Observing & Writing Dialog With James Wymore

James Wymore is my featured guest this week and, since I had technical difficulties and am late in posting this interview, I hope you’ll help me make it up to him with an extra warm welcome and generous clicks on his links!

On a lifelong search for fantastic worlds hiding just out of sight, James Wymore writes to explore.  With three books and six short stories in print after just one year, he continues to push the boundaries of imagination.  Journey with him at http://jameswymore.wordpress.com

First, please tell us a bit about what you write and why dialog is important in your work.

I write science-fiction and fantasy.  Because my worlds are fictional, it’s even more important to have good dialogue.  Dialogue is how characters establish their personality, fears, and desires.  A believable character can help readers suspend disbelief and accept the world those characters live in.  If they don’t connect with the characters through the dialogue, they won’t like the story.

Listening is an integral piece of "people watching". Do you "people listen" automatically, or do you make a deliberate effort?

When I was a young writer, I once recorded a conversation with friends and transcribed the whole thing onto paper as an experiment.  Although I’d enjoyed the conversation, it produced the most boring dialogue ever.  I learned that dialogue is not “real.”  Although I occasionally catch a bit of conversation that will pique my interest or inspire me, good dialogue has to flow out of the characters and advance the story.

Humans exchange a lot of information paraverbally, that is, through intonation, pacing/rhythm, volume, and enunciation. What paraverbal cues are you most sensitive or tuned into as an author, an observer, and a participant?

Body language and inflection, such as for sarcasm, can be difficult to portray well in dialogue.  Small actions help, but they can slow the pace down if not done sparingly.  This is why we can be fascinated with somebody in a live conversation, but find the same words dull on paper.  I tend to watch people’s eyes in live conversation.  So most of the paraverbal cues I write have to do with people making eye contact, looking to the side, or nodding.  I love innuendo, puns, and similar usages, though they can be tricky in dialogue.

Do you enjoy writing dialog? Is there anything about writing dialog that you find challenging?

Yes, I love writing dialogue.  The challenge for me is knowing where to break up the flow with actions or description so it doesn’t slow the conversation down but it keeps the imagination flowing.  When the characters are in trouble and the pressure is building, that’s when the right dialogue is awesome.

What have you learned about yourself and your relationships by observing real life & fictional dialog?

I’m that person who always thinks of just the right thing to say about five minutes after the moment has passed.  Luckily, I can still put it in a book.  Although it’s an unfair metric of measurement, I sometimes find myself comparing real life conversations to character dialogue in books.  I’ve found the really good conversation of my life, while not translated word for word, could become great dialogue.  Many of my most memorable conversations with friends have led to whole books and worlds I had to create from the spark of an idea we talked about at a barbecue in the summer.

Do you have any characters with catchphrases or verbal habits? What are they? How do these personal quirks add depth to your characters?

In the Actuator series, I have a character named Choi Yong-kyeong, friends call him Dragon Star, who is a Korean American.  I am not a fan of writing accents into the dialogue because it’s hard to read.  But I wanted something there to set him off as speaking just a little bit differently.  My genius editor, Chrystal Schlayer, suggested maybe he would not use any contractions.  Soon after making the change I knew it was a perfect fix.  It’s a subtle reminder to readers that his English isn’t perfect, it sets him apart from other characters, and it isn’t annoying by the end of the book.

Do your characters ever interrupt, cross-talk or change the subject? Do you use communication interference in your dialog? Why/Why not?

I have characters interrupted by other people or events.  It can add suspense to not hear the rest of something the character was saying, especially if it answers important questions.  It’s also realistic because life doesn’t wait for a pause in a monologue to happen.

Please share with us a dialog gem that you've recently overheard or participated in. What do you think makes this dialog interesting?

“If you are ever going to throw away metal bowls, or other meal containers, please bring them to me instead,” the Chemistry teacher said to his students.

     “What for?” one inquisitive teen asked.

     “For the thermite lab, we can burn them.”

