By Jo Sandhu
At this year's conference I'll be talking about Dialogue. We can learn so much about our characters through their conversations.
We can learn what motivates them - their hopes, their fears, their jealousies.
What drives them? What makes them hesitate? What has them green with envy or so frustrated and angry that they hiss and spit and make mistakes? What are their values? Their morals? Their prejudices? What do they want to keep secret?
Dialogue can reveal so much.
As authors, we evoke emotions by choreographing our characters and what they say, or don't say, and how they say it. Long rambling sentences or short sharp bursts of sarcasm? Hesitant half sentences or incoherent noises? Shouts? Screams? Whispers?
We reveal their flaws and inconsistencies. What a great thing to reveal! Flaws deepen our characters and make them believable and authentic.
Dialogue reveals conflict. Conflict drives the plot and adds tension. What a great skill to have in our toolbox!
Most importantly, dialogue allows us, the author, to step out of the way and let our characters tell their story.
I'm looking forward to talking more about Dialogue – Tips, Tricks and Punctuation on July 17.
Jo will be presenting Dialogue: Tips, Tricks and Punctuation on Saturday, 17 July 2021, 1:15:00 pm AEST
The workshop covers:
The functions of dialogue
The basic rules
Structure and punctuation
Speech tags
Tips and problems