Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Wednesday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts


By: Jody Hedlund, @JodyHedlund

Whenever I critique manuscripts or judge for contests, I always pay particular attention dialogue techniques. Dialogue can say a lot about the skill and maturity level of a writer. In fact, really good dialogue can draw me into a story faster than anything else.

As I thought about the kinds of things I like to see in dialogue (and as a reminder to myself of how to write my own dialogue), I came up with seven dialogue basics. They’re NOT hard, fast rules, but more like good principles we can apply in order to tighten our stories.

1.  Don’t over-address characters in the dialogue.

Over-addressing people makes dialog sound stilted.

“Mother, won’t you please pass me the salt.”

“Oh, thank you, Mother.”

“Mother, you’re such a dear. I just couldn’t live without you, Mother.”

We don’t constantly address people in real life. And in our dialogue we need to be careful with how often our characters use each other’s names. Sometimes I throw in a name for dramatic effect or so that I can clarify to whom the person is speaking. But usually during editing I eliminate most (not all!) the names within dialogue that aren’t absolutely needed.

2.  Don’t forget to use contractions…

To read the rest of the post, click here:

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If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:
  • Insecure Writer's Support Group: Pick Up the Pace http://ow.ly/Sw2Ma
  • Got a Pen Name? You’re in Great Company – Now Here’s How to Market Your Books by Frances Caballo — The Book Designer http://ow.ly/Sw2Rc
  • Pub Hub: How to Break the Rules: Never Start With Backstory http://ow.ly/Sw2Vy
  • Riddle Me This* | Confessions of a Mystery Novelist... http://ow.ly/Sw321
  • Age, Surveys, And Income: The Authors Guild’s View | Thought Catalog http://ow.ly/Sw3iU
  • Five Things You Can Do To Improve Your Writing - Write Divas http://ow.ly/Sw3pI
  • Take Your Writing Outdoors: 9 Tips for Successfully Working Outside http://ow.ly/Sw3ub
  • How I Outline Plot (Using 6-Stage Plot Structure) by Nova Zero http://ow.ly/Sw47G
  • 5 Tips for Success as a Self-Published Author - WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™ http://ow.ly/Sw4xE
  • 20 Annoying Business and Marketing Buzzwords You Must Stop Using Immediately | Red Website Design Blog http://ow.ly/Sw4Is
  • 7 Pinterest Tools for Marketers Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/Sw4RA
  • Author, Jody Hedlund: Seven Dialogue Basics That Can Help Tighten Our Stories http://ow.ly/Sw5gg
  • Are You Able to Ask for Help? | Jami Gold, Paranormal Author http://t.co/RMx4LJRDXw
Happy writing and running, Kathy

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