External Stakes

The external stakes of your story are what your character externally desires. For example, let’s say your character is on the typical fantasy hero’s journey to search for and obtain a rare and possibly powerful object. The external stakes in that situation would refer to the hero physically obtaining the object and what they risk if they are able or unable to obtain it. Perhaps the object is a book with a spell that will heal an ailment that is plaguing this world (or perhaps more specifically a character that your protagonist cares for). The external risks for obtaining the object would be that the object is cursed or that the quest to obtain it puts the protagonist in mortal peril. One risk for not obtaining the object would be that the protagonist would be unable to save the people of this world from this ailment. In a contemporary sense, the external stakes could refer to anything from something as simple as getting a promotion at work to a character running away to start their lives over.

The main stakes of the story will be the same as your character’s main goal or desire throughout the book and what they risk by either achieving or not achieving that goal. Additional stakes throughout the novel will be other things that your protagonist comes to risk along their journey to obtain their main goal. This could be anything from a friend of theirs resenting their quest (which risks their friendship with the protagonist) or even the simple stakes of life or death.

Internal Stakes

The internal stakes of your manuscript refer to any internal desires your protagonist has and what is preventing them from achieving those desires. Let’s refer back to the fantasy hero’s quest for a healing book as an example. In that instance, while the external stakes refer to the hero obtaining the book, an example of the internal stakes could be the hero’s desire to right a wrong, a time that they could have saved someone but didn’t. That, through the act of finding the book, the hero believes that they will right that wrong.

If the latter is the case, the question then becomes what are the internal risks of both obtaining and not obtaining the book. Although the external risks involve saving lives, the internal risks are completely different. The internal risk of not finding the book would be that they are unable to heal from this past sense of guilt that they’re holding onto. And one internal risk of finding the book is that, though they’re able to heal people externally, the fulfillment of the quest doesn’t alleviate the protagonist of their guilt.

Plot Points

The main way to show rather than tell your readers about the stakes of your story is to make sure your novel is expertly plotted. The stakes of your novel should be at the core of each of your main plot points. Every plot point should connect to at least one of the stakes of your story and your main plot points should directly link or relate to the main stakes of your story. This means that your reader should be keenly aware of what is at stake throughout your story because, if you’ve done your job right, everything that they’re witnessing unfold throughout your story should connect to those stakes.

The best way to make sure to keep track of this is to include the stakes in your outline. If you’ve already made your outline, go back and review it again. Write down what the main stakes of your story are and what the additional risks are as well. Then go through your plot points chronologically and make sure they directly relate to what is at stake in your story. If you find ones that don’t connect, you’ve either stumbled upon an easy scene to edit out of your novel or you need to go back and rewrite to make sure the stakes are clear and connected.

The post Show Don’t Tell: Stakes appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

There are many things that can be considered ‘habits’ that you could allow your characters to exhibit. Perhaps they unconsciously bite their nails or play with the split ends in their hair. Or maybe they crack their neck or roll their eyes too much. It could also relate to speech, perhaps there is a certain phrase that they overuse out of habit.

A habit can also apply to something broader as well. Maybe your character has a habit of being late or being self-destructive when things seem to be going well in their life. They could also make a habit of getting back together with their ex or being selfless to a fault. Or perhaps they laugh when they’re uncomfortable and cry when they’re happy. These may feel like broad character traits but if your character makes a habit of doing them then they could be considered a habit of theirs.

Oftentimes habits can be unconscious, but they can also be chosen as well. People can choose to make a habit out of certain behaviors because they think it will better them as people. For example, people can make a habit of working out more consistently or being kinder to themselves. They can even attempt to replace bad habits with good ones. So let’s say they have previously had a habit of being selfless to a fault. Perhaps they make a goal for themselves to catch themselves when they do that and to try to consider their own feelings more frequently.

Writing Prompt: Either choose a character from your manuscript or invent one for this exercise. Make a list of five habits that your character has, they can be mannerisms or consistent broad behaviors. Now put your character in a scene, it could be anywhere with anyone. Your challenge is to write out the scene and allow the purpose of the scene to play out while also making your character’s habits clear. Their habits cannot be the subject of the scene in this exercise, you must show the reader the habits without making them the centerpiece of the scene.

The post Writing Prompt: Habits appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

You turn your head and see someone a few blocks away, with a gray hoodie pulled over his head, following you with his hands in his pockets. You think very little of it at first, another person walking home from a shift surely. But then you turn right onto a side street and you hear him turn to follow you. Now it’s starting to feel like you’re being followed. You pull out your keys and place one between your fingers. You pull out your phone and pretend to make a phone call. As you fake a conversation, your breathing starts to pick up but you control your pace so as not to alert him. If he makes the next turn with you you’re going to start running.

