Who's A Writer?

[Sally PB]

Thanks to this thread, I'm rereading my book. And enjoying it.

 

[Sally PB]

Dialog...

I often read mine aloud.

I had an assignment in a college creative writing class that made me think about differentiation between characters. The assignment was 3 characters can talk about anything you want. You could give only one attribution each (Joe said, etc.). After that, it had to clear who was saying what. Write 3-4 pages of dialog.

It was three people, so it wasn't just a back-and-forth conversation. That was a really enlightening assignment!

Another dialog thing that stuck with me is "said." It's the easiest attribution, it fades into the background. If you don't use "said," use a verb to describe HOW they said it. Muttered. Murmured. Shouted. Whispered.

Asked, answered, told, replied, inquired. Those are useful.

The prof told us, "If any of you write the word, 'intoned,' it better be at a scene with a seance."

I remember reading a book by a well-known author that seemed to make a point of NOT using the word said. (I do not remember the book or author. I probably didn't finish the book and never read another by him/her.) After a few pages, it was like a parody of a conversation. I probably laughed and stopped reading when I got to "intoned."

I read one book that broke this rule to great effect and got my admiration. "Said" could not be used because all the characters were deaf-mutes. On page 2 or 3, that's revealed and I smiled and thought how well it was done.

 

[SourRoses]

It was three people, so it wasn't just a back-and-forth conversation. That was a really enlightening assignment!

That sounds hard!

The prof told us, "If any of you write the word, 'intoned,' it better be at a scene with a seance."

I did actually laugh aloud!

I remember reading a book by a well-known author that seemed to make a point of NOT using the word said.

I've read a lot of those too. It can become overdone, and especially awkward when many of the attributions are emotional, aka "exclaimed", "ranted", "cried", etc. Those authors rarely refine their prose to let the reader feel along with the character and it just becomes this telling instead of showing thing.

All my favorite authors have serious skill in first letting you know who is speaking and then allowing the characters own voice and the natural back and forth take over. Until you really don't notice it. Or a sprinkle of action in between.

Joe cleared his throat, "What a world..."

(should there be a comma after throat and before the dialogue??)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Hey guys! not letting this thread die down!
I'd like some advice on dialogue if anyone has it... its my worst area. I love writing it but they always seem fake or like all my characters are playing nice in an unrealistic way. I also have a hard time accentuating each character's personality. Any tips on how i could make it better?

I have similar issues. One thing I did with two of my characters is when they spoke each other's language, I made it a little broken (nothing obnoxious, but since both kind of self learned each other's language, it won't be quite as perfect and naturally flowing as if they grew up being taught the language)

 

[Sally PB]

One thing about dialog the prof cautioned us about was writing in dialect. She said that she "couldn't read it, so she always skipped it." She said she never read the dialect dialog in Huck Finn because she couldn't understand it. Someone suggested that she read it aloud, but she just shook her head at that.

I thought that was odd for a lit professor. But I did think the point was valid; dialect is harder to read. She said a word or two was enough to get the idea across. Since we're not Mark Twain writing what will become a classic.

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

For my dialogue I have a few saids but have grown from just using said and flesh it out more, with ' he muttered as he rolled his eyes s, turning away '

I always seem to "read" it in my head, act it out, see it as a film/movie in my mind. Sometimes a beta readers or critiquer you are comfortable with helps.too

 

[CloneFly]

I always seem to "read" it in my head, act it out, see it as a film/movie in my mind.

This trick is super helpful in my experience... My family can attest to the fact that I often look like a lunatic muttering, mumbling and motioning at nothing, but it helps get the words flowing. Become the characters for a moment an start arguing with yourself or having tea , this gives you the opportunity to create more realistic dialogue and gives you a better idea about how the delivery would sound in real life- thereby providing more options on how to describe/write the interaction/scene.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

I've started a few novels, I'm hoping to make it a career. I also don't just want to write books, I'd prefer to be a songwriter!

 

[Sally PB]

I used to write "silly songs." Parodies, but years before Weird Al came on the scene.

I can't write music. At. All. I have tried. The closest I got was in college in a few music theory classes.

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

I took a scary leap a week or so ago with my self publishing journey, dropped out of KU(Amazon exclusive) and went wide: apple/book/Kobo and more! It's a scary step for a little indie author, but I felt it was right to go forth into the wide world! Lol

I'm not a popular author by any means, but gotta start somewhere. I have faith this is the right path. Even if it'll mean a little leaner couple of months (then again I was barely breaking 200month soo...)