Welcome to this week’s blog hop. Today’s topic is:
What part of writing are you best at? Not compared to everyone else, but compared to you?
When I first started out writing novels back in 2013 I was unfamiliar with writing dialogue, and tended to leave it out if I could get away with it. This resulted in more ‘telling’ than ‘showing’, and further along the learning curve I realised that good dialogue is a must for any story.
Over the years I have tried to improve on writing dialogue, and enjoy it a whole lot more now that I’m not terrified of it. Words come easier with experience, and these days I try to make the characters come alive through speech.
I thought I’d leave you with some dialogue that I’ve written for my latest WIP, ‘Falling’, which might (or might not!) be ready for publication by the summer.
Excerpt from ‘Falling’ – Copyright Stevie Turner 2022:
“I’m Doctor Whymark. I’m a psychiatrist.”
“Good for you.”
“How are you feeling today?”
“Bloody awful.”
James drummed his fingers on the arms of his chair and wondered how long he would have to be subjected to such shite for. He threw a glance over one shoulder at Plod, who took notes by the door.
“I’m not mad, just unlucky.”
“How so?”
“Well, basically I got caught. We’re all after a seat when the music stops, aren’t we?”
“How do you mean?”
“I didn’t want it to come down to whether I eat or whether I run one bar of an electric fire. Let’s say I decided to augment my future pension a little bit. Trouble is, I used other people’s money.”
“And so when the game was up, you didn’t want to face the consequences of your actions?”
“Yeah. Something like that.” James tapped one foot up and down. “I wanted to take the easy way out.”
“Do you still have suicidal thoughts?”
“Only when I’m forced to speak to psychiatrists.”
“Have your parents been to visit you?”
“I don’t want to talk about them.” James clenched his teeth. “And yeah, I jerk off every day.”
“What’s that got to do with it?
“I don’t know. You tell me. You’re the shrink.”
Behind him he could hear Plod stifle a laugh. James gave unnecessary attention to a clock’s minute hand making its agonisingly slow journey from a five to a six on the wall opposite.
“Have you anybody you’d like us to contact? Wife? Children?”
“If I wanted to contact them I would have. They’ll read about me in the papers anyway.”
“Who will?”
“The people I don’t need to contact.”
“How do you think life has treated you so far?”
“It was all right up until yesterday. It went downhill after that.”
“How do you see the future?”
“The music’s going to stop, but I won’t get a seat.”
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Stevie Turner 
So with you on aversion to dialogue, lol. We seem to fine tune more with each new book. Intrigued by the blurb! 🙂 xx
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Yes, I think the more we write, the more we learn. x
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Like everything in life – experience. 🙂 x
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You have done a great job with this conversation, Stevie. When I first switched from non-fiction to fiction, I also had limited dialogue. You don’t include dialogue in non-fiction so I just never thought about it much. I use a lot more dialogue now and try to change solid passages to dialogue when I edit.
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The paragraph starting with ‘James drummed…’ was confusing to me. After that I did not know who was talking. Why was he standing by the door to take notes? That’s probably not what you meant but that’s what I ‘saw.’ I liked the witty dialogue, but like I said, I had no idea who was speaking.
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‘Plod’ is UK slang for a policeman. I suppose because it’s an excerpt it may be confusing, but basically James is talking to a psychiatrist and a policeman stands by the door and takes notes.
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Thank you for your explanation. I really wasn’t sure if there was another person or not. It was a fun read.
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I think writing dialogue is or of the most fun parts of writing.
This is a fun excerpt.
“Do you have suicidal thoughts?”
“Only when forced to talk to psychiatrists.”🤣🤣🤣
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Thanks Pete. I used to type letters for a psychiatrist, so have a little bit of insight into the types of questions they ask.
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I bet everyone has been in this position – James gave unnecessary attention to a clock’s minute hand making its agonisingly slow journey from a five to a six on the wall opposite.
Very relatable. Glad you’ve begun to like writing dialogue. It’s my favourite.
Tweeted.
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Mine too now.
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You have to hear your characters talking in your head or it will always be contrived. And they can’t talk like real people because um, um um you know, and then I was, um, saying, you know, I… That was a good bit but OMG the “shite for” sentence was like trying to be quiet heading for the bathroom in the middle of the night and stepping on a naked Barbie.
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Lol, luckily having had boys there were no Barbies about. I did tread on a dead slug once in the middle of the night in our old house. The experience was less than pleasant.
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No Legos to step on instead?
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Oh yes, I’ve done that countless times!
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This is a wonderful excerpt, Stevie, and the dialogue flows. When I write characters speaking, I hear their voices in my head and I write it like I hear it. I think dialogue should reflect the character’s personality. Thank you for sharing!
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Thanks for your comment, Jan. I too write it like I hear it.
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Nice dialogue, it makes me want to know more.
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Thanks Richard.
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Dialogue is still my weakest point. I tend to prefer writing from the point of view of a narrator or observer. I think that might be because they tend to be the kind of books I like to read.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I used to write like that, but after reading for the umpteenth time to ‘show’ not ‘tell’ I thought I’d better change.
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I stuck with ‘Tell’. 🙂 🙂
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Whatever works for you…
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If I was trying to sell books, I would have to change my style completely.
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Reblogged this on anitadawesauthor.com.
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Thanks Anita for the re-blog.
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Lovely dialogue, Stevie… and like you, I tried to skirt around this subject in the beginning but I love joining in the conversation these days, if you know what I mean…
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Yes, I hated writing any conversation when I first started out. All my efforts sounded very stilted back in 2013. I had to learn how to do it.
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No end to the learning…
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Indeed.
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