Writing Dialogue that Breathes by Debby Mayne

Debby Mayne

Dora here. Last week Debby Mayne offered a great starting point for Writing Dialogue that Breathes. If you missed it, you can read the full version here. This week she's wrapping it up with three more tips. Enjoy! ~Dora

One of the key components to a successful story is dialogue, so spend some time working on improving the skill of writing it. Most newbie fiction authors struggle with dialogue at first, but after you find the groove, you'll look forward to the next conversation between your characters. I've judged quite a few writing competitions, and one of the things that I look for is compelling dialogue. In my opinion, strong dialogue is the foundation of a compelling, character-driven story. 

Tags
Dialogue tags have been beaten to death, and I'm going to give them one more flogging here. If you can avoid using "he blurted," "she hissed," and other such dialogue tags, then by all means do so. Most of the time, you don't have to use any tags if you can show who is speaking through action. Here's an example: Samantha picked up her fork, stared at her plate in disgust, and sighed. "I hate peas." You know that Samantha is talking based on the action. It's fine to use an occasional "she said" or "he asked" if you must, but don't overdo it.

Punctuation and Paragraphing
Punctuation and dialogue paragraphing were designed to prevent confusion in the written word. Learn proper use of quotation marks, periods, commas question marks, and other punctuation. Otherwise, you'll lose your readers. Each time a different person speaks, start a new paragraph. Yes, this is proper, even for single-word grunts. When I judge a contest that has several people speaking in the same paragraph, I view this as work from someone who didn't bother learning the craft. After you practice proper punctuation and paragraphing, it will become second nature, and you won't even think about it.

Read Your Work Aloud
One of the best ways to make sure your dialogue sounds natural and comes across the way you intend is to read it aloud. I do this any time I write long conversations between my characters or have sections where I'm not sure of how it will "sound" to the reader. I'm sure my husband thinks he lives with a crazy person, but he's used to it by now.

Purchase Link

Dixie Belle and Uptown Belles series Blurb 

In Dixie Belle, book one of the Uptown Belles series, sparks fly when Cissy Hillwood arrives in New York City from her Alabama hometown and meets her uncle’s fiercest competitor.

SERIES DESCRIPTION: In this fish-out-of-water contemporary romance series, three Southern belles living and working in New York City develop a friendship based on their fondness and homesickness for the South. Although they’re different from each other in many ways, they share a love for the South and faith in Christ. And they each fall victim to Cupid, one at a time and when they least expect it. At least they have each other for venting, laughing with, and…shopping.

Debby Mayne has published more than 30 books and novellas, 400 print short stories and articles, more than 1,000 web articles, and a slew of devotions for women. She has also worked as managing editor of a national health magazine, product information writer for HSN, a creative writing instructor for Long Ridge Writers Group, and a copy editor and proofreader for several book publishers. For the past eight years, she has judged the Writers Digest Annual Competition, Short-Short Contest, and Self-Published Book Competition. Three of Debby’s books have been top ten favorites by the Heartsong Presents book club. Love Finds You in Treasure Island, Florida received 4-1/2 stars and was named a "Top Pick" by Romantic Times Magazine. Her latest book, Dixie Belle, is the first in the Uptown Belles series published by Charisma House.

Writing Dialogue that Breathes by Debby Mayne

Debby Mayne

Dora here. Do you struggle with writing dialogue? I confess... some days are easier than others, so I appreciate these tips by Debby Mayne. Next week she will be back with three more tips to write compelling dialogue, so be sure to pop back by. Enjoy! ~Dora

One of the key components to a successful story is dialogue, so spend some time working on improving the skill of writing it. Most newbie fiction authors struggle with dialogue at first, but after you find the groove, you'll look forward to the next conversation between your characters. I've judged quite a few writing competitions, and one of the things that I look for is compelling dialogue.

In my opinion, strong dialogue is the foundation of a compelling, character-driven story. I use it to drive my plot, and the scenes typically flow much more smoothly when my characters take over. I've been amazed and entertained by what comes out of my story people's mouths.

Listen
Next time you're out among people, zip your lips and just listen. I'm the biggest eavesdropper out there, but I think it's one of the reasons my dialogue has improved over the years. Pay attention to various scenarios. A conversation between a mother and her daughter in the fitting room is quite different from a discussion between a husband and wife about where to go for their next vacation.

Use what you learn sparingly. 
Accents are wonderful to add to a story as long as you sprinkle them in. Don't overdo it, though, or you may lose your reader who gets bogged down trying to figure out what the character is saying. Most people have back-and-forth interaction with occasional interruptions. When writing dialogue, it's fine to add some of this, but remember that the written word needs to make more sense than a live conversation.

Small Talk
Some small talk is fine, but omit all but the most essential conversation that drives the story forward. When people greet each other, they often spend several minutes saying insignificant things that you should condense in order to hold your readers' interest. After a brief greeting among your characters, get to the interesting part.

Backstory
Avoid using dialogue to do a backstory dump. Having your characters rehash something that happened in 1985, simply to provide information for the reader, is a sign of someone who doesn't want to go to the trouble of working it into the story in a more natural way. Don't provide too much information all at once in dialogue. Leave your readers wanting more.

