D is for Dialogue

D is for Dialogue. The words your characters speak tell their story. Dialogue is the difference between telling and showing the action in your narrative. You may have a wonderful, original story to tell. Dialogue breathes life into it. When I first began to write MARABELLA, DISCOVERING MAGICS my husband read the few chapters I had and gave me the best advice about writing anyone ever offered. He said. “Let your characters speak for themselves.” I went back and did just that and my story came alive.

                Having your characters tell their own story in their own voice can be tricky. I have read great stories that still fell flat because most of the characters had the same voice. It was hard to tell who was speaking. Not everyone speaks perfect English. People use slang and colloquial language. Some use simple phrasing while others are quite verbose. Some have accents. A character’s voice should be as unique as the physical description. Sometimes that may be difficult to convey but I find that it can also be the most interesting part of creating a character. D is for Dialogue. #atozchallenge