Dialogue means writing down the way that people speak and communicate. Dialogue does several things in writing:
Dialogue can be tricky to write well. The best way to learn how to create believable dialogue is to be observant - listen to conversations, pay attention to how people speak, and jot down interesting remarks you overhear. Notice body language and facial expressions, too. Writers are always eavesdropping to get dialogue ideas!
My whole life, I've been a great eavesdropper! - George V. HigginsWhen writing dialogue, stay away from all those synonyms for "said" - the idea is to keep the reader inside the story, and reading a lot of "he spat," "she expostulated," or "intoned the old man" just jars the reader right out and makes them aware of the mechanics behind the story instead. Also, resist the temptation to add adverbs - "he said bitingly," "she sobbed heartbrokenly," - show any emotion in the way the characters speak, not in adverbs. And just use the word "said." It's short, everyone knows what it means, and the reader can skim right over it without breaking concentration. Look at these two examples and see which one seems smoother to you:
"Well, Bob," the scientist sneered bitingly," as you know, the experiment was a success, thus rendering you completely invisible, as you requested."
"But," Bob whined in an annoying voice, "I've read all about this sort of thing. You did something wrong!" "
Nonsense," the scientist scoffed. "What am I going to do now?"
Bob queried worriedly. "You didn't tell me even I wouldn't be able to see myself!"
OR"I don't see the need for panic, Bob," the scientist raised one eyebrow, but never looked up from his computer screen. He continued to rappidly enter data into the report. "I did explain the invisibility experiment to you quite thorougly. I'm certain we discussed this ... little problem. You didn't seem very concerned before we started, though I did mention that you might have difficulty."
"You don't understand!" Bob's footsteps tapped from one end of the lab to the other as he paced. "This never happened in any of the books I read! None of the superheroes ever had this problem!"
"I hardly think that comic books are a sound basis for scientific experimentation, Bob. You're going to have to come to grips with it, that's all."
"But what am I going to do? I was only supposed to be invisible to other people! You didn't tell me I would't be able to see myself either!"
Notice, also, that in the second example, I did not need to write "Bob said" or "the scientist said" every single time. If you note the actions of the speaker, then the "he said" is implied, and the reader can figure out who said what. Also, if the speaker calls the other character by name, it's obvious who is speaking, so you don't have to note it. You do need to note the speaker periodically - about every third line or so - in order to make certain the reader doesn't get confused. But you do not have to do it each time. In normal, back-and-forth conversation, the reader will be able to follow along most of the time without any problem.
Real conversation doesn't translate into believable dialogue. Listen to people talk, but shortcut what they've said when you write by cutting out 85 percent of the words they use. - Cynthia RiggsFollow the rules you learned for grammar, though. Double quotation marks for dialogue, with single quotes for anything the speaker is quoting another speaker within his/her speech.
"You'll never believe it," Rachel whispered, "but Stan actually said 'Stick it' to his horrible boss the other day!"
Notice that the comma or other punctuation goes inside the quotation marks, not outside. You can add other descriptions besides the dialogue into your chapters. In fact, showing some action is a good way to indicate the character's emotion and personality.
Each character needs to have an individual way of speaking, too. This is where your observations come in handy. Does your character use big words and speak in educated sentences, or does he grunt out broken fragments using short words? A Harvard graduate will speak and gesture quite differently from a high-school dropout who drives a taxicab. Watch out for stereotypes, however - some taxicab drivers are PhD students or closet intellectuals!
Writing Dialogue with More Than Two Speakers
Many scenes in your story will involve more than just two people talking. There's no problem adding more speakers - just be sure that you are very clear about who is talking on each line. You'll probably want to sprinkle a few more "Bill said," and "Alice said," indicators into the section so that the reader doesn't get lost, but otherwise, it's exactly the same as writing a conversation between two characters.
Here's a good example to show you what I mean -- you'll notice that I've done everything I suggested above (except plan it out in advance, because I'm using two characters that I "know" very well inside my head!)
Jess closed the door and slouched against the wall. "That man is going to drive me crazy!"
Kye sprawled onto the sofa. "I dunno. Kirkham's not that bad. He's just a little ...."
