02.28.09
Posted in Newsletter at 3:54 pm by Administrator
“Where do you want to eat tonight,” he said.
“How about that new Italian place,” she said.
“Okay. What time,” he said.
“About seven,” she said.
“Okay,” he said.
Are you still awake? I am, barely. You have just read an example of excruciatingly boring dialogue. In fact, this example is a bit of what I think is the most boring form of dialogue, basically a transcript of a conversation.
Writing good dialogue is tough. Writing flat, uninteresting dialogue is easier and, sadly, much more common. I wish I could tell you there is a foolproof 1-2-3 formula for creating great dialogue, but it really isn’t that simple. However, I do have a few tips for you to keep in mind when your characters start talking.
1. Dialogue is not a transcript. You don’t need to record every word of every conversation, and your readers will get bored if you do. For example, does the last “okay” in our example actually do anything? I would cut that or change it to “He agreed.”
2. Vary the structure. Varying sentence structure is a great way to keep your readers interested. Try using “asked,” “replied,” “whispered,” etc., in addition to “said”—or leave the tag off completely if it is already clear who is speaking. Also, try putting the tags at the beginning, end, and even the middle of the dialogue. For example: “Sounds great,” he agreed. “What time?”
3. Ask yourself if this bit of dialogue is actually doing anything. Part of your job as a storyteller is to give details that are important to the story. Unless the dialogue is doing something important—providing information, revealing character, or advancing the plot—rephrase it or cut it. Look at our example again. Is there any compelling reason not to replace this whole exchange with “They decided to try the town’s new Italian restaurant”?
4. Give each character a voice. We all have our own favorite expressions or ways of wording things. Let your characters have their favorites too. For example, my grandmother frequently says, “Oh, my goodness,” with emphasis on the “good.” This would be a great expression for a character to use (just be careful not to overdo it!).
5. Read your dialogue out loud. Try to forget the way it sounded in your head when you wrote it. Instead, read using only the clues on the page. Your voice should rise and fall naturally with the phrasing and punctuation you have used. If the passage reads “flat” or you get bored halfway through, you have some rewriting—or cutting—to do.
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02.17.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 5:13 pm by Administrator
Someone stop me before I poke out my eyes! Yes, using “of” in place of “have” is another assault upon the English language up with which I shall not put. I see this all the time. I’m starting to think authors should have their knuckles rapped whenever they write something like “I could of done better if I had of known.” Oh, my. I’m not usually violent, but …
Well, let’s not dwell on that. The problem here seems to be that in daily speech many of us do in fact say things like “should of,” “could of,” and “would of” (but I am proud to say the phrase “had of” has never crossed my lips). Actually what we’re saying is “should’ve,” “could’ve,” and “would’ve” (and presumably had’ve), the contractions for “should have,” etc. This fact, unfortunately, is lost on many people, and they persist with “of, of, of.” And I persist in changing “of” to “have” or “’ve.”
Merriam-Webster’s Concise Dictionary of English Usage refers to this use of “of” as “naive use,” but also points out that the use does show up in print, particularly in the speech of “uneducated character(s).” I suppose using “of” in this manner in dialogue or even in narration is fine if it is done deliberately, but I rarely, if ever, see it done deliberately. I see it done accidentally and unthinkingly by people who really should of known better.
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02.14.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 4:17 pm by Administrator
We all make mistakes. Yes, even editors. Even careful and experienced editors. Even when a document has been read multiple times by multiple editors, sometimes mistakes do slip through.
You may have read about the Kansas high school student who discovered an error in the state writing test. In this case, the word “omission” appeared in place of “emission” in a writing prompt. The test was written by professionals, read over by professionals, and administered by professionals, but it took a student to point out the error. I wonder how many other students read the prompt, were confused, and assumed that the problem lay in their understanding of the question, rather than the question itself.
I catch mistakes in print quite often—mostly missing quotation marks and commas, along with the occasional misspelled word. I used to delight in finding these mistakes, but that was before I became an editor. How could anyone miss that? I used to wonder. Now I know.
It all comes down to human imperfection. No matter how good we are, sometimes our eyes will skip right over an obvious error. The editor sneezes, an error is missed. I go over these posts with a fine-tooth comb (or so I think) before I publish them, and still I occasionally spot a mistake in the finished piece, often about five seconds after I click “publish.” An editor with a mistake in her blog post about editing—now that’s embarrassing!
What can we do about editorial errors? Editors can (must) work constantly to beef up their skills. I certainly don’t know everything about editing, and I never will. There is always something to learn, something to brush up on. And, though I am a perfectionist, I’m also learning to see the imperfections as a reminder to stay humble. They’re also an incentive to always double-check what I have already double-checked. Thinking you have done a stupendously outstanding job is often a precursor to discovering you have left the “l” out of “public” or (much worse) the “o” out of “count.” Just trust me on this one.
