Instead of telling a reader about an event it would be more interesting in dialogue.
e.g. Jane remembered the day on which her dog ran away and is glad to get him back.
e.g. Tears filled Jane's eyes as she hugged Rover. "Thank you, thank you for returning him. I've been out of my mind with worry since he ran away."
Involve the five senses to show the reader characters. Allow them to bring back memories of the past. For example, a whiff of a particular perfume brings my mother to mind. A snatch of Indian music reminds me of a performance of a dancer's amazing performance as a peacock. Your characters will have their own memories which lead into the present.
Involve the protagonist instead of relying on description. Instead of, for example, describing a character's new gown, allow her to admire it, smooth it and tweak it into place. Let your reader see her.
Show a scene through a character's eyes, what does he or she like or dislike about it? Show the character touching things. If he or she is outside on a rainy, windy day show how they react perhaps by struggling with an umbrella, perhaps wishing he or she had worn a raincoat.
Conflict increases the pace and so does danger. To heighten them, use short sharp sentences. However, don't rush the pace throughout the novel, alternate tense scenes with calm ones.
Showing posts with label Dialogue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dialogue. Show all posts
Tuesday, 8 July 2014
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
D is for Dialogue
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
D is for Dialogue
Over the years I have made many notes on creative writing. Amongst them are the following, but, unfortunately I did not make a note of the source so I can't attribute them.
Every line of dialogue in fiction should:
1. Convey essential information.
2. Move the tale forward.
3. Reveal the character and mood of the speaker.
5. Establish the relationship between characters.
6. It should be consistent with the character's historical period, geographical origins and social class.
I write historical fiction so I use dialogue to indicate class distinctions. The upper class use very few contractions -mostly don't to avoid the cumbersome do you not, the middle class use some contractions and the others always use contractions and, sometimes, dialect. However, dialect shouldn't be overdone. I've critiqued several unpublished novels for members of groups I belong to and the worst fictional dialect is a pseudo Scots one. The authors are addicted to ye, dinna, etc, and they don't distinguish between Highland and Lowland Scots and everything else in between.
These basic principles are so simple but sometimes my characters waffle on and need to be controlled.
Every line of dialogue in fiction should:
1. Convey essential information.
2. Move the tale forward.
3. Reveal the character and mood of the speaker.
5. Establish the relationship between characters.
6. It should be consistent with the character's historical period, geographical origins and social class.
I write historical fiction so I use dialogue to indicate class distinctions. The upper class use very few contractions -mostly don't to avoid the cumbersome do you not, the middle class use some contractions and the others always use contractions and, sometimes, dialect. However, dialect shouldn't be overdone. I've critiqued several unpublished novels for members of groups I belong to and the worst fictional dialect is a pseudo Scots one. The authors are addicted to ye, dinna, etc, and they don't distinguish between Highland and Lowland Scots and everything else in between.
These basic principles are so simple but sometimes my characters waffle on and need to be controlled.
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