Again, I won't bore you by repeating myself. If you want to check out days one, two, and three, you can find them here:
Dialogue Exercises - #1
Dialogue Exercises - #2
Dialogue Exercises - #3
Remember, each of these exercises require at least two pages of dialogue.
Exercise #10: Remembering your senses when writing dialogue.
Take a place you've visited that's full of activity and bring it to mind. Put two characters in the midst of it all and have them talk about what's going on around them. Use all five senses as you write so your reader gets a good idea what the place is like. Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Bring the venue to life on the page. Make one of them blind, if that helps.
Exercise #11: Using dialogue to bring about transformation.
Using the confrontation/response method, create dialogue in which one character gives the other a reason to change. Make it so the protagonist has to look deep within and see something they hadn't before. Your antagonist can be cruel or kind in their observations/opinions, but their words should bring about change.
Exercise #12: Setting tone/voice with dialogue.
Something is in the woods. A mom and daughter are camping, alone. Suddenly, mom feels like they're in danger. Using dialogue, set the tone of the scene. Be true to your characters and really bring forward their fear and Mom's protectiveness over her daughter.
I hope you'll give at least one of these a whirl today. You can't get better if you don't practice! Tomorrow is the last day of dialogue exercises. Next week, I'm going to begin a 10 day series on a very important topic relating to dialogue. Come back every day and see what you find!
Which one of these is your favorite?
Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo
These tips are so helpful for authors who have a problem with showing vs telling. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteShowing vs telling is a huge hurdle to leap over. I hope I'm providing great tools :)
Delete