Improving Dialogue in Your Writing

I came across The Write Life’s article on 8 Tips for Writing Dialogue.   Writing dialogue is extremely important. Have you ever read a book and something seemed off when the characters talked with each other? Was it stiff? Was it too flowery? Or just plain weird? Bad dialogue can make or break a book. Here are some ways to improve how you write dialogue in your books.

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One of the most important things in writing good dialogue is varying your characters voices. All of your characters shouldn’t sound the same. A teenage boy won’t talk like an elderly woman. There has to be distinct tones in how characters talk.

“A good way of introducing some variety is to give each character a unique vocabulary that they alone draw from. Although try to avoid clichés and stereotypes — Professor Conrad doesn’t need to speak entirely in four-syllable words for us to realise he’s an academic.” 

Listen to real life conversations and take note of how people talk. People have different vocabularies and speech patterns. You can use these as inspirations for your own characters.

Contrary to popular belief, using “said” is better than overdoing it.

When I see speech tags like “guffawed,” “gruffed,” and “shrieked,” they’re cut ruthlessly and replaced with old reliable “said.”

The Write Life also suggests to read your dialogue out loud. If it sounds weird when you are actually saying it, then maybe you should adjust the wording. Also sharing and seeking advice on this can give you an outsider’s perspective on your dialogue. Happy Writing!

 

Pros and Cons of Self Publishing

Every young writer has a dream of becoming published. However; the publishing process can be pretty daunting and tough. With the rise of online book stores, such as Amazon Kindle, there has also been a spike in writers who are self published. I wondered if self publishing was easier and if it was something I could do. I looked up the pros and cons of self publishing and this is what I found.

Pros:

According to Writers’ Digest, publication is almost instant with self publishing. It’s very easy to break into and you are paid once a month. Self published writers also get to determine their own price.

Cons:

The number one con to self publishing to me is the lack of an editor. Books need to have a professional editor check over before it goes off to publication. Without having an editor, self published books often have grammatical errors and can be overall bad with no supervision. Self publishing also comes with the risk of having fewer sales.

Overall, I think self publishing can be good. It may work for some people and be wrong for others. I think if anyone is thinking of self publishing, they should hire a professional editor to ensure the book is free of errors. Would I ever consider self publishing? I think so. I believe self publishing would be a good learning experience for any writer.

The importance of diversity in writing

A hot topic in writing lately is the lack of diversity and inclusion in novels. Many books barely have characters that are poc (people of color) LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) or disabled. Even rarer is hat these characters are protagonists.

Many people ask “Why is it so important for books to have these characters?’ Readers identify with the characters they read about. Growing up I remember most of the protagonists being white, heterosexual, and able-bodied. It was hard to identify with them. None of the characters I read most about were like me. As a child I did not know heroes could be black girls or gay or disabled. It creates this mindset in readers that heroes can only look a certain way.

Another question I hear when people bring up diversity in books is “Why don’t you just write your own books?” My answer is simple: We do. Most writers who are poc and/or LGBTQ+ often fall outside the ranks of mainstream books. We are writing our own stories and characters, but our platform to showcase these characters are not as big. That is why we urge popular writers to include these characters to show their readers that heroes and heroines can come in all races, backgrounds, sexual identities, etc.

As creative writers we must be mindful of audience and make sure they feel satisfied with our content. One step towards equality in writing is to be more inclusive, and I think we are slowly getting there.

 

5 Tips on Becoming a Better Writer

Writing is something I feel I can always improve at. Sometimes writing block can take a toll on me or I feel unsatisfied with my writing. Whenever I do feel this way, I always go and find perspectives of other writers on how to get better at writing. Here are 5 of the most helpful tips I’ve found online.

1.) Do it Daily

As writer Amit Goyal says “To be a good writer is to start writing everyday..” Writing even just a page a day can help to improve writing.

2.) Write down notes

Keeping notes is very helpful. I personally like to keep a notebook on me at all times. Not only is writing down your own thoughts and ideas good, but also paying attention and taking notes within your environment can help to inspire creativity.

3.) READ

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time — or the tools — to write. Simple as that”. – Stephen King

4.) Don’t be too cliche

Writer’s Digest suggests to avoid overbearing themes in writing. “Rather than building your story around a theme (love, forgiveness, freedom) or advice (“Follow your dreams”) or a cliché (“Time heals all wounds”), drive your narrative forward through tension and moral dilemmas.”

5.) Share your writing

Reading our own works, we may not see our own mistakes. Sharing it with others or even an audience helps writers to see things from others’ perspective. Joining a workshop is especially helpful.  “By joining one of these groups, you’ll get a variety of criticisms on your own writing.” Criticism can help you to improve overall.

I plan on using these tips to become a better writer. As I said before writers can always improve and seeking help from other writers is always a plus.

What I write about

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I write creative fiction as well as do news articles for a newspaper.

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I started writing creative fiction when I was little. My first story I wrote (or rather used torn out pieces of note-book paper and scribbled on them) was about a girl befriending a pirate. As I got older, my writings continued to stay within the fantasy genre. I mainly wrote about knights and creatures from mythology.

It wasn’t until I was 20 that I became interested in writing stories based on real life or “slice of life” writings. Though they were still fiction, my writings focused on the lives of regular people.

When I came to ABAC I joined the Stallion newspaper on campus. Up until then I had never done any informative journalism as my high school did not have a newspaper. It was definitely a change from my fiction writings, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Today I do both types. I write for the Stallion as a job, and I write creative fiction in my spare time. I hope to publish some of my fiction someday and continue to keep people informed too.

Print and online books

Where do you go to find books? When I was younger, I would get most of my books at Books-A-Million or even through book fairs at school. Online services like Amazon Kindle make it so that people can have access to millions of books with just one click. Even brick and mortar bookstores like Barnes and Noble have online sites.

If you are looking for physical copies of books you may be able to find local bookstores. Tifton has The Wall of Books.  Valdosta has a Books-A-Million and even a comic book shop: Kool Comics. Of course these are not the only bookstores in Tifton and Valdosta.

I personally use Amazon Kindle to read most books nowadays, but there is something special about holding a book in my hands. The good thing about having books online is that we have so much more available to us than ever before. Both are good options and I hope that we all continue to use both in the future.

Writing in the rural

Environments can have a huge impact on writers. How do writers cope when they live in rural areas?

Rural places have a low population and often lack the amenities large cities have to offer. Rural writers have to find a way to keep up with today’s culture and technology, but also draw from their natural roots. I have noticed that there are many groups and associations for Georgia writers to join. These groups can be found right in town or online. Many of the writers in these groups acknowledge that writing in smaller areas can be challenging, but rewarding. They often take inspiration from their environment and include it in their writings.

A friend of mines introduced me to the South Georgia Writer’s Guild. This group of writers hold monthly meetings in Tifton and has members from various backgrounds and places. The members in this group write for a number of genres, and the membership is free.  They host live events as well as online discussions. I think this is a great way for writers who find it hard to connect with other creators when they live in small places. I definitely plan on joining the South Georgia Writer’s guild, and I hope to befriend other writers that live nearby me. You can learn more about the South Georgia’s Writers Guild here.