Dialogue (44 page)

empower the reader

Finally, we want to empower readers to live their best lives, their most authentic lives, lives they can be proud of. Our dialogue can do that because that's what we're creating for our characters—opportunities for them to interact with each other and ultimately come away from these encounters empowered.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone—a friend, relative, or

enemy—and came away feeling defeated and exhausted? This is because you gave your power away to that person in that conversation. Likewise, have you ever had a conversation with someone—a friend, relative, or enemy— and came away empowered, knowing that you owned your own truth in the conversation, that you walked in integrity, that you didn't give up who you were? If we write dialogue that's true to who we've created our characters to be, our readers should be able to recognize which are the disempowered characters and which are the empowered ones and in the process learn how to hold on to their own power in conversation with others. Our characters can teach our readers this through their own process of growth in the story situations we create for them.

As you can see, the dialogue in our stories can go a long way in the process of connecting with readers on many levels. And isn't that what writing fiction is all about? We create characters that we come to know and love as we put words into their mouths and breathe life into their souls. When a person unknown to us, on the other side of the country, possibly on the other side of the globe, picks up our story, she gets to know our characters in the same way we do, through the words we've given them. In that way, as writers, we perform an amazing service for the global consciousness on the planet.

Sounds big. It is. That's how important it is to determine to write effective, authentic, and powerful dialogue that makes the kind of connection that will stay with readers, sometimes throughout their entire lives. To inform their lives. To determine their paths. To encourage and inspire them on their life journeys.

You can learn to write this kind of dialogue.

[ checklist ]

[ 1 ]
Have you found your voice for the story, and does the dialogue resonate for each character and feel authentic?

[ 2 ]
Have you done everything you know to release your fear and your characters' dialogue is now coming out of the core of who they are?

[ 3 ]
Have you come to an understanding of the kind of dialogue needed for each type of story so that your dialogue sounds appropriate for the genre, literary, or mainstream story that you're writing?

[ 4 ]
Does every scene of dialogue in your story move the plot forward?

[ 5 ]
Does your dialogue also include narrative, action, and character introspection so it feels three-dimensional to the reader?

[ 6 ]
Does your dialogue capture the essence of each scene and is it focused on what each character wants in the story?

[ 7 ]
Does your dialogue include at least some details of setting?

[ 8 ]
Is your dialogue paced so it speeds up and slows down according to what the characters and story events dictate?

[ 9 ]
Are your dialogue scenes full of tension and suspense?

[ 10 ]
Does your dialogue clearly show your character's emotion?

[ 11 ]
Are any dialogue quirks there for a good reason and are they true to who the character is?

[ 12 ]
Have you learned what the most common mistakes in writing dialogue are so that you can avoid them?

[ 13 ]
Is your dialogue punctuated and formatted so it achieves a smooth rhythm in each scene?

[ 14 ]
Have you honored the dos and don'ts of effective dialogue that connects with readers?

[ 15 ]
Is any one line of dialogue in your story capable of transforming a reader's life?