When I pick up a romance novel, I expect the interactions between the hero and heroine to draw me right in and keep me engaged in the story. There’s chemistry, right? Physical attraction probably draws them together initially but so much more is required to propel the story forward. Just like an awkward social interaction at a real life party, where you clutch your drink, reach for another appetizer and pray someone rescues you pronto … cheesy, flat dialogue in a romance novel has the same undesirable effect: the reader wants out.
Take heart. Good reading requires tremendous effort on the part of the writer. I think in our first draft, especially if we haven’t written a lot of scenes with the characters interacting, dialogue can feel robotic and staged. Don’t be discouraged. Keep going and you can always improve it.
Today I’m featuring three key posts that will help you write dialogue that keeps your story flowing and the reader engaged.
- Jody Hedlund has so many fantastic tips on her blog. If you haven’t had a chance, stop by and visit. More importantly, pick up one of her historical romances. You won’t be disappointed. I just finished her latest, Rebellious Heart. It was incredible. In this particular post, she talks about how dialogue is the ‘oxygen’ that breathes life into our story. Click here for 7 Ways to Develop Dazzling Dialogue.
- Joanna Penn’s site, The Creative Penn, is another excellent resource for writing and marketing. In this post she teams up with Ali Luke from the Writer’s Huddle and touches on several mistakes writers make with dialogue and how we can avoid them.
- It’s not a romance novel without an argument, right? Romance University featured this post by K.M. Weiland about the role of conflict in writing good dialogue.
Your turn: any tips about writing great dialogue that you’d like to share? Any epiphanies or resources that helped you take your dialogue writing to the next level?