"Obsessed. That's what he is. I'm going to murder him."
"No, you ain't. What you're gonna do is ignore him. Let him run around like a squirrel in a trap worrying about how the job's gonna work out. You and me will stay calm and get it done."
Jess ran a hand through his hair. "Can I at least rough him up a little?"
Well, I used to have lots of pieces of advice for writers, and these days, I've whittled them down to two pieces of advice. Which are, (1) if you're going to be a writer, you have to write. (2) You have to finish things. Beyond that, I suspect all is detail, but I would add to that, that having written it and finished it, you should send it off to somewhere that might publish it, and not get discouraged if it comes back.
Neil Gaiman
Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. Hopefully, you already have your story idea(s) - here are some tips to help you develop these ideas.
- Olin Miller
Another OpinionYou must decide whether this story will be "character-driven" or "Plot-driven" - where will the emphasis be placed, on what happens, or on the character's growth - emotional, physical, spiritual, etc.?Type your idea into your word processing program, with all the details you have now. When you reach your writing goal for the day, stop, but do the same thing the next day, and the next, every time something occurs to you. Keep going this way until you seem to have come to an end, or the main problem is resolved. (There must be a problem, of course, or there's no story).
Explore this idea fully to make sure it is good enough to inspire and sustain you through 90-100,000 words. There's a lot of work to writing a book!
Write, write, write! Set aside a block of time that fits your schedule, and stick to it faithfully .... It's easy to find excuses not to write - successful authors don't give in to such excuses.
- Bill Pronzoni
Here are more opinions and answers from other contributors:- Carly Phillips
All the advice above is good advice. There is no easy, short answer. But here goes:
"Don't listen to any advice, that's what I'd say. Write only what you want to write. Please yourself. YOU are the genius, they're not. Especially don't listen to people (such as publishers) who think that you need to write what readers say they want. Readers don't always know what they want. I don't know what I want to read until I go into a bookshop and look around at the books other people have written, and the books I enjoy reading most are books I would never in a million years have thought of myself. So the only thing you need to do is forget about pleasing other people, and aim to please yourself alone." ~Phillip Pullman
You have to decide where your imagination wants to take you with your writing. If you want to write non fiction then pick a subject you know about (or at least research it). I went to a writing college and it helped a lot and was fun. I met all sorts of interesting people and we exchanged ideas. You don't have to go to school in order to write a good story, though. Most writers don't take writing classes at all.
In order to make a story interesting, you have to have two things:
Good Detail - do your research and be able to describe the scenes, people, dialogue, and actions effectively. This also means correctly, because if you are sloppy with your research and get facts wrong, your readers will not buy your next book. Emotion - good writing is emotional writing. You have to be able to write about emotions so that the reader feels them along with your characters. Invent characters who are believable and likable, not superheroes who have no faults and are stunningly beautiful and genius-level intelligent!
More from our Wiki Contributors:
Jean Ure came to visit my school and she advised writing about things that happen everyday. She kept a diary over the years and has looked back through it to give her ideas. Writers are observant. If you pay attention to the world around you, you will find many ideas for stories, as well as examples of conversation and behavior for your characters. The actual writing process is basically what you've learned in your grammar classes at school. Use correct spelling and punctuation, too, and not "netspeak" - editors won't pay attention to anything that you have written carelessly and improperly.
One good way to get started is to imagine that you're talking. Just pretend you're telling a story to one of your friends, and instead of speaking, write. To write a good story think about what you want it to be about. Then try to stay on topic. Don't constantly change the subject.
Well, for starters, the story has to be 'you'. If the story is not 'you', you didn't write it.
Making it as real to the style as possible, Biographies should never be unauthorized, and stories about flying witches should never have 'How to bake cakes' on the the front cover. Also make it appeal to the masses if you want it to be successful. "One day a boy went to the park and met a dog" should never be read by a 30 year old.
How to write an excellent, exciting, tense story. To write an excellent, exciting, tense, story you should try and use your imagination. If people say you are a rubbish writer don't let it knock your confidence, everyone has an imagination and you just have to find it. To make an exciting story put interesting adjectives in. To make a tense story you slowly tell the story, letting little hints and clues out, this will make the reader want to continue reading the story. Plus, if you get a good paragraph together (this could be a starting paragraph) build your ideas from there. If you have a good idea write it down quickly on a piece of paper before you forget it.