     “Cool!” the students muttered.

     “What about colanders?” a girl in the back asked.

“Those especially, but they are starting to get valuable.  Much harder to find.   All the Pastafarians are buying them up, driving up the price.”

The students looked back and forth at each other.  The girl finally asked, “Pastafarians?  Don’t you mean…”

“Atheists,” the teacher said.  “Flying Spaghetti worshipers.  They use them for hats.  But if you have any, we can certainly use them.”

(I found this exchange hilarious.  Most of the students didn’t have any idea what the teacher was referring to, but he just kept going on as if it were the most normal conversation in the world.  The sudden change of topic to something completely out of the blue gives a perfect snap-shot of this science teacher and the things on his mind.)

Please share with us a dialog gem from your own writing. (If published, please share the title & link to purchase site.) What do you think makes this dialog interesting?

Here is a bit of dialogue I wrote from a short story called Forbidden Future (in an anthology by the same name).  I think the words tell more about the characters than volumes of description or actions could.

Once he ripped the flap off the envelope, and spread the papers across the receptionist’s desk, he called his wife back.

“What is this?”

“I’m sorry,” she said.  “It’s just not working.”

“But we talked about getting counseling.  Shouldn’t we at least try before we give up?  I already have some names of people I was going to suggest.”  He quickly entered ‘marriage counseling’ and their zip code into the search bar on his browser.  “Ellerman Family Services has a really great program and they’re less than a mile from our house.  We could go in the mornings after I get off.  They even have child care.”

“Too little, too late.  This has just been going on too long.  I won’t ask for more than what’s fair and you can have visitation whenever you want.”

“That’s not what these papers say.  This is the standard every other weekend nonsense.  You know that’s not fair.”

“You’re just not the man I married anymore,” she said.

“What are you talking about?  I’m exactly the man you married.  Same job, same everything.”

“Well maybe it’s that, then.  I thought you wanted more than to be a janitor.  You always said working graveyards would just be temporary until you finished your degree.”

“So that’s the real issue?  You’re embarrassed because you think I’m just a janitor?  This is a time-machine!  Don’t you understand how big that is?”

“I know you think it’s important,” she said.  He couldn’t stand her condescending voice.

“Look, can we talk about this later?  I can’t deal with this right now, I’m working.”

“Working?”   She actually laughed.  “Heaven forbid your divorce should interfere with dusting that stupid machine and reading books all night.”  She hung up.

Is there anything else about observing and writing dialog that you’d like to add?

My favorite books and movies have dialogue so amazing that I find myself quoting them all the time.  Books like “The Importance of Being Earnest” and movies like “Mystery Men” hold a veritable mine of dialogue gems.  I hope in my life I can learn to get so much character out of so few words.  Other times a whole story might build up to a single, perfect sentence.  “Go ahead, make my day.”  Such words hold amazing power.  I stand in awe of and hope to emulate writers capable of wielding language with so much impact.

Website/blog:  http://jameswymore.wordpress.com

Twitter: @JamesWymore

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/JasWymore

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/James-Wymore/e/B00BI1FZI2/

Observing & Writing Dialog With Amy Lynn Spitzley

Amy Lynn Spitzley

Please help me make welcome this week’s feature author, Amy Lynn Spitzley!

Amy Lynn Spitzley lives, writes, daydreams, and walks by the shores of a Great Lake in Traverse City, Michigan. She has two goofy children and one British husband. She finds writing for teens is where it’s at because they tend to be informal, character driven, and causal. (Plus, the dialogue is really fun!)

When not writing, she can be found creating collages or making faces at formality until it gives up and hides under the kitchen table.

First, please tell us a bit about what you write and why dialog is important in your work.

