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Category Archives: Writing great dialogue

WRITING AND VERBAL EXPRESSIONS

Posted on August 24, 2015 by writ7707 Posted in Uncategorized 2 Comments

Writing Practice and Meeting up with your MUSE

Writing Leap #56

Hi Writers,

My sister, Laurie, and I were laughing recently and reminiscing about our late mother’s wonderful farm town expressions. They were part of her even after many years of living outside a big city. Mary Magriel was a country girl from upstate New York and her turns of phrase revealed so much about her nature, her background, her era and what tickled her.

What about giving your characters expressions that express their personalities, perhaps their biases or fears. Particular turns of phrase, either unique to your character or not, is one way to give readers a gateway into your character’s make-up and your fictional world.

So writers, listen to your characters! How do they express themselves? They may be telling you a lot.

Mary Magriel’s Expressions: What they reveal about her.

Some of these are doozies. Her word. Thank you to my sister for remembering so many and for enjoying them together all over again.

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

Our mother would persist until she figured out a solution. Nothing was too much for her. Fitting things in a tiny closet, dashing her famous tomato seedlings over to a friend right before it was time to prepare dinner.

“I like to trade at the local butcher.”

Does anybody today say, “trade at the “A &P?” No! Trade is a farm town term from an era gone by. I would think it came from the fact that farmers traded their crops for goods. Our mother “traded” with a sharp eye for quality.

“My heart is klopping.”

As in beating hard. She either made this up or it was some version of a Yiddish word. Our mother, a Protestant, adored Jewish expressions. Maybe it was an expression of her love for our father who was Jewish and who loved to joke around with old Yiddish sayings. She would laugh and laugh, pleasing our father no end.

“Slower than molasses in January.”  This just sounds really small town.

“Your father took us all the way around Robinson’s barn.”

There was no Robinson’s barn. It was how she expressed getting lost. Barns evoke rural environments and that’s where she grew up.

I wish my sister and I could remember more. Her farm town-isms bring her back.

Happy Writing! May you create many perfect expressions for your characters.

Autograph

LINKING THE ARTS

A Wonderful Book

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley: An authentic rural voice and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992

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A Funny Word

Hayseed, as in country boy. Slightly insulting. My father occasionally teased my mother about her high school boyfriend. “Only a hayseed like Tommy would say, ‘No matter how thin you slice it, it’s still baloney,'” my father kidded.

“Robinson’s Barn”

images

 

Red Barn by Esther Marie Versch

WRITING GREAT DIALOGUE

Posted on March 9, 2013 by writ7707 Posted in Uncategorized 1 Comment

To all my email subscribers: Click on Writing Great Dialogue above for full blog and color.

Playing Around with a Story Line in Different Literary Genres and Literary Modes

Hi Writers out there,

Dialogue is the fastest way to get your reader to connect with your characters.  It’s immediate.

A good thing for us writers to do is to tune into people talking; the cadence of their voice, the way they put words together, the emotions they evoke.  But to recapture on the page what people actually say we have to edit out the “uhs” and any words that don’t add to the flow of the plot. That’s our little writer’s secret on how to make dialogue read authentically.

We can’t be sneaky and try and use dialogue to give the poor reader extra information.  Instead, include the information in little beats, the action narrative you write in between the dialogue.

And we can’t let those seductive adverbs ruin our writing.  As in, she said graciously, lovingly, stupidly.  They distract as all seductresses do and they make editors sigh, amateur.  Adverbs may tempt you.  Show gumption!  Strangle them.

Story Line

 Moments, made up or real

Here’s mine.  It’s real.

     Sarah dropped her ski pole off the lift into the deep, rocky snow-covered gully below.  She and her little friend YiPei leaned way over in the chair and giggled.  YiPei dropped hers too.  More giggling.

     “Hey, you girls!  What the heck do you think you are doing?  Todd yelled at them from the chair behind.  He was trying to be their ski instructor.  “Cut that out!”

     “We’re sorry Toddie.”  Giggles.

     Two little girls in puffy snowsuits, wool hats with pom-poms and bibs that said “Snow Puppies” turned around and laughed.  

     “Let’s drop the other pole too,” Sarah said.

    Down went their second poles onto the trails below accompanied by giggles, giggles, giggles.

    “I’m warning you two,” Todd called out from behind.  He shook his ski pole at them.  “You’re not funny.”

     “O.K. We’re sorry Toddie.”

     Cascades of giggles.

     At the top of the mountain they skied off the lift.

     “O.K. wiseguys.  Get your smart-ass behinds back down the mountain.  Now!”

     Sarah and YiPei assumed their favorite tandem position, Sarah in front, skis in snowplow position, YiPei behind holding on to her waist, skis in snowplow position.  They took off down the mountain, leaving a trail of giggles.

     “No hot chocolate!  That’s for sure!  Todd yelled after them.

     ***

Very Happy Writing All,

Autograph

LINKING THE ARTS

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Sarah and YiPei having fun being naughty.

A Good Word

I love the word naughty.  As in spunky.

The Incredible Toni Morrison

writes dialogue like nobody else.

Just read through Beloved and you’ll see.

 

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