Guybrush

Recently, I've been trying to get into a good writing style and it seems to me that one primary problem I'm having with my writing is my dialogue. It seems that other aspects are OK for a beginner, but my dialogue...is just downright terrible. Does anybody have any suggestions on improving it? I've read the section on Dialogue at 'Advice on Novel Writing by Crawford Kilian' but does anyone know of any other resources that give tips for writing dialogue other than the one mentioned above? Thanks in advance for any help!

aliceedelweiss

I haven't read through this whole article, but some of it, and its about creating dialog and all...it might be good. It's pretty long though:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/getwriting/module7p

another good tip: read till your eyes fall out. read anything and everything.

Heres a good book to learn how to write fiction in general. I have it and it's been a tremendous help. After reading it I advanced to a whole new step

http://www.writingclasses.com/Produc...ublicationID/1

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mammamaia

alice said it best... 'read till your eyes fall out!'

constant reading of the best work of the best [not the most popular] writers is the only way you can learn how to write well...

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bob rulz

I asked this same question a few months ago and it turned into a very helpful, four-page discussion. Check it out: http://www.writingforums.com/showthread.php?t=53392 I have it on my favorites list so I can check it from time to time.

suzakugaiden

Actually improving dialogue seems rather hard to do. It's sort of a "you either get it or you don't" thing. That's not to say that you CAN'T get better at it, but mostly that the forces of change for improving are completely arbitrary and can come from a lot of things.

Reading's probably the best bet. Reading a book that tells you HOW to write dialogue, on the other hand, will probably completely ruin your chances of ever writing good dialogue.