The Chronicles of Joya

Thursday – Writing Tips Day

April 26th, 2012

Been having fun with your dialogue? I hope so. Here’s another tip to make your dialogue sing.

1. Avoid over explanation. It can take away the natural feel of your story. Here’s how NOT to do it:

“Long time no see.”

“Yes, It’s been three months. Last time I saw you we were at the away game and you’d just been told by your dad that he was going to move away and you didn’t want to go. And you were upset that he wanted to take your sister and not you.”

You wouldn’t say this, so don’t get your characters to say it! Show us and make it natural. How about this to start your ideas rolling ….

“Long time no see.”

“Yeah, how’s it going?”

Dan shrugged, stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“So your back with your mum now?”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Yep. Lasted 3 days with my dad and sister. Don’t know who wound me up more.“

Imagine you’re in the scene. How would you react? What would you say? Happy writing! Liane x

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Wednesday – Help Yourself Day

April 25th, 2012

Hey, everyone. It’s Teal! So how are things down on Earth? Busy, busy, busy?

Do you get stressed in the morning rushing around to get ready?

Just for today slooooooooooooow down. Notice all the things you do as you do them. Hear the brushing of your teeth, the grains of toast or cereal in your teeth and on your tongue at breakfast. Being in the now will give you a cooler start to the day.

Happy Wednesday! Teal. xxx

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Tuesday – Creative Flow and Ideas Day

April 24th, 2012

Yo, yo, yo. Freddie’s in the house. How you guys doing? Let’s get creative.

You open up your laptop and switch it on. Instead of the normal whirring, it crackles and you hear a giggle inside the keyboard. Your eyes widen.

What happens next? Over to you, guys. Happy Tuesday! Freddie xx

1 Comment »

Thursday – Writing Tips Day

April 19th, 2012

Natural dialogue can be tough to put on the page. Here are some tips to make it easy.

1. Cut out daily life waffle. We don’t need to read “How are you?” “Yes, I’m good. What about you?” “Oh, not so bad. Cold today, isn’t it?”

Make sure your dialogue moves the action forward, tells the reader about the character, or both.

2. Use contractions. We rarely say in every day language I do not want to or I would not be happy. Nor do realistic characters. Use don’t, wouldn’t , I’m and we’re in your dialogue. Save the full form for emphasis to show a stamping of feet, frustration, anger.

3. Avoid full sentences if it suits your characters:

“Going to the match Saturday?”

“No. Got a wedding.”

Dialogue is fun. Delve in, experiment and enjoy yourself. Happy Thursday! Liane x

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Wednesday – Help Yourself Day

April 18th, 2012

Having a bad day? Sometimes you need to try a few things to see what will help. Maybe you need a rest, sometimes it’s good to jump up and dance your emotion out around the room and sometimes it helps if you just talk to someone about it. And if you have no one to talk to about it, or don’t want to, write it all out. You’ll feel better and you can always rip it up afterwards.

Happy Wednesday. Liane x

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Tuesday – Creative Flow and Ideas Day

April 17th, 2012

Yo, Freddie’s in the house. How you guys doing? Let’s get those creative juices flowing.

It’s hot. You’re stretched out on the grass in the park with your eyes closed. But then something wet drops on your cheek. You open your eyes, jump up and ….

What happens next? Over to you, guys. Happy Tuesday! Freddie xx

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Thursday – Writing Tips Day

April 12th, 2012

It’s spring. How would your character talk about it? Does he celebrate it? Think about what your character looks like, what background he comes from, how he walks. All of these things give you an idea of how he would speak. With those details in mind, have him in a spring scene caught in an April shower or running in a field of flowers or searching for a stray lamb.

Happy Thursday! Liane x

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Wednesday – Help Yourself Day

April 11th, 2012

Just for today, be nice to everyone. Sound easy? I want you to start with YOU.

Are you always nice to yourself or do you tell yourself you’re an idiot when you drop something or say something you wish you hadn’t said? If you do, stop. It’s great to turn our thoughts upside down and play with them. There’s real power in it. Have fun. So if you do something you wish you hadn’t today, be kind to yourself with your inner dialogue.

Once you start treating yourself with the respect you deserve, it’s easy to do the same to everyone else.

Good luck. I’m going to give it a go on Joya. Wish me luck! Teal xxx

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Tuesday – Creative Flow and Ideas Day

April 10th, 2012

Hey! Freddie’s in the house. What’s happenin’, guys? Ready to get those creative juices going and write a little story? Okay I’ll start you off.

You wake up and realise you missed your alarm. You’re two hours late! You leap out of bed and rush to the door but it won’t open. Why?

Over to you, guys. Happy Tuesday! Freddie xx

2 Comments »

Thursday – Writing Tips Day

April 5th, 2012

Last Thursday we looked at speaker attributions and the importance of sticking to he said and she said. Do we always need speaker attributions? Absolutely not. Read your story aloud and see where you can drop them. Look at this piece of dialogue.

