Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Tuesday's Writer's Tip - Revision - Dialogue #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #Dialogue #Writing #Individual

This is the last bit about dialogue and revision. All characters need to sound like individuals. I often find when I do the rough draft of a story and look at the dialogue, everyone sounds the same. During the process of revision, I look carefully and ask myself some questions. Does Mary sound like Jim or Sue? Could the dialogue be said by any of the characters. If you listen to the people around you, you'll find many things influence their ways of speaking. Are they educated? Do they speak differently in a more formal situation than when hanging out with friends? Does their job influence the things they say? So when you're revising dialogue, put your character's life under the microscope and have them speak in a way that's natural to them and to the situation. What emotion comes through in the dialogue? Anger may influence the chosen words. There are many ways to consider the dialogue and to make each character sound different than the others.

Think of dialogue between two people as transitional. They aren't just saying words. There's a goal to the dialogue. There's action and moving the story forward. So make sure there's a purpose to the dialogue and the reader will understand what's happening both within and without the characters. Remember people may say one thing and mean something else. Using internal dialogue that gives a different meaning to the dialogue can really help.


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