DIALOGUE, IT’S NOT JUST TALK

 

By Janet K. Brown

 

Here is my diagnosis for making dialogue dynamic:

D Different Goals

The best dialogue comes when two characters desire different goals from the conversation. This increases the tension.

I Interview your characters

Find out how they would answer certain questions even if the questions aren’t posed in your manuscript. This deepens your knowledge of a character’s reaction.

A Action

Fiction and non-fiction are similar to stage plays. Dialogue is more than words. We need gestures, body language, even moments of silence to set the stage.

L Listen to your characters talk

Each character should have a distinctive manner, so readers recognize the speech without putting the name to the line of talk. Educated/use slang? Pet names? Recurrent phrases?

O Out loud reading

Prose and poetry have meter in common. When you read your work out loud, does it have rhythm, cadence, and energy? Is it missing a word or is it three words too long? You can only tell by reading it out loud.

G Go along with the story

Dialogue should fit your story-does it show tension when applicable? Does it fit the mood-teasing & light or dark and heavy? The shorter the piece, the more important to inject a sense of time and place.

U Use of dialogue

Dialogue only has three uses.

1. Move the story along.
2. Intensify characterization
3. Both

If none of these apply, take out the dialogue.

E Eliminate words

Dialogue should be concise. Eliminating words that we’ve slaved over and think are beautiful is hard, but sometimes necessary to strengthen.

One part of speech to eliminate almost totally is Adverbs—like almost totally.

Beats or tags? Which is best? Beats – gestures/body language. Tags – he said – sometimes using neither is best.

Summary advice to helping your dialogue:

1. Read every day from your favorite writers- both in your chosen genre and in other genres.
2. Periodically read or reread a writing craft book or take       an online course.
3. Write something every day even if you delete and restart.

   Janet K. Brown lives in Wichita Falls, Texas with her husband, Charles. Writing became her second career after retiring from medical coding.

   Worth Her Weight is the author’s first inspirational women’s fiction, but it makes a perfect companion to her previously released, Divine Dining: 365 Devotions to Guide You to Healthier Weight and Abundant Wellness. Both books encompass her passion for diet, fitness, and God’s Word.

   Worth Her Weight marks Brown’s third book. Who knew she had a penchant for teens and ghosts? She released her debut novel, an inspirational young adult, Victoria and the Ghost, in July, 2012.

   Janet and her husband love to travel with their RV, work in their church, and visit their three daughters, two sons-in-law and three perfect grandchildren.

   Janet teaches workshops on writing, weight loss, and the historical settings of her teen books.

    

   Find her at http:/ /www.janetkbrown.com

   On Twitter at https://twitter.com/janetkbrowntx

   On Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Janet-K-Brown-Author/143915285641707

   E-mail: Janet.hope@att.net Victoria and the Ghost By Janet K. Brown

   At fifteen, Victoria, a city girl, loses her mother’s love and copes with country isolation, no friends and no one who cares, until she meets a ghost.

   When her mother leaves the family to become a Dallas trophy wife, Victoria’s dad moves her and her sister to a North Texas farm to herd cattle and raise chickens. Refusing to believe this is more than a temporary set-back, Victoria tries to make new friends which isn’t an easy task. The first one stabs her in the back with gossip and a sharp tongue. Meanwhile, her new stepsister takes Victoria’s place in her mother’s heart. Rejection and anger stalk Victoria like a rattlesnake in the cemetery. Good thing she makes friends with a ghost and through him, a good-looking teenaged cowboy.