Fear is a very instinctual and powerful emotion that heightens the stakes of your story. Here are some ways that you can write a scene where your character is experiencing fear by showing the reader rather than telling them.

1) Mannerisms

As with any time you’re trying to show rather than tell the reader something, you’ll want to start by looking at your character’s mannerisms. Fear is a very primal and extreme emotion so it will be a more obvious reaction than certain others. For example, having a character scream or shake or walk slowly. They could also be biting their nails or even full out running in certain scenarios. But how a character reacts when faced with fear can say a lot about them, so think about how your character would react when faced with the fearful scenario in which you’re writing them.

2) Observations

Being from the POV of your protagonist, seeing them observe certain things can also show that they’re in a fearful state. For example, let’s say your character is walking down a boardwalk at night. As opposed to noticing a cute couple walking hand in hand or the way the ocean reflects the lights of the buildings so beautifully, your character instead notices a man sitting in a dark corner who is eating a sandwich and staring angrily after him. The fact that your character focuses on anything that could possibly be suspicious as opposed to the wholesome parts of the walk can show that they’re in a heightened state of unease.

3) Atmosphere

The atmosphere surrounding your character can be another way to show fear. Describing the dark night, a cold wind that creeps up your spine, trees looming over you, animals rustling around in bushes, a howl in the distance… all of these visuals create an eerie and spooky tone. Since we’re viewing the story through the lens of your protagonist, your readers know that how the scene is being described directly connects to how the character is feeling. So if you’re scaring your readers by how you’re describing the scene, you’re showing them your protagonist is scared too.

4) Action

How your character is acting is another excellent way to display how they’re feeling- especially when it drastically differs from how they would normally act. Think of horror movies and the choices the characters make along the way. Do they go through the woods or through the city? Do they go to hide in the house or in the shed? In most cases yes it’s frustrating because they seemingly make very stupid choices, but in some cases, it makes sense that characters panic and just run for the first thing they see. Whether or not they go back for their friends or how they choose to hide or what choices they make all depend on the situation and who they are as a character.

5) Character Clues

In addition to your protagonist, using supporting characters can also be a helpful way to show fear. They could point out that your character is acting strangely through dialogue. Or the way that they act in fear could provide a contrast to how your protagonist is handling the situation. This is also another thing that your character could observe and that could add to their heightened state of fear as well. It’s one thing to find yourself afraid, but once you see others around you are scared too that can often increase one’s sense of panic.

The post Show Don’t Tell: Fear appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Simply from these details, there’s so much you can infer about this character. You can assume that they’re a neat freak, but also that it covers up a part of them that is private and closed off since they don’t have personal details or effects anywhere visible. This is emphasized further by the drawer detail, showing that they not only keep personal effects in drawers but also in boxes shows how many layers of privacy this person keeps. In addition, the bar detail gives the reader the sense that this character desires to host people, but doesn’t so they may be lonely.

Now, let’s look at another example. You walk into an apartment with carpeted floors and bookshelves lining the walls. Above and around the bookshelves you see dozens of posters for various movies, books, postcards, and paintings taped to the walls. There are notes taped to the fridge with various tasks and grocery lists. The dishes are all clean, but they’ve been left next to the sink despite the fact that they appear to already be dry. There are a few family photos taped up to the wall, but one of the apartment owner and their father appears to have fallen to the ground and hasn’t been taped back up. The carpeted floor appears to be freshly vacuumed, but the apartment owner left their Vans in the middle of the room.

Again, just with these cursory details, you learn a lot about the apartment owner. From the details about the bookshelves and posters, you learn that this person has a more artistic and whimsical personality. From the details about the dishes and the shoes you learn that this person is probably a little disorganized or at the very least not a neat freak like the previous homeowner. However, from the details about the organizational lists and floors, we can see that this person is at least making attempts to be organized, perhaps they’re in the process of trying to better themselves or kick bad habits. Finally, the detail about the fallen photo hints at a possible strained relationship with the character’s father.

