Wattpad Fantasy Writer's Advice

A Little Note on Dialogue

Because of the "Read My Story Contest" (which is open now on my facebook page, btw) I edit and critique a LOT of stories by beginning writers.

I notice a lot of the same things while doing so. Though writers just starting out are full of awesome, exciting ideas and plot lines, they often make the same mistakes, and they don't even realize they're doing it until someone points it out. 

All of the stuff I'm about to say below are mistakes I made, and stuff i wish someone had told me about sooner.

Dialogue is a major problem for some people, so I thought I would touch on that briefly.

In high school your english teacher tells you to add adverbs to things, but in reality, in good writing, adverbs are your enemy. As Stephen King so eloquently puts it, "The Road to hell is paved with adverbs".

When you add a bunch of adverbs to your dialogue tags, it reads choppy and awkward. Too many "ly" words end up sounding ridiculous. 

Example:

"What are you doing?" Bob said angrily.

"I'm stealing your shoes," Cathy said patiently. She picked up Bob's running shoes and put them in her purse.

"You can't have my shoes," Bob said viciously.

"I don't care what you say. I'm going to wear them." She said happily.

"You won't even fit them!" Bob said quickly.

See how weird that is? 

Second example:

"What are you doing?" Bob asked.

"I'm stealing your shoes," Cathy said. She picked up Bob's running shoes and put them in her purse.

"You can't have my shoes!" Bob said.

"I don't care what you say. I'm going to wear them."

"You won't even fit them." Bob grabbed for the purse.

Also, when in doubt, just use "said". Getting creative with the actual dialogue tags can end up throwing your reader out of the story.

"Unhand my shoes!" Bob growled angrily.

"Never!" Cathy snarled. "I shall never give them up."

"I'll have to buy new ones if you take them," Bob spat.

"I don't care," Cathy moaned. "Oh, the shoes, they're so pretty." She hugged the running shoes tightly.

"Give them to me," he snarled.

"Never," she howled.

Okay, ridiculous exaggeration, but you get the point.

 Also, I'm cracking up writing this, so if I make spelling mistakes please forgive me, it's because I'm laughing too hard to type properly. Perhaps I shall make the saga of the shoes into a short story.

No...probably not.

So that's basically what I wanted to say about dialogue. Keep it simple, use "said". Remember, you simply can't use "said" too many times, because it's what I call an "invisible" word. You don't really notice it when you're reading.

I'm not saying you can't EVER use adverbs while you're writing dialogue. I actually have a weakness for them myself.  Also...ice cream. But just like ice cream, if you eat too much, it's not a good thing.

You can get away with sprinkling adverbs in here and there, I personally believe (JK Rowling does it!) but too many is no good.

So use them sparingly. Write your first draft like normal, and then go and cut out HALF of the adverbs you've used. Do it. I dare you. It will make your writing stronger.

Darn. Now I want ice cream...

More later!

Also, I'll be doing a live google chat with five other authors this Sunday night, where we'll be talking about advice for young/beginning writers. If you have any questions about anything (anything at all, as long as it has to do with writing) please post them in the comments below and we'll answer them on Sunday!