I write young adult fantasy, or variants of it. My first book, Scrapbook of my Revolution, is urban fantasy, and my upcoming book, Viola Doyle, is classified as neo-Victorian. Why is dialogue important in fantasy? Because it sets the tone, like it does anywhere. A modern teenager speaks differently than one did in the 1800’s. When I’m reading, I notice slip-ups in dialogue immediately. One word can do it. “Guys” didn’t exist in the Victorian days any more than “lads” does in America now…but “lads” still does in England. I like knowing my setting and making sure the people speak for it without sounding stiff.

Listening is an integral piece of "people watching". Do you "people listen" automatically, or do you make a deliberate effort?

Both! When I wrote Scrapbook of my Revolution I hung out in front of a popular bookstore downtown in the summer evenings. It was my only time to write and I think some of the speech I heard seeped into the story. There are times when I try to listen to kids, too, but for the most part I just take in what’s around me.

Humans exchange a lot of information paraverbally, that is, through intonation, pacing/rhythm, volume, and enunciation. What paraverbal cues are you most sensitive or tuned into as an author, an observer, and a participant?

To me these are the most important. If the cadence of your sentence is off, it’ll all be off. I see this in new authors trying to write British dialogue, for example. It’s not about incorporating slang. It’s about using everyday words in a slightly different way. “I’ve not got that,” is going to sound more authentic than “Hullo, guv’nor!” in almost any context.

Do you enjoy writing dialog? Is there anything about writing dialog that you find challenging?

 I do like it. Actually it’s one of my favorite things to write. The hard thing is trying to get rid of stuff like ellipses and dashes. In real life people generally trail off at the end of a sentence but if you show that all the time it’s impossible to read. The balance can be interesting to achieve.

What have you learned about yourself and your relationships by observing real life & fictional dialog?

Well, I mumble a hell of a lot! I embrace some slang words and hate others, and I’m sure it looks totally arbitrary to anyone else. I think, to some extent, we all have our own little mini-languages, you know? Also, I’m very informal. I embrace that in myself. I don’t do uppity well, and I don’t write it well, so my characters tend to be on the casual side, too.

Do you have any characters with catchphrases or verbal habits? What are they? How do these personal quirks add depth to your characters?

Sure. It makes sense to. It was pointed out to me that some of the teens in Scrapbook were sounding a little alike, for instance, so I gave Daniel the phrase “Right.” He doesn’t use it constantly, and he’s not a main character, but I do think it tends to help make him HIM. Also, Bree swears the most, Kev uses the overt sexual references, and Amber ends up being more of the peacemaker than she wants to, even in her dialogue.

Do your characters ever interrupt, cross-talk or change the subject? Do you use communication interference in your dialog? Why/Why not?

Well, yeah, cause I write ‘em real! You can’t do that sort of thing all the time but dialogue without interruption is just an exercise in what not to do.

Please share with us a dialog gem that you've recently overheard or participated in. What do you think makes this dialog interesting?
 

Oh man. Well…I have a son, age 11, who has mild Asperger’s Syndrome. Most of the things that he says are interesting and unexpected. He loves puns, for instance, so one day when I was saying goodnight to him I came up with a bad pun I thought he’d love. I don’t even remember what it was, but he just looked at me.

“What?” I said. “I thought that was a good one!”

“Amateur,” he told me.

Now, needless to say I tickled the hell out of him for that, but I think it’s interesting because it’s not what you expect a kid to say, and it shows the parent being brought down to size. The kid is clever, I’ll give him that!

This is a delightful example and made me grin!

Please share with us a dialog gem from your own writing. (If published, please share the title & link to purchase site.) What do you think makes this dialog interesting?

Here’s one from Scrapbook of my Revolution, available here. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17715904-scrapbook-of-my-revolution?bf=1000&from_search=true

http://www.amazon.com/Scrapbook-Revolution-Amy-Lynn-Spitzley/dp/1620071878

“So, how long you all been together, then?” the Hobo asked.

“Not long.”

“Just this year.”

“Amber got us together.”

Three of us spoke at the same time, and everyone laughed. The Hobo thumped his hand on the arm of the recliner he sat in.

