Giving Dialogue Life

I love to listen when people talk. Not just what they say, mind you, but how they say it. Dialogue is a very fun, tricky part of writing that has endless opportunities. It can convey information to the reader, it shows how the characters interact between one another, it reveals who characters are, and so much more. I love dialogue for so many reasons and, I hope, after reading this blog you will to.
There is a fine balance between writing realistic dialogue and writing what the common man really says. Listen to the conversations during your day. You will find that a majority, or the entirety, of conversations are useless and not entertaining (i.e. uninviting to read) for everyone else. Also, people in real life speak with a lot of slang, sounds, words that are not technically words, and it is a rarity to find someone who speaks in complete sentences. People usually talk like this:

"Hay, Bill."
"What's up?"
"How's Milly?"
"Ah . . . fine."
"Cool, cool."
"Yeah."
"She, uh . . . say anything the other day?"
"Dunno."
"Humm. K."
"Yeah, well. . . . See yeah!"
"By."

Boring! Horribly boring and and not worth wasting you and the reader's time! Good dialogue is the fine line between formal writing and how people really talk. Formal, tight-wad dialogue would be:
"I am not sure we should do this."
Yes, people say that sentence all the time, but not like that. That phrase is cold. Heartless. It's dead. To give it life there should be a little slang. A few filler words. An occasional grammatical error, but it always moved the story forward and has a purpose behind it. So, let's give the above dialogue some life:
"I'm not sure bout this."
It sounds more like a human instead of a robot, doesn't it?
Now there is a flip side to this. As I said, to give dialogue life one must add in slang, grammar errors, and such, BUT not to much! (Have you ever read Charles Dickens' dialogue? I don't know how he got away with that! Don't write like him!) The number one rule of writing is never make the reader work (except to figure out who-done-it or what will happen next). If the reader comes across a phrase that isn't written clearly, the reader won't want to read anymore. Why would they? People read to relax, not struggle threw poorly written sentences. Don't clutter the dialogue with too many realistic ways of speech. It will become hard to read, too hard in fact. No one will want to read it and that defeats the purpose of writing.
If you find it hard to discover that fine line between formal and realistic, read your dialogue out loud. Is the conversation taking to long to get to the point? Does it sound real, yet easy to read? At the end of the conversation, did everything make sense? If you still aren't sure, have someone else read it. A second pare of eyes is always necessary.
Have fun with this. Experiment. Try a new ways to write your character's words and find whats right for you.
There's a lot more to dialogue, but I'll get to that later.

Exercise:
Go to your favorite store with a notepad, a pen, and ear buds. Walk around, without any music on, and listen to people's conversations. No, you're not eavesdropping! It's called research. You'll be surprised what you'll find. Please comment on the odd things you hear people say!   :) 

Girls are Crazy Hard to Compliment

Guys are cool. If you're a guy, God made you amazing with abilities I could never have. . .

But.

I have this friend. A guy friend who is sweet and wonderful, but has trouble with complimenting a girl. I don't blame him though. As he explained it, boys don't know what will set a girl off into a fit of rage. They mean well, but anything they say won't be taken as a complement. I've been trying to give him pointers on saying nice, uplifting things to girls. It's working and he's doing a good job! Because of this confusion between girls and boys, I want to help clear the air.

How to compliment a girl:

• Don't compare her to something commonly known as round, large, heavy, or big. (Like don't say "Ah, you're as cute as a baby elephant." Yes, baby elephants are cute, but a girl will instantly think you just called her fat.)
• No backhanded complements. ("That sweater looks good on you! My grandma has something like that." "Your hair's nice, its as soft as my dog's hair." "Good job! Next time, do it like this____.")
• Simply saying she looks nice without any reason is okay. ("You look good." "Nice clothes." "Pretty hair.") If she asks why, tell her plainly. ("Your shirt matches your eyes." "Your hairs pretty." "That dress fits you.")
• If a girl asks your opinion about her clothes or hair and you don't like it, find something about her appearance that's okay; like the colors nice, her shoes are cool, or her hair's neat.
• Be yourself, honest, and simple. With the boys in my life, the longer their compliment is, the more likely they compare me to things girls won't see as uplifting.
• Click here to watch Messy Monday's advice on what not to say to a girl (very funny!).

