Dialogue Homework: Dialogue II

A true way to get a sense of dialogue is to pay attention to what is being said and what you are saying all day. This will be a two part homework assignment.

1. You need to write down everything you say all day long. This means from the time you wake-up to the time you go to bed. Now if you are in a profession that you are talking all day long or what you say is confidential, you can make up rules for yourself.

For example, a teacher would not write down when he/she was teaching a lesson, but his/her rule would be to write the informal communication he/she would have. He/she would write down the hellos and good-byes that he/she shares with students, greeting people in the hallway, etc. He/she would also write down conversations with other teachers, the coffee shop cashier, and with his/her husband or wife.

Every writer should at least do this once in his/her life, and multiple times if able. Bring a tablet, paper, or sticky notes around with you all day. Another option is to tape record the day, but the trick is to transcribe it. It is important to see it written.

Do this one day, and let me know how it worked out.

2. Write down what others say. Sit in a cafe, in a hair salon, at the registry of motor vehicles, bus stop, subway station, etc, and write down what others are saying. I have had great story ideas just from a sentence that someone has said as they walked by me. This requires some stealth. I know it is tempting don't grab your stenotype. You need to be on stealth mode.  

Let me know how all of these pan out again. I plan to write down what I say in a day in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Writing Realistic Dialogue Part I

"Hey, over here," he whispered.
"What?" she asked.
"Over here."
"I can't see anything in this."
"Just follow my voice, and don't point your gun at me."
He heard feet scuffling over the brush toward him. She fell with a thud and he felt as if he was punched in the arm. She had shot him.
"Dina," he whispered. She crawled toward him.
"What?" she asked. It was answered by silence. "Francis? Answer me."
"I can't I am now dead, and this is the last time I take you to play paintball."
"Thank goodness. I hate this. I hope you left something to me in your will."

Dialogue is an important part of fiction writing. It is said to be good practice to put a plethora of dialogue in the first few pages of your book. I, however, am a firm believer that it not only has to be dialogue but good dialogue.

Stay away from trying to go through your thesaurus to find synonyms of said.

Don't be afraid to go on a run of dialogue and take out the he said and she said. If there are two people talking, the reader will know they are taking turns. The he said and she said just slows down the momentum of the conversation.

Read your dialogue out loud. That is the best way to make sure it is genuine.

Stay away from accent, twang and all that fun stuff. It is hard to do.

"Jeet et"

"No jew?"

Be an Outsider

A good way to increase your writing skills is to experience new things. Just like traveling, new experiences add a lot to your tool box as a writer. Make a list of new experiences.
Here are just a few you can do:
1. Take a class in something physcial (karate, yoga, kick boxing).
2. Learn a new language.
3. Interview for a job you have no idea how to do.
4. Go to a movie that you think you will hate.
5. If you are a meat eater, go eat at a Vegan Cafe. If you are a Vegan, go to a steak house.
6. If you are a parent, (within reason) live part of a bachelor or bachlorette life for a weekend.
7. Go to a DIY clinic at Home Depot.
8. Garden.
9. Foster a pet.
10. Do a ride along with a policeman/woman.
11. Go to a different church and denomination.
12. Go without electronics for a week. If you are determined, without electricity.
13. Ride your bike to work.
14. Don't buy anything for a month.

I am sure you can think of a few things to do. It might help you create new characters or plots. At the very least it might make you feel better about your way of life. What are your ideas?

Such A Part of Me

Something are so engrained in people that they cannot imagine living without it. Unfortunately in today's day these things usually fall into the category of electronics (phones, tablets, televisions, etc.). As I got older and more worldly, (meaning I moved to college 3 hours from home) I realized that there were other people who had interests outside of mine.

In my head I know this existed. There were people who were vegetarians, loved Star Trek, or hated kids (not necessarily the same person having all these qualities). When I hit college, I had my first friend who was overweight. I guess I usually hung around with athletes and skinny people in high school.

I met people who could not catch or throw things. I don't mean in the sense that someone has bad aim or can't throw a curve ball. I mean I had friends that if you tossed them car keys from five feet away they would respond in a full body flinch.

Why am I talking about all these things? I feel the same way about writing. If I could sit at my computer day in and day out and write. I would. Somehow I am in this world needing money, so in the life I have created for myself in this moment that is not an option. I am fairly confident I could produce characters and plots and ideas to keep me busy writing for years. So, writing is a part of me that is engrained in me that I could not imagine living without. I would if I had to, but even if I was on a deserted island I would find a way to write.

Now, there are a lot of people who say to me. "I can't write." "I am not creative." "I don't know how you do that." To me that is as foreign as my college friends flinching at the toss of a set of keys.

Update on My March Mayhem

My hands were bound in the form of a mitten for 5 weeks. I was kidnapped, well-fed, but not give the normal privileges of life. I was on a Swedish sail boat out in the middle of the ocean. I had amnesia. Okay now all my excuses are out of the way on why I did not write on my blog.

