Like watching a movie

I love dialogue. Love, love, love.

If I go back to all my old favorites, Arsenic and Old Lace…Abbott and Costello, Breakfast at Tiffany’s…. Bringing up Baby. I could go on. The thing about those old movies is that they would have collapsed without good dialogue.  The time when movies were based on really good writing.

We’ve got that today, don’t get me wrong, but more often I like to sit down with a book and enjoy the lost art of dialogue and conversation–a witty read that pulls me into the character’s lives.

How do I apply that to my own writing? 

I see it in my head like an old-time movie. [okay, i'll admit, this movie line just cracks me up]

Bobe Hope on Zombies [sorry, the embeding html didn't work ]

Tags: dialogue, Movie lines, Writing

Talk to me

Dialogue. It’s what moves the story at a faster pace. It’s what drags the reader into the world of the character and breathes life into the scene you’ve created.

Can I talk to anyone in real life? YES.

Am I ever at a loss for words? HARDLY EVER!

But when it comes to my writing, I love my narratives and my descriptions and even those inner dialogues my characters have with themselves (hey, if I can talk to myself, why can’t they? ) - it just seems when I get those two people together on the page – I stop dead.

I’ll labor over those important words for DAYS. I’ll stare at the open quote mark and bang my head on the desk. If only my characters could all be telepathic mutes – I’d be fine

And the kicker? I struggle days over my dialogue and my crit partners comment how sparkling and easy it appears on the page.  HAHAHA. Thanks girls for the boost – just don’t ask how long those few lines of dialogue took me to write or how much blood was spilled for that one stinking scene. You really don’t want to know!

At my recent local RWA meeting,  I got some ideas that I plan to try this week – because as always, I’ve been staring at my hero’s blank response for just a little too long!

It was suggested I talk it out – yes, out loud. Okay, I talk to myself constantly…this should not be a problem. Why hadn’t I thought of this before?

Another suggestion was to write out the narrative and then convert as much as possible to dialogue (of course, without it being telling or an info-dump!) Another great suggestion – especially since I love my narratives.

What really surprised me is that some writers actually write the dialogue first. I almost passed out.  Of course it got me thinking about this and I wonder how many writers either struggle with dialogue or love it? What techniques do they employ to get that dialogue sounding real and in abundance?

This inquiring writer needs to know.

Tags: writing dialogue

How much is too much?

I used to read plenty of historicals, back in the day.
Most had the same theme, almost all of them featured a hero who pretty forcefully bedded the heroine, who then fell madly in love with him.
*insert eyeroll*
I once thought that was how romance had to be written.

So, how much is too much?

Let me give you a couple of examples –
One of my heroes drugs the heroine with something that gets her pretty darn hot under the collar, chains her naked to the bed, and films her. Then he sends the tape to the guy he thinks is her husband, to torment him. (Along with some pretty dire threats, I might add.)
Too much?
I don’t think so. He’s not forcing her as such, he’s not even touching her.
He also gets his comeuppance at her hands.
She essentially rapes him. (Result of the drug.)
Is that too much?

Another scene/chapter I have (different novel) is one where the hero reduces the heroine from a sassy, snarky, sexy young woman, to a naked, terrified, crying wreck on the bathroom floor.
Sounds awful, doesn’t it?
It’s what happens. There’s nothing he can do to prevent it, he doesn’t want to do it, but the end result is awful.
Still sounds awful, and I hear people go “You always have a choice”.
Yes. He has a choice. The other choice is letting her die.
Although she knows this, what happens to her at his hands is going to make both their lives hell.
So, is it too much?
Should I soften the blow, because reading that chapter is going to make a great many readers cringe? They won’t hate him, he’s doing it for all the right reasons, but it is going to make for a bit of dreadful reading.

I don’t like the old historicals anymore, but I wonder how we will react to some things written today, in ten years time.

You tell me.
How much is too much? Can you justify away everything? Or not?
Does a taboo only apply to physical violence, or is mental torture just as bad?
Is threatening as bad as doing?
What about the role reversal? (She doing it to him, rather than the other way around.)

Tags: Taboo, Torture, Violence

Easy or Hard?

Why is it that some manuscripts hop along at a fast pace, stopping to smell the daisies at times, and other manuscripts fall into the pond and sink to the bottom?

Is it a better understanding of the characters, the plot, all of the above? Could it be the voice and/or genre?

My current ms is a YA mystery. It’s my first YA, so it could go to reason that it would be difficult. But my heroine, a snarky teenager, is a breeze. Her words come almost effortlessly and her GMC is pretty easy. Her voice doesn’t seem far away from the snarky heroine I wrote in my last adult mystery, yet this one is practically writing itself. (Perhaps it has something to do with my own level of sarcasm and still present teenage angst. )

I also started writing (or tried to) my next project, which is an adult mystery. I’m purposely attempting for this heroine to not speak with snark, for the most part, and it’s definitely not writing itself. In fact, I’m currently working on my third opening. It’s not fun, cute or funny, like I hoped. Am I just not connecting with my heroine? Maybe I don’t fully understand her, or maybe she’s not fun to me.

