autumn_whispers2me

I realize some writers have a gift for description (so I'm told that's mine..), while others have a gift for dialog. I'm not one a member of the latter group.

Is there a book, exercise, anything you can think of that might help me create dialog that flows smoothly??

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"And in the din of midnight's passage the gunman walks remote---his pistol shot rents a thunderous lament beneath the hiss of the reaper's scythe." EMR

Thekherham

I have two books re: dialogue.
The first one is called, appropriately, Dialogue, and it is by Lewis Turco. published by Writer's Digest Books.

The second is, "Shut Up!" He Explained. A Writer's Guide to the Uses and Misuses of Dialogue, by William Noble. The publisher is Paul S. Eriksson.

Hope that is helpful.

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Talia_Brie

Read some Hemmingway, that's the advice I always give people who need help on dialogue. He was a genius at it.

As an exercise the simplest and most effective is to read your lines of dialogue out loud. You'll hear the characters speaking and that will give you an idea of the effectiveness of what you've written.

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Queasy Dillo

Hmm...dialogue takes a hit.

**pokes Talia Brie with a stick**

Ah, sweet revenge!

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autumn_whispers2me

Hemmingway! Ahhh, you're so right! The Old Man and the Sea. I've not thought about that one in several years. I do read the dialog out loud, and sometimes it sounds right... sometimes. lol Today my characters really sounded pretty dim-witted.

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"And in the din of midnight's passage the gunman walks remote---his pistol shot rents a thunderous lament beneath the hiss of the reaper's scythe." EMR

daniela

I wrote a quick section on dialogue for the WF Bible in Writing Tips & Advice. I included some links with it that you may find helpful. My personal favourite is 12 Exercises for Improving Dialogue by John Hewitt.

--DM--

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autumn_whispers2me

thanks, Daniella. I'm going to look for that this weekend. I assume it's sold in stores like BAM and B&N ?

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"And in the din of midnight's passage the gunman walks remote---his pistol shot rents a thunderous lament beneath the hiss of the reaper's scythe." EMR

daniela

Sorry for the confusion, but that is not a book. It is an article about twelve exercises that can help you improve your dialogue. I haven't found a book about dialogue that I like yet.

When I first started writing seriously I looked at a grammar book to make sure that I had the technical aspects of dialogue right and then I went on from there. What really helped me was that I have always been an avid reader. I pay attention to what both good and bad authors do in their novels and then I experiment on my own.

--DM--

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"When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable." - Mark Twain

Talia_Brie

Cheeky vermin

You know, theres a reason they call Dillos pests.

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Queasy Dillo

Damn straight.

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You have not yet begun to scratch the surface of my depravity.

mammamaia

hemingway [one 'm'] isn't the best model for good dialog, imo... there are many others who are/were much better at it...

i don't believe any how-to book can teach you how to do dialog well... the only books that can, are novels by the best writers of any age... not the most popular, but the BEST... find three that are similar to what you want to write and study how they do it... then, just practice till you find your own 'voice'...

hugs, maia

ps: see other thread in this section on dialog... it's too bad this can't be combined with that one, to save us all having to say the same things twice... maybe a moderator can accomplish that miracle?

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autumn_whispers2me

I read all the time. There was one author I read once, and I'm trying to remember her name, who was SUCH a genius with dialog. Kay something or other.

Maia, thanks for the tip. Koontz comes to mind at the moment (one of my faves).

Daniella, I'll check out those links!

As for Hemingway being spelled incorrectly---I meant to do that. Yeah, that's it. No really I did!

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"And in the din of midnight's passage the gunman walks remote---his pistol shot rents a thunderous lament beneath the hiss of the reaper's scythe." EMR