Welcome to Twitter Treasure Thursday! So, one of my favorite things to write is dialogue. Simply put, it’s fun!
Plus, I find it easier to convey a story through a character’s words. For example, while writing my last story for the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge, I struggled getting the scenes in my head onto paper. About halfway through my first draft, I realized why: I only had one character. Therefore, I couldn’t rely on back and forth banter like I usually do. Instead, I had to–*gulp*–depend on longer, more detailed descriptives to convey what was happening.
Now, I’m fully aware many writers don’t share my love of dialogue. In fact, I know many struggle with it (just as I struggle with writing those darn descriptives). But fear not! While skimming Twitter this morning, I came upon this helpful article via K Grubb (@10minnovelist):
How To Write Good Dialogue: Ten Tips
5 – Read Out Loud
After writing a scene of dialogue, put it away for a while. Then go back and don’t just re-read it, read it out loud! That’s right: read it out at the speed and with the emotional tone you would as if you were the character speaking it. Reading your dialogue out loud helps you to hear if it works.
Whether you love writing dialogue or not, I recommend you check out the full list of tips here!
For more useful advice, follow K Grubb on Twitter!
Photo credits:
Jen's Pen Den 
Thanks for sharing this! I love dialogue and feel that it is such an important part of a story. I know this will be useful as I move forward writing. 🙂
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Reminds me of what I had to do in drama class by reading it out loud. From now on I’m going to act parts of these short stories out. 🙂
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I tend to read my stories out loud with my mom. She’ll read it out loud so I can hear it, and then I’ll read it out loud to hear it that way. We usually go back and forth until I’m satisfied with everything…I’ve found the method to be very helpful 🙂
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That sounds like a great plan. Maybe I’ll read them out loud to Toby. Maybe not! 🙂
Fingers crossed for good news from round two.
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I think you should. It’s amazing how a story sounds when you hear it out loud (especially when someone else reads it).
And thank you! It hit me last week the results were approaching–fast. Eeks!
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