Now, girls, this is not one sided. If a boy give you a compliment, and its not necessarily the best compliment, it's okay. Don't react. Stop and think about it. HE JUST GAVE YOU A COMPLEMENT SO HE'S TRYING. Boys don't think the same, not wrong, just different, so what he thinks is a compliment might not be what a girl thinks. Girls, give him a brake and a chance so don't bight his head off if he said your green nail polish looks like frog skins.
This is what I think, but what do you think? I would love to know so please comment! :)

Don't Tell me, Show!

I recently tough at a writing workshop and discovered something: I like to teach about what I love. I think everyone does! So, I've decided to share with you what I have found during my journey in the writing world. I hope you share with me what you have learned as well.

I must start with one of the most important and basic aspects of writing. Show. Don't tell. No one likes it when a writer tells, but they love it when a story is shown!

Let me explain. To tell a story is like watching the news. You hear all the facts and information about an event, an earthquake, let's say. The stats are given to you, where the earthquake took place, how many buildings were knocked over, if people were hurt or not, and other things. That's boring, from a writing perspective. Telling a story is the same way. Telling conveys all the facts and information necessary to get the point across. Facts are vital, but . . . no one wants to read a text book of a story that isn't worth being immersed into.

Here is an example of telling:

"Sally and Jill, nervous as ever, quickly drove to the school to confront a teacher. After talking with Mr. Everates, and not finding a solution to their dilemma, left; dejected and sad."
Sure, as a reader, you know what's going on. But knowing and experiencing are what separates a story from an adventure.
Showing is when the writer grabs the reader by the hand and takes them into ever scene; like a VIP pass in an epic tale. Everything is laid out in detail (but no so much to drown the reader). Let's go back to the news example. If telling is the news, then showing is a movie based off a family who experienced the earthquake. You see what they went through, their fear and panic when the event occurred, and how they survived (or didn't). The facts are all the same, but the story is completely different. It is now inviting. Interesting. Personal.
Here's the same situation above, with Sally and Jill, but this time it is shown:
"Sally turned to Jill and motioned to the car. "Let's go." Jill nodded and they got into the slug-bug. Sally sighed as they drove to the school.
Jill looked at her. "What?"
"I'm not sure Mr. Everates will listen to us." Sally gripped the steering wheel.
"We have to try." Jill stared at her friend.
Sally took in a breath and loosened her hold on the wheel. The car lurched to a stop in the school parking lot. Sally and Jill stared up at the building. Neither moved. Sally unbuckled her seatbelt. "Come on.'"
You clearly see what is going on because it is shown, not told. You see the difference? Yes, showing takes more work, but it is more effective and how a effective writer should write. Sometimes a writer needs to tell though, such as to cover a large amount of time without boring the reader to death. It's okay once in a while, but use it sparingly.
One last thing that I thought was tripe when I first learned it, but now I love it!Words that are telling are -ing and -ly words. Use -ed words instead of -ing, and pick verbs to replace the -ly words. (Such as instead of "they ran quickly" say "they sprinted", "they raced", "they flew".) It is clean, efficient writing
I hope this helps. :)
Happy writing!

Exercise:
Read a news article and rewrite it so that it shows instead of tells. Make sure to include as many facts about the event as possible. Once completed, compare your written work to the news article. Make a list of showing characteristics in your writing and a list of telling characteristics in the news article. Lastly, have a friend/family member read what you wrote. Are they board? Is so, change it to make it
exciting. Remember, show! Don't tell!

You've Got a Gift

When I was a kid, I thought I was a sinner for not wanting to be a missionary. I thought all good, Godly Christians walk up to random strangers on the street and tell them about salvation and Hell fire. I can't do that. At all. The vary thought freaked the tar out of me.
What I understand was God likes to have fun. Think about it. If creation is an example of who God is, and every baby animal likes to play, why wouldn't God? He made the platypus for goodness sakes! Now that's a goodie looking animal! (And, no. I'm not dissing on platypuses.)
God wants us to enjoy life, not drag us across the world and force us to preach as we pee our pants. If you're a missionary or going to be, more power to you. I don't have that gift and God knows it. He knows that I am gifted in writing, that's just what I do. I love it and God has blessing me with it. Therefore, my mission is to share my God through my stories. He has placed this desire, passion, and drive to saturate the world with my tales and He told me He'll get into everyone. So, what's your passion? What drives you? What has God placed in your heart that can't seem to leave? That's from Him. He put it there for a reason and will show you how to use it for the kingdom.
Don't be afraid Him about it, remember God likes to have fun. He's guided me to a roller derby team! A sport a player slams people to the ground and yells in triumph when they crash is not the standard evangelistic rout. God's never been One to follow human rules though. (I bet you, He sits in the front stand for everyone of my games, popcorn in hand and wearing my team colors!)
What has He put in your heart? Doesn't have to be something Biblical, or even spiritual. Roller derby was not meant to be spiritual and writing can be used for evil. Ask God what He has gifted you with, because you do have something powerful inside you; God. He's in every believers' heart and God does not sit idly without bringing about radical change. Let Him change you. Let your adventure begin!

