What Bores You?

[megster1992]

That's why I usually only write their names in the dialogue if it's an important conversation like "Listen, Bella, the reason I want to do this is..." to catch their attention.

And yeah, I try to use modern slang in dialogue (with teenagers, anyway) because that's how they talk. And yet one of my Beta's kept correcting me on that.

What bores me...switching POVs. Sometimes it's okay, but if switch your POV to a character and have them re-live every moment that we saw through someone else's eyes, then yeah, that gets boring. I don't want to re-read all of the same dialogue, you know?

[JocelynTorrent]

I learned somewhere that switching POVs is almost always a sign of poor writing. Because if you can't make the reader see what you want them to see through one character you're not doing a good job. The only exclusions are if it's an entirely different scene with a character that hasn't truly become a part of the story yet

[lemonelephant]

Oh yeah. Don't switch POV.
I never liked it much, it's like use that as something to help you make the story more detailed. If you switch POV you let every secret that would potentially keep readers interested out.

But like Hollow did at the end of Blood Solstice and used a few different POVs to show us what could happen next, that was interesting to read.

[JocelynTorrent]

Exactly. First person can be the hardest but most rewarding writing style if you put in the work. Force the reader to see something that not even your first person character can see. it's epic when that happens

[lemonelephant]

totes



(;

[Deleted]

Getting chills just thinking about it...

[JocelynTorrent]

Lol you are such a goober, sunshine. Love it

[Hollowgo]

Feb 22, 2011 11:47:57 GMT azb said:

Feb 21, 2011 19:48:02 GMT Hollowgo said:

Interesting. Well what do you consider to be bad/stilted/cold dialogue, if I may ask?

Contractions/age-related speech patterns have to be used to varying degrees according to the character. I don't want a 15 year old kid to speak flawlessly, or a 50 year old to use modern slang. (of course, depending on the character themselves, because if they're a toothless hillbilly then I'd be fine with less that perfect grammar)

Pacing is important, too. Don't write dialogue as though it's a sentence being read aloud - write it as though it's being spoken, and you can hear the pauses or stutters or run-together words. Dialogue can be flawed, and almost has to be. Character-based spoken quirks are needed to remove that 'cold' aspect of it all. Of course, again, age/experience/lifestyle has an impact on just how flawed dialogue can be, but it definitely needs to vary character to character.

How often names are used is pretty crucial, as well. Don't end/start every statement in, just say, Susan. "That's funny, Susan", "What do you want to do today, Susan?", "Susan, your freaking cat has gotten out again." People hardly ever actually say each other's names, when in conversation with each other. On greeting, to get attention, when saying bye.

I could probably go on, but I figure I've said enough

Thank you for the pointers, azb. I appreciate them greatly.

I just realized that one of my flaws is overusing the character's name in dialogue when it isn't really necessary. So I can go back and correct that little mistake now that I know. I know that there are exceptions, so I'll keep that in mind, but most of what I've got now is unnecessary. So thank you.

If you have more to say, then please, say it. I'm taking what I learn and using that to my advantage.

[yurianimelover...The Kidd]

i know nobody probably reading this but it bores me when i can completely predict the whole story. Like its one thing to give clues as to what is going to happen but if i can read one chapter and pretty much guess the next then i dont like to read it. that gets boring really fast