Purchase Link

Dixie Belle and Uptown Belles series Blurb 

In Dixie Belle, book one of the Uptown Belles series, sparks fly when Cissy Hillwood arrives in New York City from her Alabama hometown and meets her uncle’s fiercest competitor.

SERIES DESCRIPTION: In this fish-out-of-water contemporary romance series, three Southern belles living and working in New York City develop a friendship based on their fondness and homesickness for the South. Although they’re different from each other in many ways, they share a love for the South and faith in Christ. And they each fall victim to Cupid, one at a time and when they least expect it. At least they have each other for venting, laughing with, and…shopping.

Debby Mayne has published more than 30 books and novellas, 400 print short stories and articles, more than 1,000 web articles, and a slew of devotions for women. She has also worked as managing editor of a national health magazine, product information writer for HSN, a creative writing instructor for Long Ridge Writers Group, and a copy editor and proofreader for several book publishers. For the past eight years, she has judged the Writers Digest Annual Competition, Short-Short Contest, and Self-Published Book Competition. Three of Debby’s books have been top ten favorites by the Heartsong Presents book club. Love Finds You in Treasure Island, Florida received 4-1/2 stars and was named a "Top Pick" by Romantic Times Magazine. Her latest book, Dixie Belle, is the first in the Uptown Belles series published by Charisma House.

Character Motivation by Debby Mayne

Debby Mayne

Have you ever had a hard time creating your characters? Multi-published author Debby Mayne addresses what motivates her characters in today's post. Any of them sound familiar? What kinds of characters are in your work-in-progress? ~ Angie

Have you ever been to a class reunion? If not, have you met with old friends or family members that you haven’t seen in a long time? What did you do to prepare for the get-together? Were you more concerned with what they thought about you—how you looked, how you aged, and how successful you were in life—than you should have been?

The very common human condition of insecurity that stems from childhood is what motivates my characters in the Class Reunion series as they get ready to go to the big event. I wanted readers to get to know the people in my story and join them on their journeys. The editor and I agreed that the best way to do this was to write it in first person. Since I wanted to show the lives of more than one person in this group, all of these books are written in multiple points of view. To add to the immediacy and intimacy of the characters’ experiences, these books are present tense.

About the characters and their insecurities:

Priscilla Slater was class Valedictorian and voted “Most Likely to Succeed” back in high school. Everyone expected her to follow in her college professor parents’ footsteps, but she surprised everyone by dropping out of college and going to beauty school. Although she still wants her parents’ approval, she’s not willing to be miserable in a career she doesn’t want.

Tim Puckett’s dad abandoned him and his mama when he was a young boy. His dad’s brother took over and paid for Tim to go to college with the stipulation that he must work for the family business after graduation. Although Tim’s dream job isn’t being a beauty supply salesman he’s not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. The bonus is that he meets the love of his life. Too bad she doesn’t see him as more than a pal. But maybe if he helps out a little more, he’ll win the girl of his dreams.

Trudy Baynard’s beauty pageant trophies and Miss Piney Point crowns gather dust as she navigates her way through being a divorced woman who has packed on a few pounds and needs Spanx to get into her slinky dresses. She had enough sense to leave Piney Point after her no-good, womanizing man dumped her, but now she wants to see her former classmates. Her mission before the reunion is to get her high school figure back and make it look like she’s successful without Michael.

Celeste Boudreaux is tired of being the wallflower, so she forces her way on to the class reunion committee. It’s hard giving up her bad attitude, but once Priscilla works her magic on her and makes her downright pretty, she thinks she might wind up with a full dance card.

Laura Moss is exhausted. I mean, who wouldn’t be after a long day of keeping four young’uns and a sweet but alcoholic husband in line? And now that she has the class reunion to coordinate, she’s found her limits. But she can’t let on, which is why she allows others to contribute, even if they don’t do things the way she does them.

Do you see yourself in any of these characters? As I wrote their stories, I dug deep and found a piece of each of them inside me. Whether looking for acceptance like Priscilla or feeling “put upon” like Laura, my insecurities have shown themselves at some of the most inconvenient times in my life. Even as a writer, I worry that I won’t live up to the expectations of readers, editors, family members, and friends. Sound familiar?

About the Author

Debby has published more than 30 books and novellas, 400 print short stories and articles, 1,000 web articles, and dozens of devotions for women. She has worked as managing editor of a national health magazine, product information writer for HSN, and creative writing instructor for Long Ridge Writers Group. She also judges the Writers Digest Annual Competition, Short-Short Contest, and Self-Published Book Competition. Three of Debby’s books have been top ten favorites by the Heartsong Presents book club. Love Finds You in Treasure Island, Florida received 4-1/2 stars and a Top Pick from Romantic Times Magazine in July 2009.


Pretty Is as Pretty Does

Pretty is as Pretty Does
by Debby Mayne

Priscilla Slater goes to her ten-year high school reunion with equal parts dread and eager anticipation. Even though she’s a successful owner of a chain of hair salons and no longer has the mousy brown hair, crooked teeth, and discount-store wardrobe, she still feels like the ugly duckling. But when she arrives at the reunion, Priscilla soon realizes that her old classmates aren’t exactly as she remembers them. With humor and a just a touch of sassiness, Priscilla finds herself facing her own truth—and she may be surprised at what she discovers.