Everything was told upfront by the characters as quickly as possible. To properly write dialogue, you cannot only think of what they need to say but how you can convey those things outside of verbal communication. Even if it's something only the reader gets to know, such as thoughts, nervousness, anxiety, context, and so on. Not EVERYTHING needs to be said out loud by the characters and not everything needs to be laid out as quick as possible so you can get to the point. 

Here is how I would rewrite the scene to make it flow better:

"Terrance, come outside with me! It's snowing!" Ada called across the house, already getting in her snow boots and jacket. 

It took a while to drag him out of the kitchen but eventually, with enough shouting and begging, Ada was able to successfully annoy Terrance into joining her. Flirtatiously, Ada helped dress him--though he really didn't need any help with that sort of thing--and planted a light kiss on the tip of his nose. Terrance felt something churning in his gut, and it certainly wasn't butterflies.

"You look so cute right now! Hold on, let me get a picture," Ada said, fumbling with the phone in her pockets as soon as they got outside. 

Terrance could hear her tromping out into the snow which crunched and packed beneath her feet. The sound was nostalgic to Terrance and ordinarily flooded him with excitement for Christmas and winter sports. Yet for some reason, they filled Terrance with a melancholic feeling this time. 

"Come on, smile!" Ada urged. 

Terrance shook his head, "no, no pictures right now, please."

"Oh come on Terrance! It's just one picture!"

"I don't feel like it right now."

"Please? Just give me a smile!" Ada begged.

"No, Ada. I don't want you taking pictures of me right now," Terrance said, allowing his head to bow forward, slightly covering his eyes with his curled bangs.

"What is wrong with me taking pictures of you? It's not like you're going to see them. They're for me! They make me happy," Ada said with slight fixation masked by girlish cheer. 

"I'm... sorry..." Terrance shook his head, "hey uh... can we talk?"

"Bout what?" The way she said that made it sound like she already knew. Terrance's gut continued to churn and worried thoughts were now eating him alive. 

"I... uh..." He couldn't get the proper words to fall from his lips. Maybe if he avoided saying it at all, the situation could resolve over time and he could be happy with her again. Of course he could be! He just had to fix himself first. 

"Here, come with me," Ada said, suddenly taking him by the hand and guiding him out into the snowy backyard. The next thing he knew, she had shoved a ball of snow down the back of his shirt.

"Hey! What the heck?" Terrance said, his hands immediately trying to fish out the snow. He tried to laugh about it but it was difficult. Iisan had done the same thing to him yesterday and it didn't bother him. Ada shoved snow down his shirt today and he immediately wanted to snap at her. 

"Sorry, sorry," Ada said with a light jovial laugh. She helped him get the snow out. "Guess you're in a bad mood today."

"We need to talk about something," Terrance said, now completely cold, wet, and anxious. "Maybe we should go back inside though?"

"No, I like being out here," Ada said. "Oh, is this about the other day? I thought you could hear the car coming!"

"Well, I did hear the car coming. Shoving me, disoriented, into the street as a joke kind of made it hard to tell which way the sidewalk was," Terrance said with irritation.

How to write a story that doesn't suckWhere stories live. Discover now