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I’d like to know how to express that certain portions of dialogue are being spoken in a foreign language. So far I have handled this using italics, but my concern is that large sections of italics would be jarring to the reader. My protagonist is … read more »
A common fear among writers is that our characters will all sound the same. Unlike film, we can’t count on an actor to give them personality; it all needs to come from the written page. That’s why we sat down this week to talk about … read more »
Humor can be hard to master because it’s so subjective, but it’s not an ephemeral mist that can’t be defined. Many methods of adding humor are easy to understand and use. Let’s go over some jokes that are simple to include in character interactions. Read more »
Mike, Oren, and Chris discuss how stories should be paced: the good, the bad, and the infuriatingly slow. They tackle the differences between visual and written media, how to pace a roleplaying game, and end with Chris’ advice for pacing dialogue. Read more »
Dialogue is like music; rhythm flows from its notes and pauses. By shaping the pace of your dialogue, you can make this rhythm more engaging. Plus, those annoying tags become less noticeable when you’re not hitting the same beat every time. Read more »
What you write between double quotes isn’t just ideas on a page; it’s notation for vocal sounds. Thinking of dialogue as sound will help you shape the voices of your characters and communicate their tone to readers. Read more »
Writers use labels, known as dialogue tags, to tell their readers which character is speaking. Many writers think dialogue tags are part of their story’s narration. That’s a mistake. Tags aren’t narration; they’re a technical necessity like punctuation, font, and quotes. We don’t want readers … read more »
One of the challenges of writing strong dialogue is making each character sound unique. Without different speaking styles, it’s hard for readers to tell who’s speaking, and conversations become lackluster. Luckily, there’s a variety of options for distinguishing characters in dialogue. Read more »
Chris, Mike and Oren discuss making dialogue sound natural but not too natural, speculate on rules for good dialogue, and rave about their favorite dialogues and monologues from TV shows. Read more »