Monday, November 17, 2014

Good Advice for Writing Dialogue

I've written a fair number of books by now.  Nevertheless, there are days I turn to my library of writing books for advice if I'm stuck, or just a little refresher.  

Recently, I was taking a look at BEYOND STYLE: MASTERING THE FINER POINTS OF WRITING by Gary Provost and encountered a piece of advice that really struck me, about writing dialogue.  

"Look at the dialogue you have written and ask yourself, 'If a stranger were nearby, would she try to eavesdrop on this conversation?'"

I think asking yourself "Would somebody want to eavesdrop on this conversation?" is pretty darn fine advice.  I'll be asking myself this question a lot now that I'm ready to get to work on the second draft of the work-in-progress.






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