The real reason is not as interesting as this, I think I just got busy and the blog fell to the wayside. I have been reading a lot, working, planning summer vacation spending time with my family, and writing. Also, for the first time in 20 years I was sucked into the March Madness of NCAA basketball. What a tournament it was of upsets. I think I will have to get a FGCU tattoo!

As for reading Two books ago I read JA Konrath's book Newbies Guide to Publishing. It is made up of his blog and he put it into a book. Some of the stuff is outdated, because there is so much change in terms of self-publishing, but overall it is worth a read. JA Konrath's Current Blog is worth reading if you want to make it in the ebook world.

So now I am going to play catch-up to make good on my blogging a dventure. I have stalled a little bit on my 52 Books Around the World quest. It was not that I was not enjoying it. I was enjoying it too much. My wife pointed out to me that now that I was reading so much, I was not writing at all. So I am stuck in Afghanistan and have refocused on writing and blogging and marketing. I will end with an amusing interaction I have with my family.

Me: Kids catch-up!

Kids (in unison) Ketchup? Where there is ketchup there are French fries!
Quote taken from Shaggy and Scooby.

Big Changes in Life

There have been many big changes in my life. A lot of people have big decisions or happenings that lead to big changes in their life. Some people's life is a little more stagnant. Some of my changes followed a somewhat typical milestone in life. From elementary school to middle school to high school to college. There was moving out of my parent's home. Then there were changes that started to shape my life with more depth.

 

I'm not Alone?: One of those changes was when I "came-out" to myself. I realized since I was in 5th grade that I liked girls, but I did not know what that meant. I was brought up Catholic so I thought this was an evil part of me that I somehow had to defeat. I went to college read Rubyfruit Jungle (the main character was not the best role model for future lesbians), and the book let me know that there were other lesbians out there. Then I had my first girlfriend and my life took another road in a way.

Wilderness Road: I graduated college and snagged a job in the Florida woods. I lived in the woods with a co-counselor and 12 at-risk youth. Enough of a change? This job changed my life in so many ways. It put me out of my comfort zone, it gave me confidence, and gave me opportunity to make a difference.

 
Weird I have Time: The 9/11 attacks changed a lot of people's plans in life or it hurried them to their goals. People got married or decided to have a kid, or left their job to pursue their dreams. My girlfriend (at the time) and I decided to move from North Carolina up to New England closer to our families. This moved me out of my 24/5 job to the 40 hour work week. Weird I have time now.

From the Usual 2 to 5: Then there was the "instant family." I went from dating single women to becoming part of a family with three kids, then a house, then 4 cats and a dog. We got married in June. Having a family and being a step-mother is one of the biggest changes in my life. I think it is one I am still acclimating.  

I am not sure what the next change will be. I mean what big change will I make if at all. I quit soda for two years now. I go on and off of diets. I published a few books. I got new shoes. I am not saying that I have to make a change. My life is pretty, awesomely perfect.

16 Ways to Make Work Fun

I am all about finding ways to make work fun. This goes for chores, homework, hard labor, paperwork, general work milieu and meetings. There is a slogan I think coined by Ben & Jerry (the ice cream guys), "If it isn't fun why do it?" Sometimes these are my thoughts exactly. I go step further and say, "If it isn't fun, make it fun."

Here are some of my tactics. This are tested and proven for my simple mind.
 
1. Sing while working. Even if you are bad singer.

2.Whistle while you work (do do do do do do do).

3. Time yourself and try to beat your high score. This is perfect for unloading the dishwasher, folding clothes, raking leaves, shoveling, performing surgery (works on Grey's Anatomy), filing, etc.

4. Find a fun way to do the chore. For my kids recycling chore we set up the plastic and cardboard bins and they stand at the top of the stairs and throw them in. See who can pick up the most stuffed animals. Do a slip and slide on a tarp you have to clean.

5. Have someone else do it. You can delegate a task. They might enjoy it more. My kids love doing dishes while camping. Go figure!

6. Pretend that your job is more important than it is. For example, when filing you are a secret agent looking for top secret information. Any time someone comes into the file room that is the chance  you will be found out as a spy.

7. While working try out an different accident. That is what telemarketers and customer service people do. They are not Indian or Pakistani, they are actually from Tennessee.

8. Give out stickers. When I give out my staff's monthly productivity report, I give them stickers if they are above expectations or on target. They enjoy them.

9. Don't go to work. Stay home and have fun.

10. Leave little presents in your staff's mailbox. Write fun jokes on a white board. Dress-up funny one day.

11. Invite a speaker for a meeting. Play a fun game to learn a new strategy or information. Have food at a meeting. Go on field trips.

12. Do a job with a kid. The conversation alone will be interesting.

13. Find a new toy, tool, sticky notes, or system to make your job more fun or easier.

14. Get friends help. Make a party out of it.

15. Teach your pet to do it.

16. Reward yourself for getting it done.


Check out this site for my ideas. Fun at Work