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We're two weeks away from the anniversary and I'm so excited. I decided we should go with RogueWriter55's suggestion. (Thanks, Dee :D)
So, for WEEK 52, the assignment will be a bit different than usual. Hopefully, that'll give us the opportunity to get to know this community a little better :D
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On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your partner's dialogue? Does it flow naturally? Or does it seem off or scripted? Do the character's lines sound distinct on their own? Do they fit the character's personality?
We've had a large rotation of members over the past weeks. So, there's a lot of new ones (Hello!) This is why I'd like to touch up on past subjects. It'll be nice for the older members to get a refresher too! :D
Dialogue
Good dialogue is crucial to a great story. If you're going to write dialogue, we need to make sure it's top-notch :D
Good dialogue can: - Make your characters believable - Provide exposition - Make each character have a distinct voice - Move the story along
How do we write good dialogue? Well, here's some tips.
1. Avoid small talk. Though it might be common courtesy to start conversations with good mornings, and "How was your day?", yada-yada . . . it's not necessary to start every conversation in your book like this.
Not only does it cause a lag in the pacing, but it also doesn't say much about your characters. Make sure your introductions are distinct and innovative for each character.
2. Double-check your punctuation. When writing dialogue, there are a couple of basic punctuation rules you should always keep in mind.
You must always unite your dialogue line with your dialogue tag with a comma. Unless there's an exclamation (!) or question mark (?) in between. If there is, then the dialogue tag must still be lowercased.
For example: "Hey, Marley! Wait up!" the boy yelled at the top of his lungs.
Marley rolled her eyes before replying, "Well, hurry! I don't want to be late."
Please note dialogue tags are solely verbs related to the dialogue line (said, whispered, shouted, grunted, etc). Action verbs shouldn't be joined to the dialogue.
For example: The boy's feet pounded against the rainy pavement. When he finally caught up to her, he huffed out, "Why are you so mean all the time?"
Marley scowled. "I'm not mean. Shut up."
Here, "scowled" is not a verb related to the dialogue, that's why it is not joined by a comma.
3. Read your dialogue out loud This is the tried and true if you want to make sure your dialogue sounds natural.
If you read it out loud and it sounds off or weird, then it might need some revising.
Hopefully, these tips helped. If you need me to further explain anything, please let me know in the comments :)
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Remember that after reading and commenting on the 3 chapters of your fellow bookworm, you have to let me know you're finished, in the comment section of THIS chapter.
