More on dialogue

People react to things. And they react to most things with dialogue. I like to let my characters conversations work around their reactions. Something happens-conversation. And you know what the fun thing is about dialogue? It leads me to different places. New places. Places I never dreamed the story was going. Who was it that said dramatic dialogue has two audiences? I think it was Aristotle. The character being spoken to and the reader. And the writer is talking to both. Pretty good stuff if you ask me.

Writers need to listen to the world around them. Writers need to listen to their characters. I've read books where I knew the author never heard his characters speak. He typed what he thought they would say. We know that talking to your characters is a good thing to do. Don't we become our characters when they talk? I was Anna in my MG story. At times I was Claire too. They told me things. They showed me things I never expected them to.

An exercise I learned some time ago. I forget where. Strip one of your existing dialogues, so much that you take out the original scene. Ask someone to create a list of four or five details from your world. He might choose a detail from several different settings. He might use senses. Have him write this on an index card. Tape it to your computer. Rewrite the original dialogue and use these details.You might have to reshape some other things like the setting, etc.. But work in the original dialogue as much as possible. The part where you stripped it down. Allow the dialogue to react to the new details. Change context and speaker. When you finish a paragraph, if you don't see a scene, start over. Do this four times. Read them and look at what has happened. This exercise can take your story in directions you never knew it could go. And it can also lead to a new story. One that you never even thought you would write.

You'll be surprised at what you find. :)

Have you ever?

Have you ever compared two books for the handling of dialogue before? If you have, chances are they were very different. For example, one of the writer's characters might sound like they are drowning in dialect. Then the other one's sound like they are from another dimension. And the more books you read the more confusing dialogue can be. So who is right? Hmmm. I have been thinking that it depends on the reader. I don't believe there is really any certain way to do dialogue. For me at least, I think I just try to believe in the language I hear. And I make sure I listen to voices and really hear what they are saying. I want my characters to sound real.

I think really listening to the voices we hear is the key. Listening to the way WE ourselves speak isn't enough. The world has a lot of voices in it. We talk to one another. We sing. Our voices tell others a lot about ourselves. People communicate. It's life. So I'm listening a lot more people these days. And it's paying off. My dialogue sounds REAL.

What do you think about dialogue? Does it come easy for you? Or is it the hardest thing about writing you do? Thanks for reading. :)

Contest over at Gumbo Writer

There's a great contest going on over at Angie's Gumbo Writer. It's a title contest and the prize is your choice of Writer's Delight or Cajun Goodies package. What are ya waiting on? Head on over! :)

Please follow the link

I hope everyone had a great unplug week. I ran into some problems, my van broke down on the way back from the hospital on Wednesday and I had left the cell phone at home. My son and I were stranded over four hours on the interstate. Do you realize how fast the semi trucks whoosh by? It was getting dark and we made the decision to start walking. A good Samaritan with a cell phone saved us. I was able to call for help.

My birthday was yesterday and I loved the attention I got. My sister fixed a scrumptious cake and dinner. She gave me a lovely hooded jacket. It was all good until I realized, "Yikes, I'm another year older."

Please follow this link. I am SO FURIOUS. This is someone that my children watched for years and now to see what he really thinks, just makes my blood BOIL. I stumbled across this link on Friday, but since I unplugged, I couldn't share it until today. And I wasn't breaking any unplug rules... it came across my email.


Are you as shocked as I am? Okay, I understand that this is after all the onion and I do know that their stuff is mostly mockery and lampoon but another writer told me that this particular story was true. I'll never trust word of mouth again. Though it could still be...:)

It's that time again

Unplug week starts tomorrow. So I hope to get a lot of writing done. I do have to take my son to take more tests, but I'll write while waiting. I'll plug in, the hospital folks expect it now. I hope everyone has a great, productive week. Happy writing! :)

ARRRR--Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day

Today is, Talk Like a Pirate Day. WOOHOO! I love this day. I spend all day talking in my best pirate voice. The family gets a little tired of it, but hey, the horses love it. So speak in your best pirate voice today. Here, I'll get you started.
"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest--
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" And pity poor Beth. We have our crit group meeting today. She's going to love hearing her critique done in my best pirate voice. : )

Writing is an itch. What has it taught you?

Writing for me is an itch that I must scratch daily. I read where someone said that the writing life was like the sex life. And the longer I do this, the more I believe that is VERY, VERY true. I desire to write. You are reading this post, so you desire to write. I think it is an ache. And I don't have to think about it. I just do it. It comes naturally for me.

When I know it's time to write, I sit down and type. Writing is an attitude. And it's a feeling too. I use all of my senses. I touch, see, smell, hear, and speak when I write. I use my mind. But all the things that I have been through in my life, the things that have made me who I am, have made me the the writer that I am today. Everything. The good and the bad. Through writing I have discovered what makes me tick. I'm intense! Who knew? :) Writing has taught me that I am very organized(most of the time). And that my punctuation skills are ZERO! Thank you, thank you Beth. God knew what he was doing when he gave me a high school Literature teacher for a critique partner. Grammar skills stink too. But I learned that I do have a huge imagination. Yeah. *fist pump*

What have you discovered about yourselves through your writing? What has it taught you?