Brace yourselves. You are about to read the BADDEST of the BAD dialogue. Hang with me. I promise it’s worth it! “Hey Kayla, look! Do you see that person sneaking up on Kim, Kayla? Kayla, I’m worried because, Kayla, it looks like she has a knife!” “Fiddlesticks and fuzzlebuckets, Darcie! Darcie, you are soooooo right! […]
dialogue
Lesson #99 – Dialogue: Beats and Tags
Dialogue is one of my favorite parts of fiction writing. Good dialogue can make a story come to life. Bad dialogue does the opposite. And no one wants their story to die a horrible death. So let’s talk about one of the ways to make your dialogue flow without readers skimming. But guess what? It’s […]
Lesson 101: Knowing When to Cut Dialogue
Ahh, dialogue. One of those amazing facets of fiction that brings the story to life. I’m currently taking a course on the history of the English language. This course, like my communication courses, has emphasized the importance of communication amongst human beings. In the beginning, God spoke – “let there be…” When he made Adam […]
Lesson #102: Exercises for Dialogue
Lesson #98: The best way to learn how people speak for reals is to eavesdrop. I’m not kidding. Take a notebook to a public place in which a lot of conversing goes on. Listen in on snippets of a few and write them down as dialogue verbatim. Resist the urge to edit for proper grammar […]