If you're like me, you spent the past Thanksgiving weekend talking. Maybe you had relatives over for dinner, or you got to spend extra time with your friends.
In our stories, talking is called dialogue, of course. I always like when I come across dialogue in a story, because it's interesting to see how characters will respond to each other.
Dialogue serves three roles in a story.
1) Dialogue gives your readers information.
"How long have you lived here?" Jason asked.
Bob groaned. "Five long years."
2) Dialogue reveals something about your characters' personalities and how they speak.
Jennifer and her grandmother stared at the Grand Canyon.
"Cool," said Jennifer.
"Wondrous," said her grandmother.
3) Dialogue moves your story forward.
"What happened?" Leon said.
Angie grabbed her friend's hand. "Come on. This place is going to explode!"
For a fun, silly exercise, write a dialogue between:
- A sports car and an SUV racing for the same parking spot.
- A shoe and a toe.
- A chair and the person about to sit in it.
- A toaster and a piece of bread.
- A snowman and the girl who wants to knock it down.
Have a good time talking and "dialoguing!"
