I have been told by my writers’ group, a modest gathering of enthusiastic authors, that I am good at writing dialogue. By “modest” I mean the most we have at one time around the table is seven. Maybe “small” is the better word, but “modest” does send the message that we like our “smallness” and plan to stay that way thank you.
What I realized about my writing after finishing three novels and now fifty pages into a fourth is that I write scenes and then chain those together with narrative.
In my imagination I watch the scene unfold, the characters move, interact with each other and the props in the scene. And then I just listen to them. I even sound like them when I read my writing aloud.
My characters come from every person I’ve ever known, or imagined knowing, or from an amalgamation of those. For example, even in a Rotary meeting or at church I am looking and listening and considering mannerisms, intonations, and accents. I am easily distracted from the speaker and the preacher because the people watching I do is so entertaining.
Since both the Rotarians and the Baptists tend to be old like me, I always imagine what a person might look and sound like fifty, sixty years younger. Then I put him in a scene and let him talk. I give him a voice.
All of my books are set in Georgia, so what I know, what I’ve heard all my 77 years is there in my brain. It’s a wonder I can think about anything else my head is so stuffed with stuff. Once I get a story going, I dream about my characters. They begin to tell their story. They give me the scenes. And when I hit a snag, they tell me where the story needs to go next.
So when you read my books, think about how I write dialogue. But remember, if ever I meet you, you may one day find yourself in one of them!