For fiction people say to write about what you know, when you're first starting out. Instead write about what you don't know. Explore the subject and everything that branches off from it, research what you might need to know as you go along, but you don't always need to know what you're writing about. Sometimes it's best to let yourself just make things up as you go along, it makes the story yours, and it makes writing it and reading it exciting.
Fiction is a story that is not true. In order to write a good fictional story, find out what genre you would like to write about. (Mystery, Science-Fiction, etc) Next, figure out what you want to write about, in that genre. (Science Fiction-- what should I write about in this genre?) This step is the hardest. Once you have figured out what you want to write about-write! Make a rough draft. Next, revise, revise, revise! (You guessed it, revise again!) Until you have a clean, fluent, and exciting story!
Terry McMillan's Advice to Aspiring Writers Write as if no one is ever going to read it. Try not to read, revise or rewrite what you've written until you've had a chance to let it simmer. Don't believe your family, friends or lovers when they tell you: "It's great!" What else are they going to say? Try not to think of an idea for a good story. In fact, leave your brain out of it. Write about what frightens you. What you find perplexing. Disturbing. What breaks your heart. And what you wish you could change. Write as if you're telling a story to an old friend you haven't seen in years. It's one way to find your own voice. Read work by writers that you respect and admire. Just don't try to imitate them. You want your reader to see what's on the page, not read the words, so paint a moving picture. Don't compare what you're writing to published authors. They were once in your shoes. Remember that a story is about someone who wants something and someone is preventing them from getting it. Whatever that might be. All of us have flaws. Pass some of yours on to your characters! You want your reader to care about your characters, worry about them and hope they can get out of whatever mess you put them in. You have to have conflict in your story. Even Fairy Tales and Cartoons have them. Even if your early work gets rejected, don't beat yourself up. It doesn't mean your work isn't good. It may not be ready yet. If you feel the same after you finish writing something as you did when you started, you've wasted your time. Fiction is a way of making a lie believable. Write the kind of story you'd like to read. Read everything you write aloud. Pets make great listeners. They don't judge. Don't forget that a story should be life affirming. There's enough negativity in the world as it is. Tell the story from your character's point of view instead of yours.
I'm going to assume that you're interested in fiction and in having your book published by a publishing house like Random House, Putnam, etc.
The basic steps are fairly simple. First and foremost, you write a really, really good novel. Today, publishers only buy fiction from first-time authors after the manuscript is complete.
Normally, once the manuscript is finished, you shop around for an agent. Agents are insiders who know everyone in the publishing industry, and know exactly what kind of novel each editor is looking for. When you send in your own novel, it sits in a "slush pile" for about a year before anyone pays attention to it. When an agent sends it in, the editor reads it right away. (Some people skip this step and take their chances with the slush pile.)
Once you have an agent, he or she will send your novel to several editors until someone likes it, and buys it. At that point you'll sign a contract with the publisher. You normally receive some money up front, some when the final manuscript is accepted, and some when the book is actually published. Normally the agent will receive 10% to 20% of your payments, as a commission for selling the book.
You make any changes in the manuscript that the editor requests. Once the book is printed on galleys, you'll also need to proofread it. If you're lucky, you'll be asked to make appearances to promote your book.
You hear lots of scare stories about writing: At any given time, there are 200,000 people in the U.S. writing a first novel, but only about 2,000 first novels published each year. The average first novel takes 18 months to write, and earns $7,500 for the writer. But, there are people who make their living writing books, and you'll never know until you try.
Writing ideas are sprinkled around
the doctor's office, seated at the
family's get-together table, paraded
in-out of malls, and splashed
everywhere on the streets of your
state.
Be prepared to capture writing ideas.
Carry a pad, pen, recorder, or text
yourself enough of the idea to later
write about it.
Make a note of the idea as soon as
it appears. Don't wait. Memories fade.
It'll be impossible to retrieve the
original writing idea.
