Articles: Writing natural dialogue & The state of traditional publishing
From Rick:
This week, given that it’s Thanksgiving week, I’m going to give myself a little breathing room here while still giving you a couple of useful articles to read.
One of the most challenging aspects of fiction writing to get right is good dialogue. I’ve talked about it many times previously, but I recently ran across two excellent articles from the folks at Reedsy.
The first gives advice on writing natural dialogue (with examples). The second one is a primer on punctuating dialogue, and it’s about the most concise and accurate article I’ve come across. I say “accurate” because it both explains the rules AND uses the authoritative Chicago Manual of Style as its basis (which is what every writer should be using).
HOW TO WRITE NATURAL DIALOGUE IN 11 STEPS, WITH EXAMPLES
HOW TO PUNCTUATE DIALOGUE: 12 MUST-KNOW RULES FOR WRITERS
Hopefully after reading these two excellent articles, you’ll be writing more effective dialogue.
The other topic of interest this week is an article by Kristine Rusch in which she continues her previous discussions about the state of traditional publishing. Those of you who subscribe to her blog will probably have read this one already, but those of you who don’t subscribe may find it helpful.
Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers out there.
—Rick