So what about you? Do you have books that naturally flow (give or take amodicum of hair pulling)?

Tags: GMC, heroine, Jennifer Bianco, pace, sarcasm, snark, Writing, YA

Smelling Those Virtual Roses

Learning the craft, I’ve spent so many hours focused on fine-tuning the areas I’m weak in, such as description and emotions. Hours upon hours I’d write then edit and go over every word, every minute detail. I’d layer in physical descriptions, the five senses, emotions, worrying over every choice.

My conversations with other writers were heavily about what I had difficulty with. It was after all mostly what I thought about. But isn’t that the way of life for some people? We concentrate on what needs improvement and take for granted the rest. I knew I was good at dialogue, so I didn’t need to think about it. Did I?

The ironic thing is I’m usually a pretty positive person. In my every day life, I refuse to focus on the negative. I believe what you put out into the universe in terms of actions and thoughts, comes back to you. And I certainly don’t need to bring any negativity upon myself. So then why am I this way with my writing? While trying to learn and improve, I forgot to be grateful. I forgot to smell those virtual roses. I forgot to remember the good…the great.

I write awesome dialogue. My voice is incredible. My characters have unique sounds/voices. And I have a talent for plotting that makes my pacing flow smoothly and my plots believable. These are not insignificant and surely shouldn’t be overlooked. It is these attributes that will help pull me out of a mental funk after a crushing critique or a rejection. I won’t forget to smell those roses now.

So tell me…

What are you good at?

Tags: characters, description, dialogue, emotions, Jennifer Bianco, Pacing, plotting, roses, Writing

Seeing Possibilities in Life

Listening to: Miranda Lambert, Famous in a Small Town
Reading: The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick

I just finished revising chapter 26 of my current WIP–Shake the Sugar Tree. I’m jumping in my seat because all of a sudden I can see the end of the tunnel and it’s not this tiny dot of light in the distance. There are possibilities in writing…

It’s a journey of possibilities for me. I wake up every morning and see the possibility of success, of failure, of laughter and of death.

I know it’s easy to get caught up in the practical side of things. The how-tos. [Been there!!!] My challenge for all my writer friends is to remember the possibilities. Remember the what ifs, the fun of creating a story. Even through revisions, keep your eye on that satisfying ending because getting there is most of the fun.

You’ve been a huge encouragement to me…and I’m getting all teary just thinking about bringing this story to a close.
Love,
Bethanne

Tags: possibilities

What makes a book a keeper?

We all have them.
The Keepers.
The books we will read again and again, the ones we guard with our lives, will never lend out and the ones we want to take to the grave with us.
But how to define a keeper?
What makes a book a keeper?
Is it the story? The characters? The writing style?
Sometimes one of them, sometimes all of them.
Personally, I fall in love with heroes. I’m sure most of us do. Sometimes I love the spunky heroine. Sometimes the storyline is one that grabs me and doesn’t let go.
It’s personal taste.
I have unlikely keepers, too.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg, is one of my keepers.
So is my collection of poems by Edgar Allan Poe.
Pest Control, by Bill Fitzhugh, is one of those unlikely keepers. I absolutely adore that book, because it makes me laugh out loud.
Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, is one I can read over and over.
However, my romance keepers… change.
They change, because I evolve, just like the genre evolves.
I used to gobble up anything by Johanna Lindsay, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss and Jude Deveraux. I swore they were all keepers.
My entire collection is boxed up and in the loft. I haven’t read one in years.
Actually, that’s not true.
I tried to read one. I got as far as a quarter of the book and put it down, wondering how I could ever have deemed it a keeper. The writing seemed stale. The storyline unbelievable and contrived. The heroine… let’s not go there. The hero was an overbearing rapist.
We change. Our tastes change.
Unfortunately, most of our keepers don’t stand the test of time and can’t cope with the change. (Some do, though.)
I remember Shanna (Kathleen E. Woodiwiss) with absolute fondness, because it was the first romance I read. I’ve never read the English version. (I read it in German.)
I have other Woodiwiss books in English, and I even peeked into one recently. I put it away, because… well… the writing was just… horrible. The language, the style… God. I just couldn’t bear it.
Don’t get me wrong. I still love those books. I have fond memories of the characters and the story. I just don’t want to read it again, because it would taint that memory.

I doubt I’m the only one who feels this way.
So what are the keepers you can’t bear to read again, but won’t let go of anyway?
Do you keep them out, or do you box them up?
Do you try to read them again?
Do you get put off, because the style that seemed so great when you first read it, is just not what you would read now?
I know I do.
And I keep the books anyway, would never part with them.
To me, they are like old friends you haven’t seen in a long time. But now you can see all their irritating habits, and prefer to know them from a distance.

Tags: Authors, Books, Favorites, Keepers, Romance