I could swear that I’ve written about writing dialogue in the past, but I can’t find it in the Substack backlog and I don’t feel like searching through the pre-Substack Dispatches, so here goes, from Ferles: “Writing realistic dialogue is something I find hard and intimidating. I read a lot of books and that has helped me detect dialogue that seems unrealistic, but hasn't really seemed to help me create dialogue myself.
I've never really had difficulty with dialogue... It doesn't seem to be my weak spot. When I have readers, I usually get compliments on that.
My difficulty is in plot. I've been writing (or rather, trying to write) since 8th grade (1979), and my biggest problem is always losing the thread of where I'm going. So after a chapter or two or three.. I just sort of peter out because I can't see where to go anymore. A no longer leads to B or C.
I've never really had difficulty with dialogue... It doesn't seem to be my weak spot. When I have readers, I usually get compliments on that.
My difficulty is in plot. I've been writing (or rather, trying to write) since 8th grade (1979), and my biggest problem is always losing the thread of where I'm going. So after a chapter or two or three.. I just sort of peter out because I can't see where to go anymore. A no longer leads to B or C.