Tag: characterization in fiction

9 Ways to Improve Your Dialogue

Dialogue is responsible for not only conveying the plot, but it also helps us understand the characters and get to know them, love them, hate them, whatever.

Two Dialogue Death Sentences & How to Get a Stay-of-Execution

As an editor, I can attest that this is one of the BIGGEST problem areas for the new writer. Dialogue can often sound stiff, like two kids playing with Barbies or fighting with action figures. Or, they can become “talking heads” who all sound the same.

"Write What You Know" and What That Means

Plot and world-building are merely delivery systems for conflict and character—real “human” emotions and experiences. If we write something that’s all car chases, vampire bites and geeky technology we’ve invented, the story will be uninteresting and superficial. I see this a lot on submissions. A writer gets so fascinated with dragons or terrorists or aliens that the body of the work lacks a beating human heart.