And good morning to all of you!
How are you today? Ready for a day of wonder and altered reality? Are you ready to inspire or inform?
Thanks for taking a few minutes from your busy day to visit me. I hope you find something worthwhile among my little tips and suggestions today.
Today’s topic is effective dialogue.
TIP OF THE DAY
Take a moment to read the quote of the day right below this section and then we’ll chat.
Are you ready?
Dialogue must come alive. It must leap off of the page and engage the reader. It must flow.
One of the tricks I learned awhile back was to read the dialogue aloud with another person, so it actually sounds like a conversation. If, after the reading, you are left wanting more, then you need to re-write the dialogue.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Dialogue is not just quotation. It is grimaces, pauses, adjustments of blouse buttons, doodles on a napkin, and crossings of legs.” ~Jerome Stern, Making Shapely Fiction, 1991
I again refer to one of my favorite mystery writers, James Lee Burke. His dialogue crackles on the page. He writes of life in Louisiana and I swear I feel like I am right there in New Iberia Parish listening to two crackers have a talk while chewing Red Man. He is that effective.
BOOK OF THE DAY
The Bible of the writing industry, The Writer’s Market, just came out with its 2014 edition. Follow this link to find it on Amazon.
Why do I recommend this book? Well, it has a complete listing of all publishers and agents in the United States. It also has a listing of all periodicals in this country, and helpful guides that will aid you in your writing. You will find submission guidelines for every publication as well as tutorials on how to write an effect query letter and other topics.
If you are a writer and you are serious about trying to get published, then this book is a must to own.
POET OF THE DAY
Say hello to Audrey. You can find her beautiful poetry on her blog here.
Now anyone who knows me knows that poetry is not my first love, so I am saying quite a bit when I tell you that Audrey writes poetry that I look forward to reading. J
PROMPT OF THE DAY
Yes indeed, here it is and now, what do you see? What do you think about when you look at this picture? Does it remind you of anything from the past? Any emotions?
MORE TOMORROW
Indeed there will be more tomorrow. I’m going to keep doing this five days a week until my work load won’t allow it. Judging from the number of views so far, it is obvious that a few people are enjoying it and getting something out of it, so as long as that is the case I will keep giving it to you five days per week.
Have a great day of writing and thank you for stopping by.
Bill
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 