“Do you know what I want?” Josh said.

“No.” Caitlyn said. “Do you?”

“Yes, and it’s not spending the day with you,” Josh said.

“Fine,” Caitlyn said.

There’s no need for all these attributions. We can ditch the last two. And we can also place a bit of action between dialogue instead of attributions. How about this?

Josh prodded his chest with his thumb. “Do you know what I want?”

“No,” Caitlyn said. “Do YOU?”

“Yes, and it’s not spending the day with you.”

“Fine.”

Play around with a passage of dialogue in a book and have fun seeing what enhances it. Many times it’s a question of taking something out.

Happy Thursday! Liane x

Add comment »

Been having fun with your dialogue? I hope so. Here’s another tip to make your dialogue sing.

1. Avoid over explanation. It can take away the natural feel of your story. Here’s how NOT to do it:

“Long time no see.”

“Yes, It’s been three months. Last time I saw you we were at the away game and you’d just been told by your dad that he was going to move away and you didn’t want to go. And you were upset that he wanted to take your sister and not you.”

You wouldn’t say this, so don’t get your characters to say it! Show us and make it natural. How about this to start your ideas rolling ….

“Long time no see.”

“Yeah, how’s it going?”

Dan shrugged, stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“So your back with your mum now?”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Yep. Lasted 3 days with my dad and sister. Don’t know who wound me up more.“

Imagine you’re in the scene. How would you react? What would you say? Happy writing! Liane x

Hey, everyone. It’s Teal! So how are things down on Earth? Busy, busy, busy?

Do you get stressed in the morning rushing around to get ready?

Just for today slooooooooooooow down. Notice all the things you do as you do them. Hear the brushing of your teeth, the grains of toast or cereal in your teeth and on your tongue at breakfast. Being in the now will give you a cooler start to the day.

Happy Wednesday! Teal. xxx

Yo, yo, yo. Freddie’s in the house. How you guys doing? Let’s get creative.

You open up your laptop and switch it on. Instead of the normal whirring, it crackles and you hear a giggle inside the keyboard. Your eyes widen.

What happens next? Over to you, guys. Happy Tuesday! Freddie xx

Natural dialogue can be tough to put on the page. Here are some tips to make it easy.

1. Cut out daily life waffle. We don’t need to read “How are you?” “Yes, I’m good. What about you?” “Oh, not so bad. Cold today, isn’t it?”

Make sure your dialogue moves the action forward, tells the reader about the character, or both.

2. Use contractions. We rarely say in every day language I do not want to or I would not be happy. Nor do realistic characters. Use don’t, wouldn’t , I’m and we’re in your dialogue. Save the full form for emphasis to show a stamping of feet, frustration, anger.

3. Avoid full sentences if it suits your characters:

“Going to the match Saturday?”

“No. Got a wedding.”

Dialogue is fun. Delve in, experiment and enjoy yourself. Happy Thursday! Liane x

Happy Wednesday. Liane x

Yo, Freddie’s in the house. How you guys doing? Let’s get those creative juices flowing.

It’s hot. You’re stretched out on the grass in the park with your eyes closed. But then something wet drops on your cheek. You open your eyes, jump up and ….

What happens next? Over to you, guys. Happy Tuesday! Freddie xx

Happy Thursday! Liane x

Just for today, be nice to everyone. Sound easy? I want you to start with YOU.

Once you start treating yourself with the respect you deserve, it’s easy to do the same to everyone else.

Good luck. I’m going to give it a go on Joya. Wish me luck! Teal xxx

Hey! Freddie’s in the house. What’s happenin’, guys? Ready to get those creative juices going and write a little story? Okay I’ll start you off.

You wake up and realise you missed your alarm. You’re two hours late! You leap out of bed and rush to the door but it won’t open. Why?

Over to you, guys. Happy Tuesday! Freddie xx

Last Thursday we looked at speaker attributions and the importance of sticking to he said and she said. Do we always need speaker attributions? Absolutely not. Read your story aloud and see where you can drop them. Look at this piece of dialogue.

“Do you know what I want?” Josh said.

“No.” Caitlyn said. “Do you?”

“Yes, and it’s not spending the day with you,” Josh said.

“Fine,” Caitlyn said.

There’s no need for all these attributions. We can ditch the last two. And we can also place a bit of action between dialogue instead of attributions. How about this?

Josh prodded his chest with his thumb. “Do you know what I want?”

“No,” Caitlyn said. “Do YOU?”

“Yes, and it’s not spending the day with you.”

“Fine.”

Play around with a passage of dialogue in a book and have fun seeing what enhances it. Many times it’s a question of taking something out.

Happy Thursday! Liane x

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