It's a Noun, It's a Verb . . . It's Di-a-logue

Dialogue: now there's a word that strikes fear into the hearts of fiction writers - well maybe not all fiction writers, but a lot of them, and me for sure.

I'm talking about dialogue as a noun. "Wow! That's realistic dialogue you used in your story," not as a verb as in "Let's dialogue about that." In contests I've judged, some writers have a good ear for dialogue, others struggle. I took me awhile to write dialogue that sounds like a real conversation, but I think I've finally grasped the concept and recognize good dialogue.

The other day I was excited to read a post on Janet Fitch's blog, "A Few Thoughts About Dialogue." I've read a lot of advice about writing dialogue, but one of Janet's comments hit me like a bolt of lightning. Sorry for the cliche, but I have lightning on my mind after the thunderstorm that whipped through this morning around three a.m. and caused me to bolt from my bed.

Back to dialogue. Here's what caught my attention: "Dialogue is only for conflict." That makes total sense. Other helpful suggestions from Janet are: keep it short, no meet and greet, and gestures are as important as what is said. Click here to read the complete post.

Other cool features on Janet's blog are her word stories and exercises, where she creates short, short stories using a word as a prompt. Very creative and challenging! Check it out and be amazed.

P.S. Tomorrow I will have a post from a guest blogger. Cindy Allen is a poet, a pilot, a polo player, and a pioneer. She is a board member of Saturday Writers who judged one of our monthly contests using a strawberry pie recipe. So, I hope you'll visit tomorrow to see what Cindy has to say.

P.P. S. The Cards redeemed themselves by winning 8-3 last night, so I'm in a double good mood today. Since they scored at least six runs it means drinks for a quarter at Mobil on the Run. The grandkiddos love their slushies!