5 Dialogue Writing Tips - WritersLife.org

5 Dialogue Writing Tips - WritersLife.org

 

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►Where to follow and listen to WritersLife.org: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writerslifeorg/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerslife.org/   Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/writerslifeorg  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/writerslifeorg/  Google +: http://www.WritersLife.org/googleplus   Website: http://www.WritersLife.org  Advertising: http://grantcardonetv.com/brandyourself  Products: http://www.WritersLife.org/shop  Podcast: http://writerslife.org/podcast  Join Our Team: http://writerslife.org/contribute/  Advertise your book and.or writing  https://www.facebook.com/WritersLifeAdvertisingPlatform/?ref=br_rs  ---- ► Thank you for listening—Please Share it. We LOVE to read comments so please leave a comment and subscribe to Our channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6iFhT4Y1s9-RHIloGNQwrA/feed  -- ► Grab your free writer's toolkit by going to  http://www.writerslife.org/finish-your-book                             ---------------------------------------------------------------------------   hello its Peter here again from writer's life and today five dialog writing tips that every writer should know about one of the biggest problems fiction writers face is when trying to write dialogue great dialog is so important in writing it brings characters to life it drives the plot forward and presents exciting information to the reader it's used to express characters emotions to vocalize their fears and desires and allows the reader to understand who they are and what they want unfortunately writing dialogue doesn't come naturally to most writers it's a skill that takes time and practice to master the problem is if we try to write dialogue exactly how we would speak it comes across terribly when read all the pauses intonation and random subject changes but we happily accept when we're having a face-to-face conversation with someone cannot be written verbatim in story the good news is however the writing great dialogue can be learned and here are five tips to get you started first use dialogue to bring depth to your characters a lot can be conveyed through your character's speech all of us through different ways of talking depending on what kind of mood we're in what we are trying to say and who we are speaking to translate this into your writing is your character angry sad excited happy think about the language they would use to convey this what kind of person are they a straightforward straight talking person or are they absent-minded and forgetful are they concealing something from the person are talking to are they intelligent stupid sarcastic or funny think about the rhythm in which they might speak slowly and purposefully or perhaps quickly and out of breath do they mumble and stop and start do they forget what they are saying do they ramble on or are they measured and collected when they speak even your characters a way of talking that is consistent throughout will differentiate them from one another and make them seem a more believable and authentic to your reader use everyday exchanges to help you find your voices the best way to create great dialogue is to listen listen to the everyday conversations that happen all around you take part in different conversations with different people yourself and observe how they talk and react in certain situations sit on a bus or in a bar and take notes of the conversations you hear you'll be surprised at how many different types there are taking notes and writing down anything that strikes you as unusual or interesting is great for using in your writing to enhance your characters and influence your story next avoid overuse of adverbs the best writers of dialogue convey the emotions and the characters within it if you find yourself ending each speech with an adverb he said angrily she sighed sadly he joked excitedly then look back to what you have written and see if there's another way to convey this within the dialogue itself if you have written the dialogue well then trust that your reader will pick up on it on what you have tried to get across rather than spelling it out for them littering your prose with adverbs makes for uncomfortable reading - it can be very distracting and you run the risk of losing the attention of your reader if you want to be sure readers understand the emotion of the scene why not use an action instead for example she dug her nails into the palms of her hands as she spoke this is far more powerful and will keep the reader interested as well as giving them an image to work with rather than pointing out to them exactly how the character feels next the dreaded actions everyone has some sort of accents and if your characters are from a particular part of the world you may wish to get that across in their dialect this is fine and in fact can be a fantastic way to enrich your characters and make them appeal to the reader however if you overdo it it can completely destroy your dialogue readers don't want to have to struggle to understand the character with an accent so thick you would have to keep asking them to repeat themselves if you were having a face-to-face conversation use an accent sparingly you could still get it across without making your prose confused and silly keep it short and sweet small talk is not necessary use dialogue to create drama and to advance the story we don't need to hear everything a character might say to another ie all the normal pleasantries you might hear in an everyday conversation your dialogue should be interesting and full of energy keep a dialogue where possible - a couple of sentences at a time any more than this and you the risk of using the dialogue to convey information that a person would never believably say in an authentic conversation remember the most important thing is that your reader believes this is a conversation that characters could have if they have to work hard to believe it it will become tedious to read remember the best way to create strong dialogue is to practice it writers have to be disciplined creatures and setting some time your writing schedule to practice writing dialogue or amending and improving dialogue you've already written is by far the best way to achieve this read your dialogue out loud and if it doesn't sound right then rewrite it again and again until it does if you're struggling to write or finish your book remember our free writers toolkit can help you with it you'll learn how to overcome procrastination get organized stay focused find time to write and finally get your book published to get access to it now while it's still available simply go to   http://www.writerslife.org/toolkit and that's it for now be sure to like this video and subscribe to our channel for more and I'll see you next time