Overview

Writing dialogue can seem straightforward but some writers struggle to bring compelling dialogue into their stories. With a comprehensive consideration of dialogue, this book, set out in five parts, guides authors, and the editors who may work with them, to improve the writing of dialogue. Part One includes fundamentals with effective dialogue punctuation, formatting and attribution. Part Two considers characters' distinctive voices, highlights personality traits shown in speech and techniques for dialogue in group scenes. Part Three discusses how story can be driven through characters' spoken exchanges in different genres. Part Four describes how setting can be vividly put across within dialogue and includes ways to include significant silence. Part Five presents methods of self-editing and developing your tailored approach to dialogue. With over forty practical exercises designed to build dialogue skill there are many opportunities here for debut writers and the more experienced to experiment with new approaches and develop confidence in different dialogue challenges. In this book you will find tools, insights and practice to inspire and develop writing skills.

Full Product Details

9781918210002

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Through her experienced editorial eye, Jill French offers practical solutions for crafting unforgettable characters, stories, and settings through well-written, well-paced dialogue suitable for any genre or style guide. A fresh perspective on every stage of the writing process - whether you're drafting your first manuscript or refining later versions, you'll find a wealth of useful suggestions to help your characters and narrative truly shine. A highly recommended read.' Leonora Ross (Award-winning author) 'An ideal support for novice writers and published authors alike. Brilliantly exposes all the little tricks and important steps an author needs.' Maggie Humm (Award-winning author and Emeritus Professor) 'This book is structured very clearly to help writers understand the use and importance of dialogue for characterisation, storytelling, setting, and much more. It offers advice on all the questions we writers need to answer. It includes exercises and is written in a very helpful and readable way. An excellent comprehensive guide for writers, whatever their genre. I have learnt much about how to enrich my stories through good dialogue.' Sandy Hogarth (Cinnamon Literature Prize shortlisted author) 'A must for every editor's desk. I shall certainly be recommending for authors to get themselves a copy!' Zara Thatcher (Freelance editor)

Author Information

Jill French is an experienced editor and book coach.

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