Trying your hand at writing observational details like this is the ultimate test in showing rather than telling your readers details about your characters. To help you perfect your scene writing and allow you to give your readers these crucial details, here’s a writing exercise to help:

a) Start by picturing the homes and apartments of your friends and family. Write down each person’s name and specific details you noticed about their homes. Try to specifically think about what each observation could say about their character or personality.

b) Once you’ve completed this, choose a character from your book. Write a scene where your character is attempting to give a room in their house a makeover. Describe the room before the makeover, during as they may uncover things while they clean, and then afterward. Don’t be afraid to use the details you just wrote down about friends/family as inspiration for the details in this scene.

Think about specifically why your character may want to change this room. Maybe it has a lot of memories from a relationship they just ended or perhaps they feel that their life has become too messy and they want to clean in order to allow themselves to feel more organized again. Think about what the room makeover truly means for them and show it through scene details rather than by explicitly telling the reader what the character is doing.

The post Writing Prompt: Home Makeover appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

1) POV

Parent to child relationships are very unique as it involves two lives shaping one another in a lot of ways. Primarily we think of children being shaped by their parents, but the reverse is possible as well where a parent can be affected by something their child says or does. How you portray the relationship and who is being shaped in the scenes you write depends on the point of view of your story.

As with any manuscript, your protagonist should be the one who has an arc and who is continuously changing as the story progresses. Therefore, whoever’s POV the relationship takes place from should be the character that is being shaped by the scene. For example, say you’re doing a flashback to a childhood memory your protagonist has. The memory should be of an event or occurrence where their parent said or did something that affected them, not the other way around.

2) Positive Impact

Events or words exchanged between parents and children in literature can either have a positive or negative impact on the person being affected in the scene. It doesn’t have to be completely black and white, you can create some bittersweet moments between them, but ultimately the reader should be able to see how and why the moment affected your protagonist. In addition, if you’re doing a coming of age story where a large focus is a relationship your protagonist had with their parent, it would be best to balance some positive and negative impact moments so that the whole relationship doesn’t feel one dimensional.

A moment with a positive impact is a moment where the parent teaches their child (or vice versa) something important and positive that they’ll hold onto. This could be done through an actual sit down where they give their child advice, but it can also be more subtle by just having the child observe a virtuous behavior from their parents and learn from their actions.

3) Negative Impact

Just as there are moments where parents impact us positively, there are moments they impact us negatively. As much as every parent wishes to the contrary, not one parent has done every single thing perfectly. If you’re displaying a parent to child relationship that your character views negatively, then you’ll likely flashback to or write out a lot of scenes where they have negative interactions with one another. In addition, if your book largely focuses on a parent to child relationship, it’s important to balance out the positive and negative aspects of their relationship (even if we’re largely meant to view it in a positive light).

Negative impact moments can also come in many forms. When you think of a negative moment, your first thought is likely about a parent yelling at their child. But it could just as easily be a moment of neglect where a child is asking their parent to play with them or talk to them only to be rejected. It could also be a child witnessing a behavior from their parent that they view negatively, which could be anything from a substance abuse problem to a gossiping problem.

4) Familial Mannerisms

The primary manner of showing relationships is through action, mannerisms, body language, dialogue, etc. Obviously a character’s behavior, speech, and mannerisms around their parents or children are going to be very different than how they’d behave around friends or a romantic partner. Perhaps they try not to swear out of politeness or they’re quicker to be annoyed at very little. Maybe a child will lean their head on their parent’s shoulder or kiss their cheek or hold their hand to show affection. Perhaps the parent will lay their child’s head in their lap and pet their hair to help them relax. Think about the types of physical mannerisms that you display around your family or that your friends display around theirs. Think of how you edit your speech, even unconsciously, when you’re around your parents.

5) Attitude toward other family members

Another aspect that can partially shape a parent to child relationship (and show readers how they’re supposed to feel about it) is the parent or child’s relationship with other family members vs. their immediate relationship with one another. Let’s take a mother and daughter relationship as an example. If the mother is pulling aside the daughter and giving her secret gifts or confiding things in her that she says ‘don’t tell your siblings’, your reader will get the sense that they have a closer bond or a unique bond compared to the other kids. If, however, we see the daughter trying to make time with her Mom, but Mom keeps making plans with her son (daughter’s brother) instead, that is new and important detail informing how the reader is meant to feel about their relationship.

6) Attitude toward the world at large

Children will have rare moments every once in a while where they view their parents as just people rather than just their parents (the same applies to how parents view their kids). Giving your protagonist moments where they get to observe how their parent (or child) views the world will allow them to see them in a different light than they do otherwise. For example, perhaps Mom is super loving and sweet at home, but out in the world, she’s tough and no-nonsense. This could tell her child that perhaps this is closer to what her real personality is like, but that she just has a soft spot for her family. On the other hand, it could also tell her child that she’s protective or views the world negatively as though it’s out to get her, so she feels that she has to put her guard up around strangers. Creating moments of observation like this for your readers to witness allows them to watch as your protagonist learns more about their parent/child, but also allows them to see those revelations for themselves.

