by Jeff Elkins |
It made a generation fall in love with Gilmore Girls, and almost destroyed Star Wars Episodes 1, 2, and 3. Dialogue can make or break a story. When it is good, we are joyfully entangled in it. When it is bad, the story can be painful to read.
To spice it up, we will often turn to descriptors—adjectives and adverbs the convey the emotion we hope the reader will hear. But these “ly” words can break a reader’s flow, making our story feel disjointed.
Never fear! There is hope! If we start with a good foundation and sprinkle some action, we can write dialogue that sings. Here are three steps to crafting vivid, believable dialogue.
by Guest Blogger |
A vast majority of writers struggle with dialogue. We wonder how to make it real, make it believable, and make it stand out.
What if I told you that you can become a better writer and watch your favorite shows and movies at the same time—and all you have to do is turn on the subtitles?
by Pamela Fernuik |
Today is garbage day in my neighborhood. Naturally, when I went for a walk with my dog Annie this morning, I looked at my neighbors’ garbage. What did people throw away? What did their trash mean? What what can we discover about a person from what they throw away, and how they throw it away?
People leave clues about their character in their trash. Today we will practice character development by writing about someone’s garbage—what they throw away.
by Ruthanne Reid |
“The writer’s job is to get the main character up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them.” So how DO you get your protagonist in a sticky situation that keeps your reader reading until you type, “The End?”
by Emily Wenstrom |
The first chapter of a novel is arguably the most important–if a reader isn’t hooked, she won’t keep reading. And if that happens, nothing else you write matters.
by Joe Bunting |
Good books, good stories, are about problems not solutions.
This is something I tell my students, my ghostwriting clients, my contributors on The Write Practice. I say this again and again because people rarely realize it.
