Writing Tip & Prompt: Conversations

Writing Tip - ConversationOn Fridays, we like to share writing tips and tricks with our readers. We hope this section will encourage and inspire you to continually improve as a writer.

Writing Tip – Conversations

We write our stories in statements which typically transcends into dialogue between characters. Too many statements within your dialogue may leave your conversation flat on its page. Try adding questions mixed within the dialogue to perk up the flow. True conversation is full of questions and tag questions (you know?) as a tool for inviting a response. A mix of commands, interjections and questions will help keep your dialogue flowing and the pages rolling.

Writing Prompt – Plot Momentum

Momentum within a narrative is developed through the urge to find out what has happened in the past and discover what will happen next. By slowly unfolding the story for readers, the writer creates a lean towards what may come. As a reader, we develop conclusions for each character and the story’s events. If you are in the middle of reading a book, place it aside and imagine the remaining pages do not exist. Consider all possibilities for your characters … If A does this, B will do that, which will affect C in this way. But if B doesn’t then maybe D will do this. Write a short piece that follows one of these avenues, and see how the direction you choose enhances the momentum of your story.

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