There is more to dialogue than talking heads. Dialogue scenes have four threads that may or may not be enclosed in quotation marks. Talk is what makes a dialogue scene, of course. Characters communicating and clashing through words. That is the first thread. The second thread is description. Description is difficult to handle through talking […]
Dancers at the annual Cinco de Mayo Festival in Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Cinco de Mayo is (in part) a daythat celebrates freedom. As a writer, fight for freedom from cliches, stagnation, and writer block! Just as the Mexicans turned back an invading force, you can fight against these enemies of writers everywhere and […]
As I rewrite an early chapter, it would be convenient to have the main character prefer to avoid conflict. My first reaction was: no way I can do that. It will reduce my chances for conflict. But then I started thinking… The stakes in any given chapter or scene won’t let her avoid conflict. So […]
