did you ever read stuff characters said where they just said “blah blah blah?” and you said YIKES! that was sooooo B-O-R-I-N-G!!! and then you thought what they said didnt add not one thing to the story. thats cause theyre blah blah birds. but i just gotta say its not their fault cause theyre just saying what their writer said they should say. for sure i dont want my characters to turn into blah blah birds.
so whys that dialogue stuff important anyway? its got two BIG things it could do for a story. it could get you knowing lots more about a character just from his words and it could be a big help for keeping the plot moving
“A few good lines of dialogue can reveal more about your characters than an entire page of description. Dialogue is one of your most powerful tools, so let it work for you. Use it to move your story along, show the readers what your characters are made of, and deepen the drama.” ellen potter (on my ps so you could know who she is) WOW how cool is that!
heres some neat stuff for helping do good dialogue
1. watch and listen to people
2. write so it reads like how people really talk but for sure take out the boring stuff
3. dialogue shouldnt give so much away that it messes up the flow of the story
4. break up dialogue with action stuff cause long dialogues could get boring for the reader
5. be careful on using labels and cuss words and slang stuff it could be a distract for the reader
theres lots more good stuff for doing good dialogues and im gonna do some more posts on it.
are your characters blah blah birds or do they say really neat unboring stuff that keeps your story moving?
…hugs from lenny
ps… lots of what i got on the post i learned from a book that miss dianne salerni gave and its called spilling ink a young writers handbook by anne mazer and ellen potter. thanks miss dianne!
and click here for a place i used thats got really good tips for doing good dialogue