Blue Square

Writer

Top Five Dialogue Techniques

Think about how dialogue affects many other elements of writing all at the same time. Below are my Top Five Dialogue Techniques.

Because I Like It

I gave myself full permission to stop writing. I wasn’t going to write any more that night and I wasn’t going to write any more the next day

It's About Story

That’s why, to me, the worst Jeffery Eugenides book will always be remarkably better than the best Dan Brown book.

Thinking 4th Dimensionally

There are less-discussed and less-understood Time factors, such as the past perfect verb tense or the order of phrases and clauses.

Grammatical Time Travel

When you use a verb tense without fully understanding it, you’re essentially sticking your reader into the Delorean and stepping on the gas.

Subtracting Time

Many writers add more words in an effort to explain or justify. The more effective solution is to go back to fix. More is not always better.

The Immediate Flashback

The most misused and dangerous use of Flashback is – what I have come to call – the Immediate Flashback or interrupting backstory.

Suspending Disbelief

Character's unique abilities put them in strange places, but if you include too many details about abilities, you bore the reader.

Word-Time & Real-Time

The ratio is simple: the amount of words used to show the action is inversely proportional to the time that action requires.

Forcing Characters

Don’t be fooled – characters will not suddenly become real people, capable of reaching out from your computer to type their own story.

Trusting Implications

You must trust your skill, of course. But more than anything, trust your readers. They’re a lot smarter than you might think.