Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Can You Hear Me Now?




Writing great dialogue is a terrific talent. But few people start out that dexterous with it. So honing that skill will stand a writer in great stead.

I've given workshops on dialogue, and a few excellent tips for making sure you write it to the best possible effect for your story?

Listen.

To the actors in film and television. How do the different "types" sound? Heroes? Heroines? Villains? Especially for someone like me, who may want to right, say a kid character, but I have no kids around me. What are the cinematic writers offering up in the way of dialogue? How do they distinguish "characters"?

Read.

Read plays (dramatic literature). They run solely on dialogue - everything that must be conveyed is done via the dialogue (and staging, of course, but primarily the dialogue). It moves the plot and the action forward, conveys character emotions and details, and is a great way to see how potent dialogue can be. I've heard that Shakespeare used a lot of "s" words in his dialogue for his villains, like Iago and Richard III, giving them that reptilian "SSSSS" sound to enhance the image of their villainy for the audience.

Eavesdrop.

On everyone around you. Family, friends, co-workers, strangers. Listen for accents, speech patterns, cadence, pitch, speech problems. How people talk in different environments (most everyone speaks differently with their parents than their lover - at least I hope so! - and differently when with their friends at a bar than their bosses). How do emotions impact how people speak? Faster, louder, more terse?

Do men and women utilize their dialogue differently? How do people argue? Listen to a man try to soothe a woman's ruffled feathers. Or a mother calm a child. Or a police officer deal with a troublemaker.

When people read, barring those who have deafness or hearing issues, they "hear" the words your characters are speaking. So the choppy sound, the hissing sound, the smooth, languid tones, the violent angry outbursts - they will hear it all. Give them lots to listen to, use dialogue as a means not just of conveying details about the story, but helping to flesh out your characters.

Dialogue is all around you. And the tuition is free! Just keep your ears open.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

A Writer's Most Important Tool Is ...



Her imagination. Creative spirit. How is yours doing? Do you cultivate it? Do you ask "what if?"? Do you look at people and wonder about their lives, their worlds? Do you watch clouds go by and see great imaginary creatures? Do you see pictures in your mind when you hear music?

Try an experiment. Or, rather, make it a daily routine. Consider it rather like a multi-vitamin for your writer's mind.

Use your imagination. Look around you the next time you are on the bus, or riding in the car, or wandering the aisles of the supermarket. When you see a person, or a place, wonder about it. Try to imagine it as completely different from what it seems.

That warehouse looks ordinary. But what COULD it be?

Could it be a warehouse for larger than life tin soldiers? Or a hiding place for some lost boys?

That elderly gentleman looks harmless. But are secret plans to take over the world unfolding in the mind of that oh-so-benign looking man? Are lusty scenarios being concoted in that bland young girl staring into space in the next seat?

Is the fella sitting next to you an accountant, or an alien?

Is the woman selecting canned peas a foreign spy?

Use your imagination.

It will only get better.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Come On My Learning Journey, Writers!




I'll be blunt. When it comes to vocabulary, I'm quite the maven. Spelling - excellent. Dialogue, character development, voice - I'm definitely ON.



But when it comes to some of the other nuts and bolts that are the basic building blocks of a writer's craft, well, not always up to snuff am I.




Grammar and usage - I usually have it pretty close simply because it looks right and my obsessive love of reading means that I've been seeing all this stuff on the page for 5 decades. Ask me to diagram a sentence, explain past participles, parse past imperfect tense or wax intelligently about the hero's arc or theme and well, I'm lagging behind.



So I decided I'm going to bone up. Hone my skills. Learn all the rules and regulations so that I can break them judiciously and to best effect in my writing. Polish my techniques and investigate the points of craft on which I am weak, so as to guarantee my stories are strong.




I'm going to be diving into Strunk & White's world. Chicago Manual of Style - I'm am so THERE. Eats, Shoots & Leaves will be my constant companion. And I'm going to dig into all the creative writing texts and reference manuals I've acquired and I'm going to learn this stuff if it kills me!




And for the observer, my education will no doubt be an amusing bit of entertainment. Drop on by. Watch my gaffes, learn from my mistakes, and when I'm "ON", feel free to cheer. I love a good huzzah - but there will no doubt be the Bronx Cheers, too.





Welcome to The Writer's Toolbox. Where the tools of our craft will be all spiffed and shined up and put to good use.