I’ve had a busy Friday. I not only wrote about 800 words on Meg & Matt’s story, but also finally readied the talk I’m doing on dialogue at next Saturday’s NARWA meeting.
I know, I know. I’ve been procrastinating. A more conscientious person would have started preparing long ago. Actually, I did start gathering info on what makes great dialogue a couple of weeks ago. I just spent tonight finding examples from my writing to illustrate each point.
Here’s a sneak peek of the things I’ve determined make for great dialogue:
It moves the story along, intensifies characterization or both
It must be true to the character
It doesn’t necessarily sound like we talk in real life
It can include all the witty comments we don’t think of until it’s too late
Am I forgetting or missing anything? What do you guys think?