“Enthusiasm!” he said. “I love it. Passion’s a grand thing when it’s not misguided.”

“Don’t get him goin’,” moaned Clay.

“Hobo’s met more’n his fair share of misguided types,” David explained.

The Hobo ignored his bandmates. “Heard of a bloke called Baronson, haven’t you?”

“Vaguely,” I said. “Not exactly a friend to us.”

“Not exactly, no. He came to our concert a few days ago, just to complain about our practices. Now, we don’t take kindly to bein’ bitched at…”

“Although some of us are well used to it,” muttered David.

Daniel choked on a laugh. The Hobo plowed ahead, intent on making his point.

“Yeah, well, that one’s a right head case. Finally had to pitch him out.”

“You threw Abraham Baronson out of your concert?” Casey repeated.

“On his arse,” said Clay.

“Nah, we were nice about it,” disagreed Junior, still tapping away with his sticks.

“He left without convincin’ us to change our policies. And he made the acquaintance of a very large, well-paid mate of ours,” said the Hobo. “But he only hurt his pride, as they say.”

I think this is interesting because although accents are implied, they aren’t overused. They differentiate between the characters, but you get other bits telling you that some of these guys speak differently than the others. It’s got some humor and it’s got a lot of people speaking, but I don’t think it’s too convoluted. It’s not JUST speaking, either. There are a few other things happening, gestures and tapping with drumsticks, to set the scene.

Is there anything else about observing and writing dialog that you’d like to add?

I think you’ll know if you do it well.

People will tell you. It’s the sort of thing that’s noticeable, that makes a book sparkle. If you don’t feel like you’ve got it, keep trying! It can be learned. Better to keep polishing it than keep crappy dialogue in a book. Your people need to speak like themselves, but they can’t tell the whole story, either. Good dialogue needs to mesh with the rest of the story. It needs to be GOOD. Anything else is unacceptable.

http://curiosityquills.com/viola-doyle-unconventional-gift/

Purchase pages for Scrapbook-- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17715904-scrapbook-of-my-revolution?bf=1000&from_search=true

http://www.amazon.com/Scrapbook-Revolution-Amy-Lynn-Spitzley/dp/1620071878

Observing & Writing Dialog With Tracy Shawn

Tracy Shawn

One of the elements of Twitter that I find endlessly fascinating is how much we manage to convey of ourselves within the succinct and compact format of 140 characters or less. I met Tracy Shawn on Twitter and from our first conversation, I was struck by the sense of hard-earned wisdom and quiet kindness that Tracy exudes through her digital presence. I hope you will enjoy Tracy’s insights as much as I have.

Tracy Shawn lives and writes on the Central Coast of California. Her educational background includes a master’s degree in clinical psychology. Her debut novel, The Grace of Crows, is about how an anxiety-ridden woman finds happiness through the most unexpected of ways—and characters. Praised as a “stunning debut novel” by top 50 Hall of Fame reviewer, Grady Harp, The Grace of Crows has also been hailed as a “deeply moving heroine’s journey” by award-winning author Janet Lucy. 

First, please tell us a bit about what you write and why dialog is important in your work.

The genre of my debut novel, The Grace of Crows, is women’s fiction. It’s a story about how an anxiety-ridden woman finds happiness through the most unexpected of ways—and characters.

The importance of dialog in my work is that I not only use it to move the story ahead, but to also paint a deeper picture of what is behind a character’s motives, personality, and even history.

Listening is an integral piece of "people watching". Do you "people listen" automatically, or do you make a deliberate effort?

That’s a good question. I actually do both. I have a master’s in clinical psychology and the schooling really helped hone my listening skills. During grad school and through my internships, I was taught to listen to beyond what was being said and pick up cues such as tone, body language, and facial expressions.

Humans exchange a lot of information paraverbally, that is, through intonation, pacing/rhythm, volume, and enunciation. What paraverbal cues are you most sensitive or tuned into as an author, an observer, and a participant?

