Dialogue

I know I'm not the first person to go through this, but man, writing dialogue can really suck sometimes, and that's what my day was filled with today.

Does what these characters say in my head make sense when I type it out? All I know is that the dog has to be sick of hearing these conversations when I blurt them out to him.

Making dialogue realistic isn't the hardest part for me, it's making it dynamic. I know how people talk, and I know what I want them to get across in a particular moment in time in my writing. However, no two people really talk the same.

Sure, we all speak English (or at least the characters in my novel speak English). But the way we talk isn't all the same - even if your novel is set in a small town. There are similarities in local vernacular, but how do I keep the voices from sounding like the same person is talking back and forth?

I don't want my dialogue to read like it's me saying both parts to my dog. Who the hell wants to read that? Certainly not my dog.

If there is anything I've edited more than anything else, it has been my dialogue. I can say whatever I want in my prose, but if it's important enough for somebody in my book to speak it out loud, I better make sure that what is being said is believeable and true to that character. If I want it to just be me saying it, I'll just throw it in my writing.

Besides, I get to say enough in my book already. Maybe I should give the characters a turn to speak their mind. Sheesh.