The post Show Don’t Tell: Parent/Child Relationships appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

1) Mood

The ‘mood’ of the scene is what you want your reader to feel throughout the exchange. Picture a scene where two characters are having dinner out at a nice restaurant. When you think of this scene initially you think it’s romantic, right? Well, what if they’re on the run and one of the characters has a gun held to the other beneath the table? What if they’re dating, but one character is about to break up with the other one? What if one character is the other’s estranged father and they’re meeting for the first time? Each of these scenarios involves completely different moods and should evoke various feelings from the reader.

2) Atmosphere

The ‘atmosphere’ is the specific detail of a setting that allows the correct mood to be felt by the reader. So, for example, let’s say the dinner we mentioned earlier was romantic. You would then mention how the candlelight casts perfect shadows on the partner’s face, perhaps an old couple next to them gazes at each other lovingly, the intoxicating mix between the smell of fresh bread and the rose on the table. All of these sensory descriptors tell the reader that this scene will be romantic. Whereas if the characters were about to break up, you could describe how the partner is fidgeting in his seat, how an overly sweet smell is making the protagonist slightly nauseous, how there’s an old man sitting alone with a severe expression one table over. This alerts the reader of the more somber mood that this scene will take on.

3) Setting

The setting of the scene involves the combination of the mood, atmosphere, and more specific information. What restaurant is this? In which time period is the story taking place? Where geographically is the story taking place? This sort of additional information should be sprinkled into the scene, especially if it hasn’t already been established in your story at large. However, be cautious not to go too deeply into these details and lose the pacing of your scene. Space out these details between bits of dialogue and more immediate scene work.

4) Point of View

Part of what dictates the setting of the story is the point of view from which the story is told. Your novel may be told just from your protagonist’s perspective or you could have multiple characters in which the story focuses on. You could also vary the psychic distance in your story or have a distant or close third person vs. a first-person perspective. Regardless of the POV you choose in your story, the atmosphere of the story should be influenced by your protagonist, or whoever’s POV is the focus of the scene. This could mean it is influenced by either their mood, their observations, or what will be happening to them during the scene. So, for example, if your character has just experienced something tragic in their life all of the things they observe, taste, smell, or feel will have a melancholic feeling to them.

5) Genre

Another aspect that can influence the setting of a scene is the genre in which the scene takes place. A midnight stroll in the woods is going to feel very different in a romance novel vs. a horror novel. In the romance novel, there would be a full moon illuminating the wooded area, an owl hooting, and a cute frog leaping across the path, and fireflies would be dancing all around. In a horror novel, your protagonist can scarcely see a thing, they’d hear a distant howl, they’d smell something that they can’t place but it gave them a metallic taste in their mouth. And in a fantasy book, there would be an array of fantastical creatures and a mystical fog coating the forest floor. Think about the genre you’re working with when you’re deciding on the mood for your setting. Then use adjectives that evoke those emotive responses from your readers.

The post Why is Setting Important? appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

“I didn’t like [Insert Scene]. I don’t know why; I just didn’t like it.”

Translation: I didn’t like that scene purely based on my own opinions and biases, which shouldn’t be taken seriously at all since they have no basis on literary merit. In fact, I don’t even have the language to describe my own biased reasoning for not liking that scene, so instead I will not offer any suggestions on how to fix this mysterious ailment. In fact, I’m so ignorant about the personal nature of writing that I’m completely oblivious to the fact that you’ll be spending the next five days with very little sleep, cycling between rereading that scene repeatedly and crying over a tub of ice cream, purely based on my two-sentence comment.

“[Insert Character] annoys me.”

Translation: This character in your book bothers me, again for inexplicable reasons that I don’t have the language to articulate. They likely just annoy me because they remind me of someone I knew once who I don’t like, thereby giving me a personal bias against your character. Will the fact that I summed up a character that you worked very hard on using one word annoy you? Yes. Will I be aware of that? Nope.

“[Insert Scene] was boring.”

Translation: I have a very short attention span and little appreciation for the subtle nuances of scene writing, so if things aren’t getting blown up constantly or people aren’t in screaming matches with one another- you’re going to lose me. Was that scene being used to build tensions or foreshadow later events in your story? Heck if I know, I was too busy being mad that no one was getting stabbed.