"I've been waiting too long to see
the doctor!" Someone blurted at a
crowded doctor's office.
Writing ideas exist in those words.
Take a look.
The first idea surrounds a lady who
forgot to take her medicine. She hops
up, demands to see a doctor.
The office staff tries to calm her.
The doctor bursts through the door
with a syringe in hand.
Only, the lady...
What twist would you put on the idea.
Or, what notes would you scribble down
to explore later?
At a family dinner, the secret family
cake recipe discussion came to the
surface.
The person who handled it last turned
her/his residence upside down looking
for it, to no avail.
Members of the family argue with each
other, accuse one another.
The writing idea can swirl down several
paths.
Shake-up the writing idea. Look at it
from more than one view-point.
A conversation at the mall is over-heard.
"Grandmother, they're my family too." A
teen argued at the elderly lady.
"This isn't the time to talk about it"
The lady sighed.
"But..."
"Not here." The elderly insisted.
Your writing idea on it?
Perhaps, you'd write an essay on
children raised by maternal
grandmothers. Other ideas?
The only limit to writing ideas is
your imagination. It's best to
twist ideas upside down, and
find as many writing ideas as
possible from the original.
Here is an incident from the
street of my state.
Two young men stood on a
corner whispering between
themselves as people passed.
A female with three-inch gold
earrings paced near the
young men.
The guys looked at each other.
One of them grinned, and
without warning...
What's your thoughts on
the writing idea?
Writing ideas are everywhere.
Capture them for future
writing ideas.
Great novelists approach their writing in all sorts of ways. Some work by writing three pages a day; others make a complete outline before they write a single word. Some use writing software to organize their notes, some just organize as they go along. The main thing that all novelists do, however, is have an idea that they want to expand on in writing. That idea can be a "what if" question, or it can be how a character handles a difficult situation, or a quest.
An outline is just a way to show what you're going to write. Start by writing a short description of the main scenes in your book and try to put those into some sort of logical order. You might try writing them on index cards first so you can shuffle them around to make more sense. Next, see if you can divide the scenes into chapters - or put them together to make a chapter if you have several short scenes that can go together.
An outline can be as detailed or as rough as you need it to be - the object is to get you organized enough to start writing that book.
You write the same as an adult writes --- plant your butt in a chair and get started! Click on the links for more help writing.
While there is no one-size-fits-all template for writing a book, some common elements include creating an outline or structure, setting writing goals, dedicating time to writing regularly, seeking feedback from others, and revising and editing your work. Ultimately, the best approach will depend on your writing style and the specific needs of your book.
Only you can come up with a good title! Titles come from the story, not the other way around. Write the story first, and you'll find the title.
It is YOUR story. Write it in whatever way you wish.If you honestly do not feel qualified to write it, you need to hire a ghost-writer to help you. You will not find any good authors who will write your story for free.
It depends on what you want the story to be about.Like if you want to just write about one dragon.Or if you want to write about more than one.(I need more details)And tell me what your story should be about.
In order to write a book, you must have:A good ideaInteresting charactersThe drive to keep writing and finish the bookThe drive to edit and revise until the book is the best you can make it
You write book reports in the same way - read the story first.Then, write a short summary of what happened in the story.Next, write whether you enjoyed reading the story or not - and give reasons why.
It is in the front of the book before the story. starts.
Think about your story - what is going on and who are the people involved? Think of something about the mystery in the story, or something about the detective. Check out the Related Questions for help with your book, too! some of the most famous Aurthur's write the story then come back to the name.
It depends when and if a good story idea comes to her mind.
First, you research dolphins until you really understand them. How do they look, act, and sound -- how do they communicate -- how do they get along with humans? Next, write a good story -- it doesn't matter what subject you write about -- a good story is a good story. Click the link below!
A good topic to write about in "The Kite Runner" could be the theme of redemption and the idea of seeking forgiveness for past wrongdoings. You could explore how characters like Amir and Hassan try to make amends for their mistakes and the impact it has on their relationships and sense of self.
To have a good book review you need to state the book and the author then summarise the book and write your opinion on the book. There are some examples in teen-book-review.blogspot.com/