One of the most common reasons manuscripts are rejected is because the author tells too much of the story.
Dialogue is action. It’s one of the best ways to show your story. Good dialogue can increase the pacing and engage your reader with your characters.
In this workshop we’ll look at the reasons to write dialogue. I’ll share tips for creating realistic sounding dialogue without actually writing realistic dialogue, which can bore the reader and slow the story.
We’ll also explore ways speech tags and action beats can enhance your dialogue. And finally, we’ll review the mechanics of dialogue and how the correct punctuation can transpose the voice inflections of your character from your head onto the page.
- Why We Write Dialogue
- Reveal Character
- Create Mood
- Create Tension
- Add Conflict
- Show Growth
- Reveal Back Story
- Include Information
- Increase Pacing
- How To Write Dialogue
- Writing Dialogue
- People All Sound Different
- Character Names
- Accents and Dialects
- Internal Dialogue
- Tags
- Speech Tags
- Action Beats
- Unattributed Dialogue
- The Grammar of Dialogue
- Quotations Marks
- Punctuation
- Italics
- Paragraphing
Instructor Bio:
Kathy Otten is the published author of multiple historical romance novels, novellas, and short stories. She is also published in contemporary romance and historical fiction. She is a Northwest Houston RWA Lone Star winner and Utah/Salt Lake RWA Hearts of the West finalist.
She teaches fiction writing online and at a local adult education center, and is a regular presenter at area events. Kathy also does manuscript development and editing. She lives in the rolling farmland of western New York where she can often be found walking her dog through the woods and fields. She has been married for thirty-eight years and is the mother of three grown children and grandmother of one.
Kathy can be contacted at kathy@kathyotten.com
Website: https://www.kathyottenauthor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kathyottenauthor