Since spring is almost here, I’m offering “Writing through the year – Winter” as a free gift till March 21. Let me know if you’d like a copy – I’ll send you a SW coupon or the mobi file for your kindle.

Here’s what it’s about: (more…)

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

We talk most of the time – except for when we’re not. The gift of language is part of our existence. We communicate with words far more often and easily than we do through writing or even through an expression like a glare or a smile. And yet much of the time, in conversation as in life, things are not what they seem. Words don’t necessarily mean what you think they do, or what they mean when you’re writing narrative prose. That’s because in dialog the words themselves are colored by the people who are using them. (more…)

Despite what you’ve been told, eavesdropping is a writer’s most valuable resource. For several days in a row write down a conversation that you overhear, without describing the people who are speaking. Use your ears, not your eyes, to imagine the speaker. Practice trying to remember phrases that are used. As you write them down, try to retain the personality in the words, the flow, and the purpose of the conversation, even if you have to make it up.

It helps to think of dialogue as just ordinary conversation – that has a purpose. Monologue is a conversation one has with oneself. Dialogue is a conversation one has with someone else. There are always at leat two people involved in a dialogue.

Your task as a writer is, through the voices having the conversation, to allow your readers to glean more about the characters, their relationships, and their intentions. Sometimes you can also use dialogue to move the action forward, or to reveal something by ‘showing not telling.’