Dialogue is an unquestionably important part of any story. It can help set a scene, advance the action, give insight into characterization, or simply remind the reader of something important, just to name a few. Dialogue can serve to further connect a reader to the characters or even the story itself. Writing dialogue is also one of the hardest things for writers – both new and old – to master, and requires much more thought and effort than one might think.

 

This month’s writers chat will focus on all elements of writing dialogue in a story – anything and everything you’d like, including formatting, punctuation, paragraph structure, use of character thoughts in dialogue, speech patterns and dialogue tags (sometimes the best option really is to use the word ‘said’!). We’ll discuss how to reveal information in what your characters say (or don’t say), and how to break up dialogue with actions or thoughts in order to keep it intriguing for readers.

Bring your tips and tricks, questions and queries – we’ll chat about it all!

Please join us Thursday, April 7, 2016 from 10pm-12am EDT and/or Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 1pm-3pm EDT for our monthly writers chat. Hope to see you all there!

Have ideas for a future chat topic on Nine Lives? Send a PM to meeshie, jaibhagwan, or sweettooth7 with writing topics you'd like to discuss. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Our goal is to motivate you to keep writing!