It's Just Pizza

Life is short. Can we all agree on that? I mean, real short. You know when you're a kid and everyone is like, "Oh, when you grow big and strong like your daddy, time will just fly by!" Yeah, well, I thought adults were just nutty when they said that. Now I get it. Time whizzes past, like a bullet train that won't stop! I'm already 20 for goodness sakes! What's with that?

We should value life, AND the people in it. People, including myself, forget that all the time. For instance, do you know how many people get royally mad when their pizza is not made how they want it? Oh! You would think my co-workers and I are denying them their freedoms! It's nuts! Just because I stand behind a cash register, in a visor and apron, doesn't mean a customer can rip me up and down because their precious pizza's got the wrong sauce on it.

It's just pizza!

Why doesn't anyone see that? In the grand scope of life, dose it really matter if a pizza has olives on it instead of pineapple? I'm not complaining, but amazed people freak out about little things. Spills can be cleaned up. Crazy drivers aren't worth being vengeful towards. A team lousing a game isn't worth a fan being grumpy all night. Technology taking longer then usual shouldn't depict if someone is furious or happy. The wrong shoes or dress doesn't have to spoil a date.

I know it sounds all cliche, but just because it's a cliche doesn't mean it's not true. Value life. It's precious. You've only got one shot at it. How's it going?

So when something comes up that's not to important but your determined to let it ruin your day! Remember this:

It's just pizza.    

Whose Side are You On?

My lovely sister and I were talking the other day about something I must share.

It was about lukewarm Christians.

Oh, what's that you ask? It's people who go to church and put on their "Jesus' loves you this I know" masks, call everyone their brother and sister, and have all the P's and Q's down. Then when they leave church and their pastor's praying eyes, they take off the masks, and start acting like an average, unsaved person who has never felt God's grace or heard the truth in the Bible. That is a lukewarm Christian. They're grouse, nasty, and all over the place! And the worst part is . . . its very easy to become one.

I look around and see so many people like this. Now, don't get me wrong, I have a lot of masks (everyone does to be honest) and I'm not saying I've got it all figured out. I don't. Not at all. But this is something I've been noticing, something that has to stop. My sister and I both admitted it's difficult to see our peers at church, in their Sunday best with the biggest smiles, then, during the week, hear them drop the 'F' bomb and act like the common Jo. That's not how Christians are supposed to be like. At all! Did Jesus do that? Ever?

Followers of God are "Christ's ambassadors, as though God was making His appeal threw us" (2Corinthians 5:20). Believers represent God in everything we do! Even if that means not fitting in, because you know what? (Spoiler alert) Jesus already told us we wouldn't fit in: "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you" (John 15:19). 

"So what," you may ask? "I'm a good person. Is it a crime to have a good time and cuss now and then?"
Yes. The world is watching. They look to Christians to see if this Jesus stuff is all its cracked up to be. So, what if a Christian isn't acting like they should? What dose that say to people who don't believe in God? What kind of message dose that send?
"I don't want to go to church. This one guy treated me like dirt when we broke up and he went to church."
"A friend said she was a Christian, but . . . then we'd party on the weekends like there's no tomorrow!"
"I knew a Christian once. Thought they were better then everyone; made me sick!"
My sister and I concluded on this: Figure out what side you're on. Are you for God? Then be for God all the way. No half efforts. No face smiles. No masks. If you're not sure, then decide. I'm not the only one who wants Christians to decide. Jesus put in His two cents in Revelation: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other," (Revelation 3:15)!
There you have it. Even Jesus wants people to decide. So. . . .
Decide!