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Write Great Fiction - Dialogue (Write Great Fiction) | 
| Author: Gloria Kempton
Publisher: Writers Digest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $11.55
You Save: $5.44 (32%)
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 5939
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 1582972893
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.3
UPC: 035313109362
EAN: 9781582972893
Publication Date: October 26, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
How do some writers craft conversation so authentic that it feels as if they've been eavesdropping? What's the secret behind getting characters to talk to each other? How can writers make their dialogue sing? Answers to all of these questions and more can be found in this in-depth look at this crucial component of fiction. Readers will learn how to create dialogue that sizzles, with tips on: Creating dialogue for specific genres; Bringing characters to life with revealing dialogue; Identifying and fixing common dialogue problems; Each chapter features numerous examples of successful dialogue drawn from best-selling novels and chapter-ending exercises help readers apply the lessons learned. This is one book that will get readers talking!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 Finally, an Excellent Dialogue Book October 9, 2005
81 out of 84 found this review helpful
I was worried there was no such thing as a decent dialogue book. I wanted to buy "Dialogue" from the "Elements of Fiction Writing" series but the reviews were horrible. I instead bought "Writing Dialogue". The book was horrible, a waste of time and money. I was starting to think there was no such thing as a decent dialogue book. Perhaps no more than one or two dozen pages could be written on the subject.
Gloria Kempton in her excellent "Dialogue" book from the new "Write Great Fiction" series from the excellent "Writer's Digest Books" publisher laid my fears to rest. I was very jaded from my horrible experiance with "Writing Dialogue" and read this book with a very poor attitude to start. As the chapters went by, I found my self liking the book and learning excellent points. By the time I got to chapter five, Narrative, Dialogue, and Action, she had won me over.
I learned much from her. Some highlights:
Make your scenes three dimensional. Narration, action, dialogue.
Don't bother with huge multi-page descriptions of your charactors to get a handle on their emotions and drives. All humans fall into nine catagories. Place your charactors in one of these catagories and 90 percent of your work is done. I am number five, the observer. My wife is number nine, the peacemaker.
To really get to know a charactor write a few page monolog of them speaking to you.
The power of dialogue to do many things, quicken the pace, add excitement and emotion, touch the reader's heartstrings, control the scope of the novel.
Different types of novels and the type of dialogue they require.
A must buy by anyone serious about writing.
PS I have had excellent results from the "Writer's Digest Books" publisher. I have most of their "Elements of Fiction Writing Books" and an working on getting all of their new "Write Great Fiction" books. They seemed to have kicked it up a few notches with this new series. Top notch stuff!
 Not so Great December 28, 2006
31 out of 38 found this review helpful
I read a lot of books on writing, and I felt that DIALOGUE: TECHNIQUES AND EXERCISES was definitely one of the weaker ones. This book imparts very little practical advice on how to write dialogue well. We instead get lots of pages devoted to irrelevant subjects (like a lengthy chapter on personality types) and a lot of other filler. If you're looking for a no-nonsense, get-to-the-point book on writing, this book isn't it.
There's some useful information in this book, but most of it could have been summarized in less than 50 pages. My advice is to skip this overpriced book and spend your money on better, more comprehensive guides (such as Stein on Writing, Orson Scott Card's Character & Viewpoint, and Self-Editing for Fiction Writers).
I felt like I wasted my money on this one.
Amaturish and pointless September 7, 2006
24 out of 30 found this review helpful
I feel really sorry for the would-be-writers who are taught by this author. If they write anything like this book--wordy, pointless, boring--well, good luck to them. I've read at least 10 books on the craft of fiction writing; I think this is the worst book. In Chapter 2, she talks about her student's fear of writing dialogue, and I thought she might be teaching middle school English classes, not college-level creative writing courses. Somewhere she talks about one of her student's question, why a story has to have a plot, and she goes on to say in many words why a plot is needed, etc., as if the readers of this book are all like the insincere student. I lost interest and went to the next chapter.
In Chapter 3, she talks about Genre, Mainstream, Literary. She says, "Literary stories are avant-garde and experimental stories that incorporate unconventional and nontraditional writing style and techniques. Maybe she got it right and other authors got it wrong.
In Chapter 4 (Dialogue that propels the story forward), she has subsections of "Dialogue that moves," "Provides new information," "Reveals new obstacles," "Increases suspense," "Furthers the theme," "Shows character transformation," "Reveals/reminds of goals," and "Keeping your characters in social settings." What's the point of all these? Even mentioning these in a paragraph would be unnecessary (I don't believe a person who hasn't read any book on creative writing would jump right into a book titled "Dialogue"), but this book has each of these points in subsections. Nothing what she says sticks in your head, and you feel like throwing up. I stopped reading somewhere in Chapter 4; that was last month and I don't feel like continue reading.
Oh, she has lots of exercises (each seemed like writing a novel; I might be wrong, because I've paid attention to just a few of them). If you like that (I don't), go for it. I've learned a hundred times more in a short chapter (Chapter 11, The secrets of Good Dialogue) from Sol Stein's "Stein on Writing."
Painless Way to Write March 25, 2006
19 out of 21 found this review helpful
I purchased this book because it was a requirement for a Writers On-Line class that focused on dialogue. Prepared for a dry book on the subject, I was pleasantly surprised at the approach and examples. It focuses on all writing and not specific genres.
This book is on my reference shelf and will remain there as a valuable tool and reminder of what I need to incorporate in my romance writing.
This lady has something to say September 21, 2005
17 out of 29 found this review helpful
I've only read 6 of 15 chapters but already this books rocks and rates 5+ starts. This lady has something to say, something meaningful and helpful, something that is more than a short article stretched out into book form. I congratulate her and thank her.
Roger
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