“Why can’t you make [Insert Character] more like [Insert Character Trait]?”

Translation: I’m basically asking you to rewrite an entire character to be more like whatever I want them to be. Do I understand how much work it would be for you to add a new character trait to an already existing character? Nah, to me it’s as simple as changing a few lines- that should be so hard, right? Why do I want your character to be more [insert character trait here]? It’s either a) ‘I just think it would be cool’ (which doesn’t help you at all) or b) I’m having trouble telling the difference between a few of your characters because they both have the same color hair so I think this would make it easier. Will this make you question our friendship? Yup.

“I feel like [Insert Part] came out of nowhere.”

Translation: I didn’t notice all the hard work you put into foreshadowing this part or reiterating character traits through action which made this part perfectly in-character. When you point out all those instances to me, instead of admitting I’m not a very astute reader, I’ll instead say, “Oh… I don’t think anyone will be able to pick up that.” And then I’ll turn around and miss you in the background pulling out your hair in frustration.

“[Insert Character] is kind of whiny.”

Translation: This character either cried or complained maybe twice, but that’s too much for me to handle. I simply have no empathy or patience for people being upset or complaining about their lot in life and not doing something to change it. Take me, for instance. I’ve never once in my entire life complained about some aspect of my life without immediately taking action to rectify whatever I was upset about. Nope, not once. No, sir. So, you can see why I’d have very little patience for someone else doing that very same thing.

“What if instead of [Insert Plot Point] you made it [Insert Worse Plot Point]?”

Translation: Take what is a good and well-planned plot point and change it into a completely different and much worse plot point because the latter would better suit my tastes. I would just rather the latter plot point happen; I don’t care if it’s not earned at all and explaining that to me will only make me more sure that I’m right. And yes, I’m sure my personal tastes will align perfectly with your target audience despite the fact that I’m not an avid reader of your genre, why do you ask?

“I didn’t get [Insert Scene].”

Translation: I didn’t understand this scene. Rather than doing some self-reflecting and wondering if maybe it was my own fault I didn’t understand something, I blame you and your writing. Do you regret letting me read your book? Yes, yes you do.

The post Your Friend’s Book Critiques: Translated appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Meet Cute

Every romance needs a good old fashioned ‘meet-cute’, right? For those unfamiliar with the term, this refers to the way in which people who are destined to be romantic interests meet one another. It also happens to be one way to show or indicate to your readers that a romance is about to blossom. Because we’ve seen so many of these over the course of our book and movie consumption, even if we didn’t know the terminology, we’re already primed to notice one when it happens and to know immediately that the two characters participating in the meet-cute will find love.

Writers who struggle with showing rather than telling will make the mistake of making the meet-cute too big, cliche, and cheesy. These are the writers that have the characters lock eyes from across the room and tell us that ‘the planet shifted on its axis and they could see the entire universe in their eyes.’ Not only is this super cheesy eye-roll-worthy writing, but that just isn’t what happens in real life. Even for people who claim to experience love at first sight, it really just means they were attracted to or drawn to that person at first sight in a way that they didn’t understand. Planets weren’t moving in the sky.

When you’re writing your meet-cute, try to make it both memorable and realistic. Maybe they’re going for the same book at the library or (if you’re going for the hate-to-love angle) maybe she buys the last donut right out from under him at his favorite donut shop. We shouldn’t be hearing about how your protagonist’s whole world has been altered by this interaction, but rather we should just witness a memorable interaction between these two characters- that’s more enough to go on.

Meaningful Interactions

Any great romance can’t be immediate, it needs to be built up. If you start off your characters already having all of these feelings for each other then it makes them both appear shallow and basic- their love needs to have substance if you want it to be something readers will root for. So, rather than directly telling your reader that your character is starting to feel a certain way, show us scenes between them playing out.

Perhaps, after their initial meet-cute, one character walks into their next class and recognizes the first from their initial interaction- realizing they go to school together. And, oh no, the only seat left is the one right next to them, whatever will your character do? Boom, you’ve created another setting for them to interact. And, of course, they get paired up for a group project and are forced to work with one another in closer proximity.

Once you’ve created a space for them to interact, you’ll need to create meaningful conversations between them. How do people get to know one another? Don’t jump straight to deep dark conversations, maybe start by having them talk about what’s going on in class, maybe they stumble upon a mutual interest they share. Instead of directly telling the reader ‘I feel this way about this character’, focus on how things that the love interest says makes your protagonist feel.

