Alida, Kathryn, and Robert talk about talking. It’s all about dialogue, and we cover dialects, character gestures and actions, dialogue tags, and some of our dialogue pet peeves.

Show Notes:

What are some problems that authors encounter with dialogue? Should you give your character an accent or dialect? And how should you represent that on the page? What makes for good dialogue tags and action beats? We talk pet peeves, our own dialogue tics we struggle with and Include some very entertaining examples of what not to do from Robert!

What we talked about:

What are some common problems with dialogue? (0:20)

How does your character development (including dialect and accents) effect your dialogue? (5:25)

What are the technical considerations for accents, dialect, or made up words in your dialogue? (7:44)

How should you handle dialogue tags and action beats? (12:38)

The difference between vocal moderation vs the characters emotion or action. (18:37)

Some dialogue pet peeves and action beats that we use all too often. (19:45)

The importance of action beats. (22:54)

Things we mentioned:

True Grit 
A Bar Room Brawl on Ganymede by Robert Scanlon
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Tom Swifty Dialogue 
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

Want more about these topics? Check out:

Flash Tip: Broken Breaks

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