the scene? If only the view point character, you may have trouble advancing the story if you don’t get someone else on stage soon. Are the characters speaking as the time period dictates? How about the mix of action, setting and speaking–are they woven together in a way that flows naturally?
Next: Writing to the rule of three in Dialogue.