Dialogue and You by Aline de Chevigny

I’ve thought about what I should blog about for weeks. So I warn you now, I’m not very good at this. LOL After much consideration I decided to discuss dialogue and description.

I know a lot of authors who have difficulty with dialogue, they stress over it. Agonize over every word their characters utter. I never do. Why you ask? That’s easy, I see the story through dialogue. It’s the description I agonize over LOL

If you’ve ever been my critique partner, you’d know that my first draft of any story is illegible to anyone but me. Only I can tell who’s talking to who and why they’re saying the things they do. Hey but that works for me, everyone finds their own personal writing style. Once my dialogue is in place, I can add the description and fill in the holes.

Ok now for the advice hehe. Write what you know. When you create characters try to make their dialogue flow by basing your characters speech patterns on people you know until you feel comfortable creating dialogue out of thin air. Go to a crowded restaurant, or food court and people watch. Study people on the subway or the bus while on your way to and from work. You’ll notice people talk differently in the morning, then at night and that will help you determine how your characters speak.

Again, do what feels comfortable to you and the rest will come.

Aline de Chevigny