I found Sally in line for coffee as I entered the coffee shop. She had already dumped her bag onto a chair, had already tugged off her gloves, her wool jacket, and wore her game face. “What’s up? Did you not have a great thanksgiving?” “It was fine. But, I’m 3000 words away from finishing my novel.” “That’s great.” I shed my jacket and motioned to Kathy. She gave me a smile, already on my order. “No so much.” She retrieved her coffee and handed me mine. I nodded my appreciation. “Why?” “Because I only have 46000 words and I’m near the end of my novel.” “And?” “It’ supposed to be an 80,000 word novel! How am I going to come up with 30,000 more words?” “Oh, I see. You […]
Read the RestArchive | How do I write Dialogue RSS feed for this section
Conversations: The powerful use of Internal Monologue
“I’d thought she’d never get here.” Sally shot me a look as she sat down on the Adirondack chair next to me. She eyed me warily. “Were you talking to me?” “No. Why would you think that?” I paused, looked away. “She’s so paranoid.” “Are you schizophrenic?” She raised an eyebrow. “I’m sitting right here.” “Sheesh, touchy,” I said softly. Then, “What are you talking about? How are you?” I smiled. She stared at me like I’d turned purple. I laughed. “I was internal monologueing.” “Out loud?” “So you could hear it.” “Please tell me that’s not what you really think. I don’t mean to be late –“ “Calm down, Sally, it was just for teaching purposes. But if you were reading that, it would certainly add a bit of […]
Read the RestConversations: How to make your dialogue pop!
“It’s so hot, I think I’m melting. I haven’t been able to write for three days.” Sally held a blended mocha, sweat glistening on her forehead as she plunked down on the Adirondack chair next to me. “Really? What, has your brain turned to mush? Are you fingers slipping off the keyboard?” She stared at me, frowning. “Ouch.” “If you want to be a writer, Sally, you have to press on. Do you want to be a writer? Or just a wannabe?” “I think I’m going to take my mocha elsewhere.” “There’s no crying in writing, bay-bee. I once wrote a book while living in a garage without plumbing, heat or electricity. Believe me, I had reasons not to write. You have to press on, like a mailman, through sleet […]
Read the Rest
A Quick Skills conversation about Italics and Internal Monologue
Italics and Internal Monologue can be very confusing. I write in Deep POV, so for those who employ this technique, here are some hints that might help. If you’re writing in Deep POV, which many authors are today, remember that you’re in a character’s pov, so anything they think, feel, see or hear filters through their head and directly onto the page. Thus, if it doesn’t have quotation marks around it, it is internal and should not be in italics. The only time you need italics is when the character is remembering another voice in their head, or they are unable to voice the words they are speaking. For example if a person is remembering something their mother, their pastor, their friend, or even something they read, it is another […]
Read the Rest