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02.10.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:19 am by Administrator
My head is spinning. I love a good British mystery (Dorothy Sayers and P. D. James being my current favorites). You may know that there are some differences between the British and American styles, beyond the funny words those Brits use for perfectly ordinary things like sweaters and wrenches. The vocabulary differences I can handle—it’s sometimes like a puzzle, trying to figure out what an unfamiliar Britishism means without resorting to looking it up. The punctuation is a different story though. Sometimes I swear I see stars.
Like today. I’ve been reading Morag Joss’ Funeral Music. (Quite a fun read so far, featuring world-class cellist Sara Selkirk, who turns amateur detective after finding the body of a museum director who has been murdered in a Roman bath—in Bath, of all places. And how could I pass up an author named “Morag Joss”?) Everything in the book is going along fine, except the dialogue. The dialogue is driving me crazy.
It’s not what the characters say—it’s the quotation marks within which they say it. Double marks inside single marks, with commas outside the double marks. You know,
‘They called it “rambling”, is what she told me.’
Instead of
“They called it ‘rambling,’ is what she told me.” (Not an actual quote from the book.)
The fact that I’m even bothered by this is the most troubling thing about the situation. I don’t understand why these little punctuation marks are upsetting me now. I’ve certainly read enough British books to be able to deal with the basics of the style differences. I usually find the differences interesting, not distracting.
Could this be a sign that my brain is beginning to harden? Is this what I have to look forward to when I finally move into the Old Editors’ Home? Or perhaps my editorial instincts are on overdrive and I just need to lighten up in my leisure reading. Or—and this is absolutely the worst thing I can think of—am I becoming a hardened old editor with such entrenched ideas of “right” and “wrong” that I’m no longer flexible enough to appreciate other possibilities?
Oh, no—anything but that!
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02.07.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 9:18 pm by Administrator
It’s time for another collection of words that are often amusingly confused and misused. These errors aren’t the sort that make me want to poke my eyes out; they just make me chuckle.
First off, we have “quilt” substituting for “guilt”:
He was tried and found quilty. (I hereby sentence you to five years in prison for being warm and snuggly!)
The quilt drove him to despair. (Some quilts, apparently, are just bad.)
Then there is the distressing confusion between “bowel” and “bowl”:
The explorer devoured a bowel of cereal before setting off to explore the bowls of the earth. (Ick. Okay, this one could force me to poke out my eyes; and stop eating cereal.)
“Brake” and “break” consistently cause confusion:
He watched the waves braking against the shore. (This one almost makes sense, since the water does slow and stop briefly before flowing out again. Still, I’ll stick with “breaking.”)
She quickly put her foot on the break. (Trying to prevent more breaks from forming, perhaps? If she’s trying to stop her car, she should really use the brake.)
And let’s not forget “bear” and “bare,” two old favorites:
The hapless hiker was mauled by a bare. (A bare what? A hairless mountain lion, perhaps?)
He gave her a big bare hug. (In this case, context is everything. If the hug occurs at a family reunion, it’s probably a “bear” hug; however, if the reunion takes place at a nudist resort, you should query the author—tactfully.)
As always, the amusingly misused words are actual errors I have seen in unedited manuscripts. The amusing sentences in which they appear, however, are my own.
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02.05.09
Posted in The Word at 3:19 pm by Administrator
Since we’ve just had a presidential inauguration, I thought this would be the perfect time to review these frequently confused words.
Capital refers to the city that is the seat of government for a country, state, etc. (Please note there are several other meanings as well, but this is the one that seems to cause confusion. Consult your dictionary for a complete definition.)
Washington, D.C., is our nation’s capital.
Capitol refers to the building in which a governing body meets.
Congress meets in the U.S. Capitol building.
Putting it all together,
One of the most famous buildings in our nation’s capital is the U.S. Capitol.
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02.03.09
Posted in Writer's Resource at 4:16 pm by Administrator
Some of the best resources are those you create for yourself. A writing calendar can help you set and meet goals and keep track of your work over the course of the year. All you need is a calendar with enough space to record a goal or accomplishment on any given day. If you plan on entering a contest, write the deadline on your calendar. If you’re setting your own weekly, monthly, or other deadlines, write them on your calendar. When you meet or beat a deadline, add a fancy sticker to the date to mark your success. (I know this sounds like second grade, but even disciplined writers need to have fun! I once motivated myself for almost a whole year with cute penguin stickers.) At the end of the year you will be able to flip through your calendar and feel the warm glow of your writing success.
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