How do you make a dialogue-focused scene feel active?
Need to keep a dialogue-focused scene from feeling slow and boring? Pick up tips from this analysis of a scene from Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Dial A for Aunties.
What can dialogue do?
Learn the techniques Casey McQuiston uses to maximize the impact of dialogue in I Kissed Shara Wheeler.
How do you use dialogue and dialect to reveal character?
Learn how to use word choice, syntax, and dialect in dialogue to create realistic characters with examples from Tana French's The Searcher.
Writing Fiction, by Janet Burroway
A review of the newest edition of Janet Burroway’s Writing Fiction, the standard text used in many creative writing programs.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne & Dave King
Lessons for novelists from Renni Browne and Dave King’s Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.
How to write effective dialogue tags
Learn how to bring your fictional dialogue to life using dialogue tags.
How to punctuate dialogue
Learn the three most important rules for punctuating dialogue in your novel.
Using ellipses and dashes to create dramatic dialogue
Learn how ellipses and dashes can help you create dramatic rhythm and pacing in your dialogue.