One of my greatest strengths as a writer and greatest weaknesses, is dialogue. Within my local writing group, everyone knows that Day is the one who can write “real” dialogue or Day has some great funny lines for characters in her comedies. That is the strength side. But dialogue isn’t just characters talking or telling us what is going on. Dialogue should move the story forward, that is clear, but it is more than that. I had an epiphany recently. Dialogue, good dialogue actually does TWO things – It moves the plot forward, but also tells us about the speaker. What that means, is that every line of dialogue should express character. If another character in your writing project could say the same line or joke, then it isn’t good dialogue. And it isn’t just comedy. It’s the same for drama or romance or even horror . Every line spoken should throw a light on the personality of a character. And then suddenly, your dialogue isn’t just people talking anymore.
Audio File: Coming Soon
Tags: character, dialogue, plot
