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Write better dialogue by asking these questions: Editor's Notes #263 June 13, 2018

Hello, "Good writers may 'tell' about almost anything in fiction except the characters' feelings. One may tell the reader that the character went to a private school (one need not show a scene at the private school if the scene has no importance for the rest of the narrative), or one may tell the reader that the character hates spaghetti; but with rare exceptions the characters' feelings must be demonstrated: fear, love, excitement, doubt, embarrassment, despair become real only when they take the form of events--action (or gesture), dialogue, or physical reaction to setting. Detail is the lifeblood of fiction." —John Gardner In this issue: 1. Questions to ask of dialogue 2. Tickled my funny bone 3. Interesting Web site 4. Writing prompt 5. Letters to the editor 1. Questions to ask of dialogue Dialogue serves many purposes. Use the questions here to be sure yours is doing the work it needs to do. Why? Why do you need this piece of dialogue? The main reasons for dialogue are plot and character development. A third use is to give information. Keep the informational dialogue to a bare minimum. It often comes across as boring. When possible, give the information in some other form. Who? Who are your characters? Know them deeply in all their complexity. The better you know them, the clearer their voices are on the page. What? What do your characters sound like? What are their personal speaking characteristics? What parts of the conversation do you actually need? Finally, what parts of the character’s speech do you need? If a person speaks with a specific dialect, that is usually better shown through grammar than phonetics. Use a light hand here. When? When are the characters speaking? Dialogue often comes across better if the characters are doing something as they talk. Shelling peas? Summiting a peak? Washing dishes? Shooting a UFO out of the sky? Where? Is the setting important? If so, weave it into the dialogue or introduce the setting up front. Don’t wait until the dialogue is over to tell the reader that where it happened is important. Here’s an editing tip for you. Once your text if finished, do a Find for the " character. That will give you every opening quotation, or it should. Then each time you find a new piece of dialogue, run through these questions and adjust as necessary. One of the most common grammatical errors I find is in punctuating dialogue. People who have the problem in a sample edit receive a Tip Sheet that explains the basics. This is only one of the services I offer through the sample edit available at https://www.writershelper.com/sample-edit.html =========== 2.Tickled my funnybone They begin the evening news with "Good Evening," then proceed to tell you why it isn’t. =========== 3. Interesting Web site The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour honours one of Canada’s great humorists and its list of winners provides decades of giggles and outright guffaws. The 2018 winner was announced this past weekend, and I highly recommend the list of previous winners to anyone who needs to relax with a high quality book of humour. http://www.leacock.ca =========== 4. Writing prompt Choose two to four people you know well, emphasis on well. Imagine a situation in which they have to solve a problem together (where to eat, who will speak at a funeral, how to conceal the body, anything you can imagine). Write some dialogue to show how they resolve the situation. Or will they resolve it at all? Since you know these people well, you should be able to write their voices accurately. Use anything you learn through doing this to write better dialogue in your other writing. I’d love to see your result. =========== 5. Letters to the editor Audrey, I liked your quote from Shaw, but I seem to recall that Churchill had a riposte along the following lines. "Can't make the first night. Will come to the second, if you have one!" Bill Bain Note from Audrey: If you missed the quote from Shaw in the last issue, you can see it at https://www.writershelper.com/Editors_Notes-backissues.html =========== Join Writer's Helper Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WritersHelperEditor Follow me on Twitter @AudreytheEditor Link on LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/audreyowen (Email me first so I know how you know me.) =========== If you know a writer who would appreciate receiving Editor's Notes, forward this issue. If someone has passed this on to you, you can get your own free subscription by signing up at https://www.writershelper.com/newsletter.html

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