Physical Response

Going along with the previous step, instead of showing the protagonist’s feelings through telling you should be showing it through physical responses. Perhaps one thing he says makes her roll her eyes, or maybe another thing he says makes her smile or laugh- showing the beats of their conversation through body language and mannerisms works just as well as telling the reader how your character feels each step of the way.

Pursing lips, raising brows, widening eyes, scrunching brows, biting lip, crinkling nose, stretching, nail-biting, sitting upright, crossing legs, grunting, coughing to cover a laugh, cracking knuckles, tapping foot, scratching chin, smoothing hair- these are just a few mannerisms that can express various degrees of attraction, annoyance, confusion, or boredom. Brush up on your physical language, figure out what types of mannerisms fit each character in each state or mood they’d express, and then use these to show their feelings throughout their interactions.

Perceptions Changing

As your story progresses, there should be beats in your scenes where your characters’ perceptions of one another either change or grow. The learn unexpected things about one another, perhaps your biker cool-guy love interest secretly plays the piano or your lawyer workaholic woman has a rough family life. We should see certain moments where eyes widen or they get big smiles on their faces and one of them asks “What?” and the other says something along the lines of “Nothing, I just… wouldn’t have guessed…” while staring at them intently. These bigger moments, we know, are the moments where they’re slowly falling in love. But you don’t need to say this to us; if you focus on their mannerisms and the dialogue and substance behind these moments, your reader will fill in the blanks.

The Trigger & The Epiphany

All of these little interactions and moments that you create between your two love interests should culminate in a single moment- THE moment. That’s right, it’s the moment that your protagonist realizes they’re either in like or love with the love interest. We, of course, have known for quite some time, we’ve just been waiting for our protagonist to catch on. This moment could be big or heroic like the love interest comforting the protagonist after they opened up to them. Or it could be small and sweet like in the sitcom The Office when Pam says she knew she liked Jim when he told her that her yogurt was about to expire. Either way, the realization should come from a meaningful moment, not just from your protagonist sitting around ruminating.

The post Show Don’t Tell: Romance appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Dialogue is an area where a lot of writers struggle. It can be difficult to separate your own voice from your character’s voice. If you’re writing a line and thinking, “Ooh, this will sound clever,” you’re most likely doing it wrong. You have to think solely about your characters- where they came from, how they grew up, what their family was like, what experiences they’ve gone through and then ask yourself: how would this person talk? It’s not about sounding good or poetic, it’s about staying true to your characters. If your character is a really simple-minded person and then all of a sudden they’re spewing incredibly poetic speech, it’s just going to leave your readers scratching their heads.

One of the best ways to get better at separating your own voice from your characters is to start paying attention to how people around you talk. Notice how different people talk when they’re from different age groups, ethnicities, genders, backgrounds, and personality types. Take notes on different nuances and oddities in their language and apply them to similar characters in your book. This will make your characters feel more real. And, for additional practice, try these exercises:

For both exercises, use the setting and characters outlined below:

Setting: A small dive bar, midday on a Sunday afternoon. The bar is scarce, just a few patrons. There are two younger guys who seem to know each other, but it appears everyone else came alone. Most of them are older men, in their early 50’s. The bartender is a relatively handsome young man in his early twenties.

Character One: A young man in his mid-twenties. He loves classic rock and country music, just graduated from a nearby college with a degree in Creative Writing, and he grew up in Texas.

Character Two: A young woman in her early twenties, currently attending a nearby college and aiming to graduate a semester early. She’s double-majoring in business and communications and her favorite shows are House of Cards and Grey’s Anatomy.

Character Three: A middle-aged man with a military history. He has a wife and two kids, grew up in the south, loves watching Sons of Anarchy and The Sopranos and he’s currently trying to quit smoking.

1) Use characters one and two to construct a scene solely using dialogue. Find what the two characters have in common and allow a conversation to ensue.

Ex. Characters One and Two are sitting near each other at the bar. Character one notices Character Two and decides to buy her a drink.

2) Use characters One and Three and do the same as previous exercise. Hint: How do Character One’s demeanor and level of comfort change when he’s around Character Two vs. Character Three? Show this through his dialogue.

Ex. Characters One and Three are sitting near each other at the bar. Character Three is accidentally served the drink that Character One ordered.

For both exercises, focus on making the two characters in each scene sound different from one another. How would a man in his twenties talk vs. a middle-aged man? How would their voices differ?

The post Writing Exercises: Dialogue appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.