unhappiness follows me like the plague

lizard-is-writing:

@daelliance asked: “How can you improve on writing dialogue that’s natural? It’s a problem I have and I want to try to fix it before I start writing my book.”

For most writers, dialogue is often considered either the easiest thing to put on the page or the greatest challenge. Ultimately, whether you’re an old pro or an eager beginner, writing exercises can help you to better your craft. Having these exercises exist outside of your on-going projects more often allow you to focus solely on craft and getting the dialogue right instead of conveying the information you want said in this scene.  

Here are a few things to try: 

1. Listening to conversations in coffee shops, on public transit, or among friends. This may be the creepiest piece of advice I’ll ever recommend, but it’s a pretty popular one. (And for good reason - it works!) When you’re just writing down exactly what is said, as it’s said, then you’re paying attention not so much to the content of the conversation, but how that information is being shared. What can you gather about the people based on this conversation and the words they’re using? What phrases and figures of speech stick out? 

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