Interestingly, I’m very observant to what is not being said. So many people are great at avoiding what they don’t want to acknowledge or confront. In fact I know someone who has a very difficult time acknowledging what others are going through. If anyone dares to share something with her, she acts as if she doesn’t hear and goes right into how hard her life is. After observing this pattern for many years, I realize that she’s somehow wired her brain not to hear other people’s hardships. It’s very interesting and I used to get annoyed by it, but now I work things like that into my writing. It’s great to be able to use stuff like this!

Do you enjoy writing dialog? Is there anything about writing dialog that you find challenging?

I love writing dialog. One of my first writing teachers, Duane Unkefer, taught me that dialog is actually a form of action. After taking that in, I saw that dialog helps pump energy into a story and I consciously write with that goal in mind.

The most challenging part of writing dialog for me is making sure that each of my characters sounds different from one another. It’s easy to create distinct voices between men and women, the young and not-so-young, and people of different cultures.  Yet, two close friends, who aren’t only peers, but spend a lot of time together, naturally start to sound alike in real life. It can be challenging to make sure there’s that realism in the story, yet also make sure that there’s a different “flavoring” in dialog between the two personalities.

What have you learned about yourself and your relationships by observing real life & fictional dialog?

Referring back to what I said before about how often people skirt around questions in both real life and fictional dialog, I realize that although it’s usually a poor form of communication, it can actually help decrease tension as well as possible arguments. I believe that’s one of the more positive reasons that people have developed this “skill!”

Do you have any characters with catchphrases or verbal habits? What are they? How do these personal quirks add depth to your characters?

In The Grace of Crows, I made the husband sometimes interrupt the protagonist, Saylor, because I wanted to show that he didn’t really want to hear what she was saying. I also made sure that Saylor’s best friend, Lucy’s, speech pattern was more sharp-sounding than Saylor’s, since Lucy was a more “snappy” kind of character. I also had Saylor say that she was sorry too often to show the regret and shame of anxiety.

Please share with us a dialog gem that you've recently overheard or participated in. What do you think makes this dialog interesting?

Just today, I was chatting to some gym buddies, and when I asked how they were doing, one of them said, “Just excellent,” while the other one shook his head, grinning and said, “Terrible, simply terrible.” I bet you can guess which one loves cheese and has a wicked sense of humor and which one is the lean vegetarian and has an infectious optimism.

Please share with us a dialog gem from your own writing. (If published, please share the title & link to purchase site.) What do you think makes this dialog interesting?

This is a scene from The Grace of Crows (www.tracyshawn.com or www.amazon.com/author/tracyshawn). It takes place in a coffee shop, where the protagonist, Saylor, meets a man named Lenny. What I like about this dialog is that it shows the magic of how we can sometimes engage in meaningful, life-changing conversations with chance-met strangers.

“They are survivors, aren’t they?” Saylor found herself whispering.

“That’s what I mean.” Lenny tipped back the rest of his tea. “They are survivors. But not only that, they have grace.”

“Grace?” I’ve never heard the word grace attributed to crows.” Saylor thought how grace was one of those words that actually sounded just like the attributes it was meant to convey: ease and beauty, thankfulness and blessing.

“The grace of crows is the kind of grace that’s straightforward and honest,” Lenny said, the low bass of his voice reverent-sounding. “It’s not the dainty, phony stuff that so many people think makes them look good. It’s the steadfast strength to carry on.”

“The steadfast strength to carry on,” Saylor repeated. “You’re right, Lenny; that is grace, isn’t it?”

Is there anything else about observing and writing dialog that you’d like to add?

Sometimes it helps to act out a scene, as if you’re an actor playing a role. My cats are so used to me doing this that they simply yawn when they watch me speak the “lines” of one character, and then physically move across my living room to answer as the next character in a completely different voice! Doing this not only helps me to tighten dialog, but it can also help me to use the right body language and gestures within my dialog.

www.amazon.com/author/tracyshawn

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