The Two Imperatives for Compelling Dialogue
Weak dialogue portrays exchanges of information that leave the energy of the scene flat. Compelling dialogue does these two things.
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Exposition in Dialogue
You can deliver exposition via dialogue, but you have to finesse it a little. Here we discuss how you can disguise exposition so it doesn’t feel contrived.
Triangulate Dialogue
To avoid flat dialogue scenes, learn to triangulate the characters’ interaction with a lower-order goal.
Formatting Character Thoughts
Is it better to format character thoughts with quote marks or italics? I say neither. No special formatting is necessary to signify character thinking. You just need some solid narration.
Should You Use Dialogue Tags Other Than “Said”?
Should you use synonyms for “said”? Some writing advice claims “said is dead”; others look disparagingly upon “saidisms,” the fancier cousins of “said.” Here’s the rule of thumb.